Title: The Wrath and the Dawn  

Author: Renee Ahdieh

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Publisher: G.P. Putnam

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 404

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Synopsis (Goodreads):

One Life to One Dawn.

In a land ruled by a murderous boy-king, each dawn brings heartache to a new family. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, is a monster. Each night he takes a new bride only to have a silk cord wrapped around her throat come morning. When sixteen-year-old Shahrzad’s dearest friend falls victim to Khalid, Shahrzad vows vengeance and volunteers to be his next bride. Shahrzad is determined not only to stay alive, but to end the caliph’s reign of terror once and for all.

Night after night, Shahrzad beguiles Khalid, weaving stories that enchant, ensuring her survival, though she knows each dawn could be her last. But something she never expected begins to happen: Khalid is nothing like what she’d imagined him to be. This monster is a boy with a tormented heart. Incredibly, Shahrzad finds herself falling in love. How is this possible? It’s an unforgivable betrayal. Still, Shahrzad has come to understand all is not as it seems in this palace of marble and stone. She resolves to uncover whatever secrets lurk and, despite her love, be ready to take Khalid’s life as retribution for the many lives he’s stolen. Can their love survive this world of stories and secrets?

Review:

Ok so I wasn’t sure what to expect with this book. I didn’t enjoy the stories in A Thousand and One Nights, so with this being a retelling, I was a bit hesitant to start this duology. Then when I did start it, it was a bit slow and I couldn’t really figure out the characters. Then at about 100 pages in I was hooked. So completely hooked. Like this surpassed my wildest dreams and I am so happy I read this book.

So the main character, Shazi, marries the young caliph to revenge her cousin: the caliph murders his wives the first morning after he marries them, and her cousin fell victim to this crime. Shazi vows to end his life and revenge her cousin, but that may not prove as simple as it seems.

The romance, the intrigue, the pain and suffering were all woven beautifully in this book and I loved it! The characters were very well developed and I could not put this book down. If you are a fan of YA, then I highly recommend this book.

Happy reading!