The Wrath and the Dawn

                So if you saw my Waiting on Wednesday post yesterday then you know what to expect today.  That's right, my thoughts and feels on The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh.  First just a note you can still check out my open giveaway here for a signed copy of The Rose Society by Marie Lu.  Now onto the review.

Rating: 5 Tales

                This is a re-telling inspired by A Thousand and One Nights.  I admit to never knowing the full original story but I am fascinated by it.  Basically the land is ruled by a boy-king who takes a new bride each day as she never survives the dawn.  After her best friend is killed Shahrzad volunteers to be his wife vowing revenge.  She is determined to stay alive and put an end to this pain and madness.  Shahrzad manages to stay alive each dawn weaving stories that enchant the king as she had planned.  However, that's the only thing that went according to plan.  Khalid is nothing like she expected and instead she finds herself having feelings both for him and of her own betrayal to her friend.  She is determined to uncover the secret that has claimed so many lives no matter the cost. 

                So I have to say I listened to the audiobook.  I won a CD copy in a giveaway and it seemed perfect to listen to when I went up to visit a friend at the start of the year.  I figured 7-8 hours in the car overall would put a huge dent in the story and it did.  I was so captivated by the story, though I will admit like with fantasy this is full of names I have no idea how to spell/pronounce normally but as I listened I can say them but when I looked up some of the names to write this I was like…."yep never would have got that" so that's fun. I highly recommend the audiobook though. 

                This story was intriguing to me from the start.  I loved the internal conflict within the characters of Shahrzad and Khalid.  This isn't a simple love story.  There is so much happening from the secrets kept guarded, the stories, the characters and everything as a whole.  I really enjoyed the tales and how they played a part in the story, I'd heard some of them before of course but seeing them and how parts could relate to this story just enhanced it.  Shahrzad has a hatred for this man who took her best friend and yet as she is near him he looks tormented.  He isn't the monster she envisioned, heartless and uncaring.  Her opinions of him waver through the story which I enjoyed she appreciated his attractiveness near the start but there was no insta-love.  Definitly not that.  Still as she learns more about him she begins to know there has to be more, a deeper meaning.  On her mission to find that she develops feelings for the man she should hate which causes some serious conflict within her.  Then with Khalid you know this is hard for him, he isn't sure of himself with her which despite everything else he rules is kind of cute.  I also love that he appreciates her honesty and her attitude that most would condemn her for. 

                Okay where getting the book for spelling came into play, I really enjoyed some of the other characters as well for both good and bad reasons.  Jalal and Despina both had me laughing my behind off at some of their lines, normally in reference to Shahrzad.  Despina isn't taking anything from her and is kind of like a snarky best girl friend.  I even had to love the Rajput and his stoic silence.  The Sultan of Parthia and his daughter Yasmine were both interesting and added depth to the story and wow did I love some of the verbal smack-downs that happen though out the book.  Seriously, Shahrzad is like a smack down champ!  We didn't just focus on Shahrzad and Khalid but we also got bit from her father Jahandar and her childhood and first love Tariq and his best friend Rahim, who is like a brother to Shahrzad.  I'm not sold on the motivations of all the characters yet, some are still questionable to me but each element built a larger story. 

                That's all I can really say on this accept enjoy the world and the journey.  How do I want it to be May so I can have the sequel in my hands.  Seriously I didn't think I would be this in need of it but here I am.  I'm also in the middle of an internal debate about the sequel and if I want to pre-order the hardcopy or since I loved the audiobook so much do I want to listen to The Rose and the Dagger as well.  Conflicted.  Apparently I have a few months ahead of me to make the decision.  I'd love to hear your thoughts down below on the book, characters, and well thoughts on my internal struggle as well.

                Until next time…