Book Review: The Rose & the Dagger (The Wrath and the Dawn #2)

Release Date: April 26, 2016
Author: Renée Ahdieh
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers
Length: 416 pages
Source: Purchased Book

The darker the sky, the brighter the stars.

In a land on the brink of war, Shahrzad is forced from the arms of her beloved husband, the Caliph of Khorasan. She once thought Khalid a monster—a merciless killer of wives, responsible for immeasurable heartache and pain—but as she unraveled his secrets, she found instead an extraordinary man and a love she could not deny. Still, a curse threatens to keep Shazi and Khalid apart forever.

Now she’s reunited with her family, who have found refuge in the desert, where a deadly force is gathering against Khalid—a force set on destroying his empire and commanded by Shazi’s spurned childhood sweetheart. Trapped between loyalties to those she loves, the only thing Shazi can do is act. Using the burgeoning magic within her as a guide, she strikes out on her own to end both this terrible curse and the brewing war once and for all. But to do it, she must evade enemies of her own to stay alive.

The saga that began with The Wrath and the Dawn takes its final turn as Shahrzad risks everything to find her way back to her one true love again.

    

Review:

Protagonist: After the devastation in Rey, Shazi has fled with her childhood love, Tariq, to take care of her family. The problem, Tariq vows revenge against the boy-king of Khorasan for taking not only his cousin but also his love, from him. As Shazi navigates, for lack of a better term, awkward waters, Khalid is setting about fixing up his destroyed city and mourning the fact that he doesn't know where his wife is. In the camp, Shazi wishes to find a way to break her husband's curse and discovers she has enemies of her own. I love both of these characters so much, and honestly, we get to see from the view of a good number of characters in this story and each and every one were a blessing to read from. Each character nearly jumps off the pages and even Tariq gets a good amount of character development in this story.

Romance: Looking back on this story there isn't a lot of romantic development between Shazi and, well anyone really but mostly Khalid. There's no need to worry about a love triangle anymore as Shazi has already made her choice. While the romance comes into play in the actions of both Shazi and Khalid, and has a large presence in the story for that reason, Shazi and Khalid's love doesn't exactly continue to blossom, it more strengthens its resolve. There is romance in other facets of this story as well, the romance between Despina and Jalal is still yet to be resolved and there are some interesting developments in store for fans of that couple. Also, Shazi's sister Irsa even has a bit of a romance in this story.

World Building: THIS is what I wanted from the first book. In the first installment, everything felt so isolated to the Khorasan palace and while we got to see beyond its borders occasionally, we didn't really get to see the grand scope of the world. In this story, while we mostly spend our time in Khorasan, the world feels far more expansive and the world really comes to life both in its scope and the detail in the author's writing. While I wouldn't say there are a lot more characters in this story, the importance of certain characters change and so it really feels like we're getting to know a lot of great minor characters from the first book, Rahim, Irsa, even Khalid's old teacher that we meet for a bit in the first installment, but that does come at a cost of not seeing as much of previous secondary characters such as Despina and Jalal unfortunately. For me, I was pretty okay with this since everything does get tied up by the end and I got the opportunity to learn more about the characters that intrigued me from the first book.

Predictability: For the most part this story is pretty unpredictable. Of course, there were a few things that I was able to pick up on throughout the story, but on the grand scheme of things this tale definitely went places I wasn't expecting and that really added a thrill to the story. I kept wanting to read to see where things would wind up and what unexpected thing would happen next. There were quite a few times that I disturbed people with how loud I gasped.

Ending: Normally I'm not a fan of duologies. Part of it is because most of the time the author isn't planning for a duology and when they end up with one, the second installment usually seems like books 2 and 3 crammed together which really messes with the story structure, and secondly I feel like every story should have a beginning, middle, and end and with duologies it's just a beginning and an ending. With all that out of the way, I loved this duology. I love how it was presented and how it felt like a truly planned duology. I was surprised with how everything gets resolved in this story, it felt very organic to the characters participating and I appreciate how the author didn't force things to a more conventional ending. There's an epilogue that takes place a little ways down the road and it was just a perfect way to end this story. Would I like another installment in this series, or just in this world, of course, but I'm still very happy with the series we got!

Rating:

I LOVED THIS BOOK! Don't get me wrong, it's not the best thing I've ever read, but it was still excellent! I laughed, I cried, I gasped, and I was left breathless at times. Even though it took me a while to read these books I'm so happy I did!

Novella Reviews: The Wrath and The Dawn Novellas

Reviewer's Note: I've never done something like this before. I've reviewed novella compilations before, but since these stories are so short, and since there isn't a compilation of these stories, I've decided to review all three in one post. Also, please note that all three of these novellas should probably be read after The Wrath and the Dawn as they do spoil a few things that are revealed in the first book. I will be reviewing these stories like I do novella compilations, with short 1-2 paragraph reviews on each one. I hope you enjoy!

