I’d seen The Wrath and the Dawn floating around ever since it came out, but I was never particularly interested in reading it until I fell on my first negative review of it and I decided it was high time to find out if this book lived up to the hype.
It didn’t.
(Well not entirely)
You see, this book could’ve been amazing, I readily admit that, but there were aspects to it that overshadowed all the good parts of the story.

The good:

- The world-building was excellent. Unlike a lot of fantasy books, there was no exposition scene, or a revelation through a character telling a story or something like that, instead readers are thrust into a vaguely Arabian setting where the fine details are slowly revealed through small actions all throughout the book. While this might seem off-putting, it allows each reader to build up a world entirely their own, since there are barely any specifics. Much like the story itself, the world is a mystery to be discovered.
- Ahdieh did a wonderful job at describing Shazi’s perception of time over the course of the book. At first, like her, we are aware of every single second, but as she settles into a routine, it also becomes a routine for the reader with days flying by. Personally I was delighted by how well this was done, given the fact that time is one of the novel’s central themes.
- Expanding on that, the writing was spectacular—description wise. It was vivid, nothing bored me, and it immediately sucked me into the story; one of the things everyone else gushes over is the descriptions of the food, and I have to agree with them, I loved the way they were done (I was reading one of them while in class before lunch and, let me tell you, it did me no favours).
- The relationships between characters were something I really enjoyed. Shazi and Khalid aside (I’ll get to them further on), I loved the intricate web of relationships Ahdieh built between seemingly unconnected character, but also how those relationships developed during the course of the book. Despina’s relationship with Shazi was one that had me incredibly interested because Shazi recently lost her best friend which impacted the way she interacted with Despina and how close she was prepared to become with her. The fact that they formed a significant friendship, despite the external factors that might’ve prevented this in other cases, is heart-warming and I look forward to seeing more of it in the sequel.
- The image Shazi gave of herself was incredibly entertaining and one of my favourite things about her. I loved her sharp tongue, quick wittiness, and the way she manipulated pretty much everyone to get what she wanted. While the contrasts between what she actually felt and what she projected was incredibly well done, adding even more layers to her character.
- While there are quite a few aspects to the romance that I didn’t like, even I have to admit that some of Khalid’s words made me weak:

‘What are you doing to me, you plague of a girl?’ he whispered
‘If I’m a plague, then you should keep your distance unless you plan on being destroyed.’ The weapons still in her grasp, she shoved against his chest.
‘No.’ His hand dropped to her waist. ‘Destroy me.’
The bow and arrow clattered to the ground as he brought his mouth to hers.
(damn if that doesn’t make me melt a little)

-Ahdieh’s character in general are incredibly well constructed (with one exception) without fitting a single mould; each is unique with their own qualities and flaws while their true motivations are only hinted at, where most are concerned, which adds an extra element of mystery.

The bad:

- The insta-love. I’ve never had an issue with insta-love, personally, but this book took it a little too far. The only reason Shazi marries Khalid is to avenge her best friend, Shiva, by killing him but she starts having doubts the second day of their marriage. Beyond having spent the night together where she narrates her first story, they hadn’t really learned much about each other at that point so it seems implausible that she would have a change of heart this early on. I mean I understand that each day is supposed to feel like a life time at first, but this makes Shiva’s death feel like it only existed to further the plot, which is something I take issue with (what with being quite attached to my best friend and all).
- Khalid’s behaviour is all over the place. I don’t know if this is intentional or not, given the way he grew up and all, but one minute he’s all dark and broody and then he cracks a joke before going back to the dark and broody persona. I’m all for the ‘character A is a hardass to everyone until he meets character B who makes him melt’ trope but the way it was executed here was mildly irritating. Instead of appearing tall, dark, and handsome, Khalid came off as a melodramatic 13-year-old who believed the entire world was against him, which didn’t do many favours for his character.
- Tariq’s entire character pissed me off to no end. He’s so incredibly childish about the way he reacts to Shazi’s plan, and I feel like he should have trusted her—at least in the beginning. Honestly, I’d rather he had been a separate antagonist who saw Khalid’s weakness in Shazi, and decided to use her, rather than add this unnecessary love triangle, where it’s clear from the very start who Shazi will end up with.
- The entire reason for Khalid’s behaviour was revealed in the prologue?? I think the book would’ve been so much better if the reader learned about it at the same time as Shazi. If you haven’t read this book, do yourself a favour and skip the prologue entirely, I promise you, it’ll make for a greater reading experience.

I still can’t decide how, exactly, I feel about this book. While I liked reading it well enough, the use of Shiva’s death as a way to simply further the plot left a bad taste in my mouth from the very beginning and I would’ve preferred it if the romance had developed much slower, showing Shazi’s growing conflicting feelings over Khalid—which would’ve been mirrored in the reader. The early reveal, no doubts in hopes of getting the readers on Khalid’s start from the very beginning, robbed the story from achieving a higher potential. On the other hand, there are elements about it that I simply loved and couldn’t get enough off, ones that I really hope are present in the sequel (which I will obviously be picking up because I have so many questions after that ending).