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

The Wrath & the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

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Synopsis:

Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, is a monster. Each night he takes a new wife, only to have her killed by sunrise.

Shahrzad is the first to volunteer to become Khalid’s bride. She vows to stop his reign of terror – for the friend she lost, and all those who perished before her.

Incredibly, Shahrzad manages to survive her first morning… then the next.

Night after night, she mesmerizes the Caliph with her storytelling – at once buying time and digging deeper into the elusive boy-king’s past.

If Khalid is truly the murderous madman everyone says he is, how does Shahrzad find it so easy to fall for him?

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~SPOILER ALERT~

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I’m going to go ahead and start with the characters.

I like Shazi for the most part but sometimes she really annoys me. I don’t know what it is. I like her sass and her fierceness but sometimes I can’t help rolling my eyes at her.

Is it bad that I like the caliph? I do, I really do. And in fact, I disliked Tariq from the beginning so I’m glad she didn’t love him as much.

I like Jalal. He’s funny when it’s necessary but can also be serious.

I still love Despina, I hope she has a large role in the sequel.

Alright. My first issue is that Shazi and Khalid slept together. It didn’t make sense and she supposedly hated him so what was the point? I felt that she did it simply because they were married and she felt that she was supposed to and I have a huge problem with that because it sends an awful message. And it happened more than once, which really didn’t make sense to me. Also, how did she manage to start falling in love with someone after just three days? I mean, I appreciate the lack of insta love but really? She even admits later that she knows nothing about him so how did she “fall for him”?

If you know me, you know I hate love triangles. The whole thing with Yasmine felt unnecessary. Khalid never loved her and she knew that, yet she felt that she had the right to approach Shazi and assert herself as an enemy just because she “loved” her husband. He never loved her so I don’t see how she came to the conclusion that she was a threat. That’s petty and childish. He doesn’t love you, move on. And then there’s Tariq. I get why he originally wanted to go and rescue Shazi at first. He knew her original plan and thought that she needed help. I get that. However, after he saw them together and realized that she was at peace in the palace, he should have left it alone. I’m guessing he’s the one that told the caliph about everything? That’s childish. I’m glad he told him about Shiva but everything else was just to boost his own ego. And then why would he go ahead and kill Vikram when Shazi asked him not to? I know, he probably would have died but he did more harm than good that way because Shazi cared about him. I’m really hoping that Tariq grows up and gets over the fact that she loves someone else now. You can’t force people to love you just because you love them.

I feel like this whole magical element should have been introduced earlier because it seems a bit out of place. If there were a prologue that did it or one of Shazi’s stories had introduced flying carpets or people who can control fire it would have been a smoother introduction I think.

I’m so pissed that Reza joined forces with the fucking Sultan of Parthia. Ugh I hate that man so much.

Now that I’ve finished the first novel, I have so many questions. Why did Jalal want her to leave? Does the caliph know she’s okay? Will he go find her? Where is Irsa? What are these magical powers Shazi supposedly has? Where was Despina? What happens now that Jalal knows about the baby? When will the magic carpet come into play? Is Jahandar burning down the city the fulfillment of the curse?

I need answers!

This gets 3.5 stars.

I’ll be back with a review of the last novella.

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