The Wrath and the Dawn: The Wrath and the Dawn Book 1

love the book. but amazon delivered this brand new book to me very damaged.the full spine and front and back covers were bent.absurd.

I loved this book!! The plot and characters were amazing and it has an enemies to lover trope. Definitely would recommend it

Amazing but picture prints are in black and white

the book i ordered was damaged..

My order was damaged

Any one who knows me knows that I love fantasy, its my favourite genre. Since reading all of Sarah J. Maas and Leigh Bardugo's books nothing has really compared until now. This book is phenomenal. The atmosphere that Renée Ahdieh was able to create with her writing is incredible. I felt like I was living and breathing in this beautiful world. The characters are really original and interesting and not at all predictable in any way. The plot was so fast moving that I had a little trouble keeping up and actually getting into it at the beginning but once I had read a couple of chapters I was so completely immersed in this world with these amazing characters that it blew my mind. Even though it is fantasy and the things that happen aren't real Renée really did well making you believe in it. Not many books have made me feel this way and when I did put the book down and then picked it up again after a few hours, I just fell straight back in to it like I had never put it down in the first place. While reading this book there is a mystery that you just can't help but try to solve before you actually find out and that really keeps to engrossed.The book follows Shahrzad when she decides to volunteer to be the Caliph of Khorasan's new bride. But he is a murderous king that brings a new family heartache every single dawn. Each night he takes a new bride and come morning they have been killed. At sixteen Shahrzad's closest friend falls victim to Khalid and so she decides to volunteer while determined to stay alive but also looking for vengeance.The complex plot is very well woven together and Shazi and Khalid's character development and relationship progresses slowly and in a realistic way that really draws you in and makes you care what happens to them. I also enjoyed the slow burning romance and I think that it was also fabulously done. The way we follow Shazi journey when she at first hates Khalid and how she is extremely angry and shocked by him to then find herself developing feelings toward him the more she gets to know him and uncovers the truth I think was beautiful. It's definitely romance done the right way and I think it is one of the best and most well written romances that I have read in a very long time.“What are you doing to me, you plague of a girl?” he whispered.“If I’m a plague, then you should keep your distance, unless you plan on being destroyed.” The weapons still in her grasp, she shoved against his chest.“No.” His hands dropped to her waist. “Destroy me.”That is really one of my favourite scenes because the snark and tension is overwhelming and I just love it! Now there is also some banter here and there between other characters not just the main two and I love banter and angst honestly the more the better and it really was just the topping to an already amazing story. I loved how loads of effort went into fleshing out side characters as well instead of just focusing on the main protagonists it really added a lot to the story and overall added so much depth. Most of the banter we see is between Shazi and Jalal who is Khalid's cousin. The scene where he is target practising with Shazi is one of my favourite scenes of the whole book. Their slowly developing friendship is also one of the highlights and I am excited to see where that goes.“Some things exist in our lives for but a brief moment. And we must let them go on to light another sky.”The side characters in this book were very intriguing, mostly I find myself wanting to know more about Jalal, any scenes that we get in the next book are very welcome. To which I am extremely excited to see what happens next after that ending. I'm not going to go into detail because all you need to know is there are twists and turns and shocking things happen. Although I would say there isn't very much action throughout the book however the little we do get is shocking and heart-breaking and I was sitting on the edge of my seat all while reading those last few scenes. I have also read Renée Ahdieh's most recently released book 'Flame in The Mist' and I have to say even though I adored that book I think that I loved this even more, her signature writing in both of these books is so deep and as your reading it just flows along with the stories in a perfect way. Overall this book was wonderful and I highly recommend it for fans of the fantasy genre and also if you enjoy books with rich world building and characters that you will continuously root for.5/5 Stars

A fresh, accomplished voice in YA fiction, and an original re-imagining of 1001 Nights. The YA Fantasy market is saturated with cliche-ridden publications, so its a joy to find a genuinely talented author breaking through. All of the main characters have something sympathetic and likeable about them, in spite of their flaws and treacheries. The language is richly detailed yet gallops at a pace too; I read this in two evening sittings, finishing the book after midnight. The author is clearly aware of how easily old tropes can be rehashed, as she manages to make the seemingly doomed relationship arc of Sharhzad and the Caliph sincere and absorbing; the story could have easily collapsed under the weight of cliche but it doesn't. Instead, I finished it and was already looking forward to Part 2.

