This was such a good ending to a duology! The Wrath and the Dawn will always be my favourite! I think for me, it was because of the characters. In TWATD, we get to see so much of Shazi and Khalid's relationship. We also get to see Jalal and Khalid's interactions, and Despina's charm and sassiness. I loved all of that so much! It had me squealing every few seconds and I had to put the book down because it was just too cute and too much for my poor heart to handle!

TRATD was different. We have new characters introduced. Khalid and Rahim become more important. And there wasn't a lot of Khalid and Shazi. I read in a review that the relationship we see between Khalid and Shazi in TRATD is more mature and I have to agree. I did miss the sexual tension from the first book though. At the same time, it was a nice change in focus – from the romance to the more political aspect of the story. The only problem I had was that it felt like it wasn't political enough, if that makes sense. TRATD almost felt like it was trying to get there, but didn't quite reach it. Which leads to my other point...

The first half of the book was really slow, almost to the point where I was getting bored. Instead of putting down the book because I couldn't handle the adorableness, I was putting it down because I was scared I'd get into a reading slump. Once Shazi learned how to use the magic carpet, that's when things started to pick up.

As for the new/old characters...I loved Tariq's character arc in this story! His scene with Khalid was perfectly done and it was nice to see the love triangle resolved so well. It was realistic, but at the same time I really felt for Tariq. I think the part where Rahim died really made Tariq realize that he needs to think before acting, cause actions have consequences.

Rahim wasn't exactly a favourite character for me from TWATD. He didn't do much except follow Tariq around. In TRATD, he's a little bit better. I liked how he jumped forward to fight Khalid during the scene at the well. And his relationship with Irsa was cute. I liked how he was there for her, when Shazi was so busy and distracted. BUT HIS DEATH...I've never felt so distraught! And just after he told her he loved her! It was so horrible, and I just wanted to hug Irsa!

Irsa was a character that I wasn't really sure about. I found her to be kind of annoying, but at the same time I understood why she was the way she was. She just wanted to know what was going on and she wanted to help. I liked her character arc – going from a quiet, timid person, to someone much stronger and confident. I wish the whole analogy of the mouse hadn't been used so much though, cause it felt overdone. I think the reason I found myself not really loving Irsa's character is because I see a lot of myself in her, and I guess I just didn't want to come to terms with it. When she goes to see Rahim's body and tells him:

"I have felt alone for most of my life. Until you. But I promise I won't feel alone anymore. I will never forget. I will always remember."

*cries* This just made me feel so much for her. It also made me sad that no one noticed her, including Shazi. I think it's an important message for anyone reading this, and I definitely learned from it.

Irsa's relationship with Khalid and Khalid becoming more open was honestly my favourite! I loved the scene with the two of them in Tariq's tent and afterwards when Khalid holds her as she cries – I was literally ugly crying (inside). SO GOOD.

When Jalal and Khalid had their falling out, I was so upset. I loved their banter together, but seeing Jalal so hurt and Khalid so confused just sent me through a rollercoaster of emotions. I wish Jalal had been in TRATD more. I missed him so much. He was barely there in the beginning, and then he showed up in the end. When he told Khalid he was going to be a father, I totally thought Khalid knew he was talking about Despina. Then when Despina left with the Rajput, I thought Khalid would say something to Jalal, but I guess he's sort of oblivious to what's going on around him, which is totally like Khalid. I wish we could have seen a better reunion b/w the two though.

Speaking of Despina, when she walked out all regal-like, I literally wanted to throw my book cause I was pissed that she was a spy and was the daughter of the Sultan of Parthia. But then I totally guessed that she was going to help Shazi escape. I loved seeing more of Vikram too, and he actually talked for once!!! The reunion scene b/w Despina and Jalal felt like something out of a movie, which I think really worked well for their characters!

Okay, so...the ending. The reviews I've read, a lot of them mentioned that the ending was kind of too fast. And I totally agree. I felt like the whole book was building up to a huge battle scene, but then that didn't end up happening. The "battle" (if you can call it that), was briefly mentioned, then the Sultan surrendered, and it was over. I liked the strategics when it came to the battle, but I live for that stuff and would have loved for it to be more fully explored. I did like how Yasmine came onto the good side and spoke out against her father. And I liked seeing the Sultan terrified cause he's horrible and I hate him lol

But the thing I want to talk about is Jahandar. I was hoping for a redemption arc. And it kind of happened, but I didn't really like the way it was done.

I had a feeling that the book was connected to the curse, but Artan's Aunt also mentioned it being related to Artan's parents which was never really clarified. When Khalid broke the curse...eh I don't know...I was expecting something crazy to happen. Like Jahandar riding up on a horse shooting fireballs at him to try and prevent him from destroying the book. But it was over so quickly, especially considering that the curse was such a huge part of the series – it was almost too well tied up. I was really hoping that Jahandar would realize his mistake and do something while he was in Amardha, but that didn't happen either. Then we have a "Snape" moment at the very end, when Jahandar gets angry and stabs Khalid because Khalid took everything from him, then realizes his mistake so gives his life in exchange for his daughter's happiness. I guess this was supposed to redeem him, but I just didn't feel it. It was a nice thing that he did, but I don't think it makes up for his other actions. I'm just glad Shazi didn't pull a Harry and name her son after Jahandar.

The last chapter of the book was just plain ADORABLE! Seeing Khalid as a dad made my heart squeal and I love him even more! I love how Irsa is becoming a healer and how Tariq has moved on (I'd totally like to see a short story of him and Yasmine together!). And Jalal and Despina have a cute little girl and I JUST WANT TO HUG ALL OF THEM! I LOVE THEM SO MUCH!

This turned out to be a lot longer than I wanted, but I feel like I mentioned quite a few things I wasn't totally happy with, but ended up giving this book a 4 stars anyway. The only way to explain it is that overall everything was really good, even though it wasn't to the same extent as TWATD. The ending was cute, the writing was perfect, and the character development was amazing! Despite the few flaws, I highly recommend this series!