Release Date: March 22, 2016
Author: Renée Ahdieh
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers
Length: 26 pages
Source: Library E-Book

It started as playful, if barbed, banter before rising to a fateful wager with a most notorious rake—the Captain of the Guard, Jalal al-Khoury—who may have finally met his match in a lovely, if haughty, handmaiden, Despina. But she, too, seems to have met her match in the handsome Jalal. What begins as a tempestuous battle of will and wit in short order becomes a passionate affair spurred on by tragedy of the worst kind.

    

Review:

I loved Despina in the first book as was excited to see more from her in this novella, as well as her relationship with Jalal. This story is perfect for those wanting to know more about how they met and their personal chemistry. However, this is also a story of Despina soon after she becomes the handmaiden to the calipha and her brief interactions with Ava. There isn't much to say more than that. I love these characters and their interactions are so well written and spark with electric chemistry. It was fun reading about these characters before the series starts, but it doesn't seem to have anything necessary shown, more like a deleted scene (or several) that helps to fill out the story a bit more.

Rating:

Even though this didn't have anything necessary in its text and it was rather short, it was a fun story that helped deepen a couple fan favorite characters. If you love Despina and Jalal, this story is for you!

Release Date: March 1, 2016

Author: Renée Ahdieh
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers

Length: 18 pages

Source: Free E-Book

Seventy-one days and seventy-one nights had come and gone since Khalid began killing his brides. This dawn, Khalid would mark the loss of the seventy-second girl, Shahrzad al-Khayzuran. Khalid didn’t know how many more of these dawns he could take. And there was something about this latest girl that piqued his interest. Not only had she volunteered to marry him, but at their wedding ceremony, she had seemed not the least bit afraid. In fact, what he had seen in her eyes was nothing short of pure hatred. She was about to lose her life. Why wasn’t she afraid? Why did she hate him so? He had never before gone to his wife’s chambers before her death at dawn. Tonight would be different.

    

Review:

Honestly, there's only one point to this short story, to see how Khalid reacted to Shazi prior to TWATD. On the whole, I enjoyed what was pretty much a deleted scene from the first book, in all honesty, it could have been slid into the beginning of TWATD  without changing much of anything. I don't think anything was spoiled and it's so short that nothing really happens, so if you're a fan of Khalid and want to know his first thoughts of Shazi this one's for you!

Rating:

If this was marketed as a deleted scene or a bonus scene from a special edition, I wouldn't have batted an eye and it probably would have gotten five stars since it's a rather interesting scene, but since it was marketed as a short story, and there isn't all that much story here, I had to knock off a star.

Release Date: April 26, 2016

Author: Renée Ahdieh
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers

Length: 11 pages

Source: Free E-Book

The city of Rey is burning. With smoke billowing, fires blazing and his people fleeing, Khalid races back to defend his city, and protect his queen. But Khalid is too late to do either. He and his men arrive to find the city in ruins, nothing but a maze of destruction, and Shahrzad is gone. But who could have wrought such devastation? Khalid fears he may already know the answer, the price of choosing love over the people of Rey all too evident.

    

Review:

Did you ever want to know the reason Khalid didn't saddle up his horse and ride out after Shazi at the end of TWATD? Well, this is the deleted scene for you. I'm sorry, but I refuse to call it a short story. This scene shows Khalid learning of his city on fire and racing to find the people he loves among the chaos of the city. All in all, it was an interesting chapter, showing some of what happened in Rey after Shazi left, but like the other extra stories in this world, it doesn't add any necessary details.

Rating:

Much like with The Crown and the Arrow, this would have probably gotten five stars if marketed correctly. I mean, it is a free deleted scene which is great, since it's extremely short. I did really enjoy this scene as I do feel it fills out the story a bit.

Book Review: The Wrath and the Dawn (The Wrath and the Dawn #1)

Release Date: May 12, 2015
Author: Renée Ahdieh
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Length: 404 pages
Source: Gifted Book

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:

Protagonist: Shahrzad could do nothing as the Caliph of Khorasan married her best friend and killed her come dawn, but she won't let him win. Now as his new bride she plans on not only surviving but figuring out why her friend had to die, and killing her new husband. Shazi is a very strong-willed character who never lets someone else tell her what to do. she has a barbed tongue that will lash out whenever she wants and usually is some spectacular ways. Her development over the course of this first installment was done really well. Ever since Khalid started killing his brides Shazi has had one point of view on what must be going on inside the palace but given time she comes to understand things in a new light, but her search of the truth can get the better of her at times.