I loved the premise of this one, it sounded compelling and full of mystery. Shahrzad is a wonderful character and continues to be brave and independent throughout the duology. I enjoyed the hints of magic and am excited to see the development of this in the second book. There are elements of darkness throughout, which added to the suspense/mystery elements of the story. My one concern was the bizarre insta-love, and apparent lack of consent in the beginning of the book? I almost DNF after this scene, however, I did enjoy the remainder and this did not make a reappearance.

Beautifully written and lusciously imagined, The Wrath and The Dawn is the kind of book that I get completely and utterly lost in. It's been a long time since read a book that I fell so completely into that I only realised how long I'd been reading when my phone rang with my best friend asking why I hadn't picked her up for our "date night" yet. I'm not kidding, this actually happened. If you're looking for a fact-paced story set across a sweeping kingdom with characters all over the place, then this probably isn't the book for you. This is a slow burn, almost a character study in our protagonist, and one set almost entirely within the same palace. A story about head versus heart, love versus hate, selfishness versus selflessness and what it means to be true to yourself.The story itself is a fairly simple one. As the book itself says near the end: Just one boy and one girl. Shazi enters the palace of Khalid with a simple goal in mind. To kill the boy-king who has married and put to death countless innocent girls before her, including her best friend Shiva. It's here that Shazi discovers, and to her horror, begins to fall in love with, the boy behind the monster. The kingdom of Khorasan, the courts, supporting characters, culture, everything that frames the story is what lifts it beyond the realms of just another YA story. The detail in the book is so rich, so vivid and so gorgeously imagined that you can practically touch the silks and gemstones of the clothes and taste the spice and flower blossom in the air. You may have noticed, but my imagination ran away with me a little while I was reading this book! And I have another window open on my laptop as I type looking at trips to Morocco...Shazi is a wonderful character, flawed and utterly believeable. The whole idea of this fierce and determined girl falling foul of her own heart as she comes to love the boy she intends to kill could have been incredibly insulting, the kind of thing that sets the Women's Rights movement back by about 50 years, and believe me I'm pretty easy to rankle with that sort of thing. But Renee Ahdieh portrays Shazi as a real person, not your typical "feisty" YA heroine that you see in every other book. Yes she makes mistakes, and yes she strays from her path even though it pains her to do it, but it's believable, and it's very human. Shazi's husband, the boy-king Khalid is a closed book at first, alternating between stern ruler and tentative lover. I wasn't entirely sure what drew Shazi to him at first. He opens up as the story unfolds, but still, I didn't 100% buy in to their relationship. His bruden and secretive nature are intriguing sure, but once the thrill of infatuation and verbal jousting wears off, I don't see his connection with Shazi as more than obsession with someone who is a novelty to him. That said, Tariq is still my favourite corner in this love triangle. Shazi's childhood friend and first love, he's determined to rescue her from what he believes to be her prison, his steadfast belief blinding him to what is in front of his eyes between Shazi and Khalid. It's header to believe in the romance between Shazi and Tariq, even though she described him as her first love, but that's probably because they're rarely together on the pages. Special mentions to Shazi's handmaiden Despina and Khalid's cousin Jalal. The relentless po-facedness of Khalid and Shazi's inner turmoil can get pretty heavy, so it's nice to get some relief with these charming, happy-go-lucky characters, even though Despina would probably be beheaded for being such a painfully unprofessional servant!It may seem odd to say, but it's worth a mention that this is one of the only YA books I've come across recently (excluding Leigh Bardugo's wonderful Six of Crows) that doesn't feature a cookie-cutter, white heroine. It doesn't happen nearly often enough and it's good to finally see some diversity breaking through into mainstream YA. This is no box-ticking exercise or white-wash of a Middle Eastern tale, it's just presented as what it is, a beautifully written, well crafted tale which happens to feature non-white leads.I was a little bit disappointed with the inclusion of magic in the story, in that it's so fleeting. There's a brief glimpse of what may or may not be a magic carpet, a curse that will destroy Khalid's kingdom if he does not take 100 lives and Shazi's father's shaky grasp over powers of his own, but they're frustratingly unexplored. Why does someone have the power to curse Khalid, yet no one else apparently has the power to reverse or remedy that curse? The character who places it is described briefly in passing, but where did he get his gift? Are such powers commonplace in Khorasan? There's a very brief mention of Shazi possibly possessing a dormant gift, but this ultimately goes nowhere in the book. The hints of magic seem to sit a little awkwardly with the real, albeit it fantastic, world setting. Hopefully this is something that will be explored a bit more in the sequel; The Rose and The Dagger. Which I have already pre-ordered.Marie Lu describes The Wrath and The Dawn as "an intoxicating gem of a story" on the cover, and loathed as I am to copy what someone else has said, I couldn't put it better myself. The story is small, the location contained, the supporting character list limited, but the simple tale, the beautifully descriptive writing and believable characters make for a heady combination that I fell utterly in love with.Review originally posted at - http://www.mikaylasbookshelf.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/the-wrath-and-dawn-review.html

