Series Review of The Wrath and The Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

Series: The Wrath and the Dawn

Book 1: The Wrath and the Dawn

Book 2: The Rose and The Dagger

Goodreads Description of book 1, The Wrath and 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?

My Thoughts:

The Wrath and the Dawn duology was just okay for me. I wasn't captivated by these books I know are many poeples favourites. I had a good few problems with the books but I also think my expectations affected my reading experience. I had very high expectations because this series gets so much praise. I've divided my thoughts into 2 sections so if you haven't read either book you can read my thoughts under The Wrath and the Dawn but not under The Rose and the Dagger.

The Wrath and The Dawn

I found the plot of The Wrath and The Dawn to be so slow and dull in the beginning. I was struggling until 37% and then it finally started getting interesting and I was intrigued. Then it got super slow again until 75% when it really picked up. I flew through the story from there to the end. It was so interesting and compelling. I was thinking of DNFing but the last 25% saved it for me.

The Wrath and the Dawn is classed as fantasy but the magic and world are so underdeveloped which are the two thing that are key to a fantasy novel. At one point I thought 'oh this is it, this is how we are going to explore the magic and how it works and stuff' but nope, there was nothing. There was a tiny bit of magic introduced and then the characters acted as if it never happened it was a bit unrealistic given the situation in my opinion.

I liked Shazad but didn't love her. She's very hot tempered and got herself into trouble that could have easily been avoided. She was a typical YA protagonist and had nothing that set her apart in m opinion.

I wasn't really a fan of Kahlid either. He's such an interesting character with lots of mystery surrounding him and he does soften up a bit towards the end which is the part where I started to think he was ok. I think the mystery surrounding him made it hard for me as a reader to connect with him; I couldn't relate to him or feel anything for him.

The Wrath and the Dawn was good but nothing special and definitely not what I was expecting.

My Rating: 3.5 stars

The Rose and The Dagger

*there may be spoilers in this section of the post for The Wrath and the Dawn

I had the the same problem with the plot as I did with The Wrath and the Dawn; I found it to be so slow and I really struggled; I was going to DNF it but i kept going because I figured I was past half way in the series and might as well finish it. It did pick up in the last 30%  though and I was glad I stuck it out.

I really liked how we got more of Shazi's sister Irsa. I loved her little storyline that she had in The Rose and the Dagger and it was probably my favourite part of the book.

I didn't care about the characters (apart from Irsa and Rahim) so I really struggled reading. I felt very disconnected from them, I wasn't invested in their story so I wasn't rooting for them.

The ending was alright but I do think some parts were unnecessary and could have been done in a much cleaner way.

My Rating: 3 stars

Thanks for reading,

A :)