Romance: So going into this I knew Khalid and Shazi were going to have a romantic relationship, I mean, come on it's a retelling of 1001 Nights, but what I wasn't expecting is for Shazi to have an established romance at the beginning of this story that wasn't Khalid, and honestly I wish she didn't. Don't get me wrong, I'm never immediately opposed to established romantic relationships or love triangles for that matter, but here it just didn't work for me because I could never take Tariq, Shazi's childhood love, seriously as a contender. While I did like Shazi and Khalid's romance a lot, in fact,  it was one of those "hate to love" romances I can never get enough of for some reason, it wasn't without its problems, mainly that Khalid has killed his previous wives and Shazi, as well as the reader, doesn't know why. Still, while I wish there wasn't a love triangle, mainly because it doesn't feel necessary, nor was there enough time given to flesh out Shazi and Tariq's relationship in any meaningful way, I still wound up enjoying the romance between Khalid and Shazi and can't wait to see how everything plays out in the end.

World Building: While I do love that we get shifting third-person points of view and that we do get to see outside the palace walls, I still felt like there wasn't all that much to see in this world. Don't get me wrong the palace is described beautifully and there was nothing about the world building that was confusing to me, it's just that, especially with Shazi's maidservant and friend, Despina being from a Greece-like country, I wish we had just seen a bit more of the world.  This world never felt flat to me, I feel like the author did a fantastic job of letting the reader know how everything looked, it just felt very isolated and I feel that with the main focus being on Shazi, who spends nearly all her time in this story within the palace, It just never felt as full as it could have.

Predictability: With this being a retelling, albeit an interesting retelling that changes up the main character's main motivation and gives her a more hardened persona, it was pretty easy to see where things were going. There were a few good twists here and there and I really did like how the answers to the main mystery were revealed over the course of the story. Looking back while there is a solid storyline through this book, there weren't a whole lot of subplots that really felt like they mattered beyond a certain point, I mean there are definitely things happening behind the scenes and in the shadows, but because the focus was on Shazi, whose story, since it was a retelling, didn't feel all that in jeporady or high stakes, nothing that happened with the other characters really felt like it mattered, or in one instant didn't make all that much sense until, maybe, the end.

Ending: I have yet to read a conclusion to one of Ahdieh's duologies, so I don't know much about how she structures her stories and series on the whole, but I do really like how she decides to end things after the first book. Granted, I've only read the beginnings of two of her stories, but it seems like in both there's a big shift that happens, something that opens up the storytelling in a way that there wasn't all that much access to in the first installment. The final climax of this book went about as well as could be expected and honestly while I'm not a big fan of how Shazi's story ends in this installment, I'm hoping for great things come part two!

Rating:

I can't believe I'm giving this book 4 stars, I mean I enjoyed this book a whole lot, but after having some time to think about it, for me at least, the love triangle, while I understand its role in the story, just fell flat for me, and the world felt sort of isolated. Still, though, this is an insanely fun adventure and I can't wait to see how everything comes to an end!

Blog Tour Book Review: Blood Passage (Dark Caravan Cycle #2) + GIVEAWAY!

Release Date: March 1, 2016
Author: Heather Demetrios
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Length: 496 pages
Source: ARC from Publisher

A jinni who's lost everything.

A master with nothing to lose.

A revolutionary with everything to gain.

When Nalia arrives in Morocco to fulfil Malek's third and final wish she's not expecting it to be easy. Though Nalia is free from the shackles that once bound her to Malek as his slave, she's in more danger than ever before.

Meanwhile, Malek's past returns with a vengeance as he confronts the darkness within himself, and Raif must decide what's more important: his love for Nalia, or his devotion to the cause of Arjinnan freedom.

Set upon by powerful forces that threaten to break her, Nalia encounters unexpected allies and discovers that her survival depends on the very things she thought made her weak. From the souks of Marrakech to the dunes of the Sahara, The Arabian Nights come to life in this dazzling second installment of the Dark Passage Cycle.

    

Review:

Protagonist: After gaining her freedom from her bottle Nalia still finds herself beholden to Malek and his final wish for her to take him to the Solomon's Sigil, a ring that can control all jinni. Now, Nalia has never been a shy or meek character, in fact she's probably one of the toughest protagonists I've read about, she's got a quick wit and she isn't afraid to put her money where her mouth is. Best of all she's not overly impulsive, she thinks through her big decisions. Does she always come to the correct conclusion? No, but she put thought behind her choices. In this book she gets only stronger, she goes through many struggles in this book, both physical and emotional and while she still has some growing to do by the end, her experiences in this book will no doubt have a lasting impact on her.