“One life to one dawn.”The Wrath and the Dawn is a beautifully written retelling of A Thousand and One Nights.From what I’ve gathered, the Arabian Nights tell the tale of a King whose wife was unfaithful, so he had her executed. Lost in the bitterness of this betrayal he decides that all women are the same so he begins to marry a virgin bride each night, only to kill her the next dawn before she has the chance of betraying him. Eventually, the vizier cannot find more brides, so his daughter, Scheherazade, volunteers. On the night of their marriage, Scheherazade begins to tell the king a tale, in hopes of prolonging her life. The King, curious to know what happens next, postpones her execution. The following night, after Scheherazade finishes the tale, she immediately begins a new one, leaving the King curious to hear the conclusion and forcing him to postpone her execution once more. This goes on for a thousand and one nights.“I will live to see tomorrow’s sunset. Make no mistake. I swear. I will live to see as many sunsets as it takes. And I will kill you. With my bare hands.”Every night, a new girl is married to Khalid, the Caliph of Khorasan, and by dawn she is dead. It has been this way for the past year and the people of Khorasan live in anger for what has become of their daughters.Shahrzad, having just lost her best friend, offers herself to be the Caliph’s next bride… and the next one to die. She is set on discovering the truth behind these senseless killings and avenging the life of her friend. In order to do this, she must survive the dawn and discover the Caliph’s weakness. But she was far from imagining that she was his weakness.“She was a dangerous, dangerous girl. A plague. A Mountain of Adamant who tore the iron from ships, sinking them to their watery graves without a second thought. With a mere smile and a wrinkle of her nose.”Shahrzad has definitely become one of my favourite female characters. She is strong and passionate, honest and smart and above all she is fiercely loyal. A true queen in every sense of the word. I can’t wait to see more of her and I’m really intrigued to see where her journey leads her.“The mighty Caliph of Khorasan. The King of Kings. Her beautiful monster.”Although this is a retelling, it is still a unique story. Renée Ahdieh gives Khalid a motive for his killings. He is not just a cold-bloaded murderer. He is a man with a heart and a soul. A man haunted my past mistakes. I completely fell for Khalid’s charm. I definitely wouldn’t mind running away with him and risking execution every morning if that meant I could spend another night in his arms. He is dreamy like that.“Get up, Shahrzad al-Khayzuran. You kneel before no one. Least of all me.”(…)“You are boundless, there is nothing you can’t do.”(…)“You are not weak. You are not indecisive. You are strong. Fierce. Capable beyond measure.”Something I love about Khalid is the way he treats Shahrzad. He sees in her an equal. He has a profound respect for her and never fails to let her know of his admiration for her inner strength, her honesty and her beauty. And he is not afraid to show her how much power she holds over him.“This dangerous girl. This captivating beauty. This destroyer of worlds and creator of wonder.”(…)“A true plague of a girl. And yet a queen in every sense of the word.”The romance in this book is swoon-worthy. I loved that it didn’t happen all at once. Ahdieh took her time building a credible relationship between Shahrzad and Khalid. And it is a beautiful love story. I love Shazi and Khalid as individuals and I love them even more as a couple. I lost count of the amount of times my heart skipped a beat when Khalid said things like this:“What are you doing to me, you plague of a girl?” he whispered.“If I’m a plague, then you should keep your distance, unless you plan on being destroyed.” The weapons still in her grasp, she shoved against his chest.“No.” His hands dropped to her waist. “Destroy me.”Or this:“Love is—a shade of what I feel.”And this:“I love you, a thousand times over. And I will never apologize for it.”(Sorry for all the quotes but I can’t help it. I love them too much!)I highly recommend this book. It’s filled with romance, magic, action and mystery—everything I love in a fantasy novel. The world building is beautiful, with amazing side characters like Jalal and Despina (I can’t wait to read more about them!), aside from our wonderful main protagonists. The Wrath and the Dawn is one of the best debut novels I have ever read and it has quickly become one of my favourite books. I seriously can’t wait to read The Rose and the Dagger!“And he smiled a smile to shame the sun.”I need to see Khalid smile more almost as much as I need air! I loved this scene ♡