I picked up The Wrath and the Dawn because everyone has been raving about this book since it came out.
The Wrath and the Dawn is inspired by A Thousand and One Nights, which I have never read but get the gist of the story. I really felt like this book was telling a story, the language used to describe moments was flowery and painted a pretty picture. I really enjoyed this aspect.
My Thoughts
The first 60% of the book was about romance and it was annoying. Shahrzad volunteers to be the next wife of the Caliph of Khorasan so she can kill him and get revenge for her best friend Shiva, who was an ex-wive killed not long before. Yet all Shahrzad does is pine for the Caliph, she has no plans, no idea what she's doing, and the story shows it. This is more of a romance and I just wanted more story. She's portrayed as a sassy, feisty woman and I loved it when she was on fire. She was satisfying to read because she took no shit. The only downfall was that she was quite weak when it came to the Caliph, her resolve failed almost instantly in my opinion. She came across as feisty but inside she had no idea what she wanted, she wasn't confident or dedicated to her original plan at all.
There were moments when you thought the story would move in a different direction, elusive moments that made you excited to see where it would go, why it was mentioned and why at that moment. Yet those plot lines didn't show up in this book at all. It's quite clear though that they will be followed in the next books which I'm excited about because they were the most interesting parts to this story.
I found myself asking 'why' a lot. Why is the first half of the story about romance? Why does Shahrzad focus so much on how she feels rather than doing what she went there to do? Why does the Caliph kill all of his brides? I wanted to know what was going to happen so the suspense kept me reading.
Characters
The characters felt like they were placeholders to move the story along, I can't really describe the feeling I was getting, but I didn't develop any attachment to any of the characters. They were paper thin to me and I saw them as a means to get the story from point A to point B.
Khalid is the boy King that kills his wives the morning after marrying them; most of the story he's a mystery. Shahrzad desperately wants to find out more about him (Which clashes with her original plan of murdering him) but he refuses to let her in and tell her his secrets.
Despina is Shahrzads handmaiden, except she introduces herself as a spy the first time Shahrzad meets her. Worst spy in the world. She falls under Shahrzads spell straight away, she doesn't feel like a threat at all, in fact she doesn't carry out any duties that you would expect a spy to carry out. She's introduced as a spy but it ends up meaning nothing, I was disappointed with this lack of opportunistic storyline.
Jalal is the Caliphs cousin that pushes the boundaries. Jalal was the character that tried to reason with the Caliph. If Khalid was going to do something that would destroy his life Jalal would step in and talk him out of it.
Tariq is the man in love with Shahrzad and is convinced he is going to save her. We get to see some of the story from his point of view, which to me makes me realize he's the link to the other side of the story. This story isn't just about Shahrzad and her revenge (Or her love - I hope), I just hope it makes the next book more interesting.
All of these characters feel like cardboard cut outs to me, I am made to feel nothing for them in the story, I really don't care who they are or what they're doing. I feel like none of them really connect with Shahrzad, therefore the readers don't get to connect with them either.
Simply
The Wrath and the Dawn is mostly a story about a woman trying really hard not to fall in love with her best friends murderer. And fails. Quite spectacularly. And within the first 3 days of meeting the Caliph as well. I wasn't entirely sure what the story was in this book. Was it about love? Was it about revenge? Was it about magic? I kept reading and wondering where the story was going, when was the actual story going to happen?
I enjoyed this book, but I didn't love it because the story felt unclear. It wasn't the story I thought it was going to be.
I would have liked The Wrath and the Dawn more if I hadn't started it with such high expectations. I thought I was in for a story about revenge, adventure and magic, but it ended up being about romance and... romance. The way this book ended with a cliffhanger means I will definitely be picking up the next one but will lower my expectations so hopefully I will enjoy it more. My interest has been piqued and now I must see where this story goes.
By all means The Wrath and the Dawn wasn't a boring book, it was rather entertaining, but it wasn't very engaging and nor was it different. It felt like a light read that you pick up to enjoy, not to be blown away by. If that makes sense.
Have you read this book? What were your feelings on it? Did it match up to all of the hype in your opinion?
Always,
Jordon
This review was originally posted on Simply Adrift