Romance: So once again we are given the love triangle between Raif/Nalia/Malek. Now as much of a crazy, obsessive, possessive, vain, power hungry, jerk Malek is, he does have his moments in this book. There aren't a lot and he really only does them because he wants to impress or at the very least not piss of Nalia, but there are moments where it's easy to see that, in his own twisted way, he really does love her. Of course not long after he undoubtedly reinforces my original opinions of him. There's some drama between Nalia and Raif too, there are some things they don't know about each other and some things they still need to confess to each other. Things the other may not want to hear.

World-Building: Moving away from America we move into Morocco, one of the most densely populated jinni areas on Earth. As our heroes search for the ring we learn more about their pasts and the jinni world as a whole. While we have yet to actually see Arjinna, I really didn't mind. This world is so beautiful and expansive. In this book we learn more about the jinni on Earth and those who were under the control of Solomon. As I said, we also learn more about the pasts of our characters, mainly Malek, though this book is by no means focused on him. We learn more about his family and where he came from.

Predictability: So there's a lot to this book that I wasn't expecting. At first things seemed to go much like how I imagined they would, but then before even getting halfway through, things take an unexpected turn and there's no going back. The foreshadowing in this book is rather light, there are a few things I could pick up here and there, but for the bigger twists, the ones that completely took my breath away, there was no way I saw them coming. I do feel like one of the major twists was a bit premature, like there was still some things left to be explored before things changed, but other than that I was pretty much sucked in by these moments.

Ending: So, there was this moment near the end, I was waiting for a final climactic moment. I wanted to see a fight, some sort of struggle, and for our heroes to defeat some great threat, and well, be careful what you wish for. There was a fight, but it was over way too quickly. Now there is a final climax but's it's much more emotional than it is a physical fight, which given the prime threat they had I would have loved to see something more drawn out. The cool down period was rather nice, there was quite a bit of set up for the final installment in this trilogy, culminating in one killer cliffhanger.

Rating:

So this book was hard for me to rate, par of me feels like it deserves a higher rating, this book was very hard to put down and I loved so much about it, but there were just a few things that I felt either happened too soon or were over too quickly. Overall though I really enjoyed this installment and can't wait to see how everything turns out in the final installment.

About the Author:

When she’s not traipsing around the world or spending time in imaginary places, Heather Demetrios lives with her husband in New York City. Originally from Los Angeles, she now calls the East Coast home. Heather has an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts and is a recipient of the PEN New England Susan P. Bloom Discovery Award for her debut novel, Something Real. Her other novels include Exquisite Captive, the first in the Dark Caravan Cycle fantasy series, and I’ll Meet You There. She is the founder of Live Your What, an organization dedicated to fostering passion in people of all ages and creating writing opportunities for underserved youth. Find out more about Heather and her books atwww.heatherdemetrios.com and www.darkcaravancycle.com, or come hang out with her on Twitter (@HDemetrios) and any number of social media sites.

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Tour Schedule:

WEEK ONE
February 22 Such A Novel Idea REVIEW
February 23 A Dream Within A Dream 10’s LIST
                           City of Books REVIEW
February 24 The Cover Contessa EXCERPT
February 25 Adventures of A Book Junkie INTERVIEW
                            Wholly-Books REVIEW
February 26 Falling For YA MUSIC PLAYLIST
                           Bookaholics Anonymous REVIEW

WEEK TWO
February 29 Swoony Boys Podcast REVIEW
March 1 Gone With The Words 10 RANDOM THINGS
                   What Sarah Read REVIEW
March 2 Zach’s YA Reviews REVIEW
March 3 Curling Up WIth A Good Book REVIEW
                   Wishful Endings REVIEW
March 4 Bookfever REVIEW

The Forbidden Wish by Jessica Khoury (WOW #6)

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that everyone’s excited about!

She is the most powerful Jinni of all. He is a boy from the streets. Their love will shake the world... 

When Aladdin discovers Zahra's jinni lamp, Zahra is thrust back into a world she hasn't seen in hundreds of years -- a world where magic is forbidden and Zahra's very existence is illegal. She must disguise herself to stay alive, using ancient shape-shifting magic, until her new master has selected his three wishes. 

But when the King of the Jinn offers Zahra a chance to be free of her lamp forever, she seizes the opportunity—only to discover she is falling in love with Aladdin. When saving herself means betraying him, Zahra must decide once and for all: is winning her freedom worth losing her heart?

As time unravels and her enemies close in, Zahra finds herself suspended between danger and desire in this dazzling retelling of Aladdin from acclaimed author Jessica Khoury.


The Forbidden Wish releases on February 23, 2016 from Razorbill

I'm a huge fan of fairy-tale/classic story retellings and this one looks to be particularly unique. I'm not all that well versed with the tales from The 1001 Nights, but Aladdin is one I'm sure everyone knows and I can't wait to see how this story will unfold.

So, what are you waiting for this Wednesday?