The Rose & the Dagger (The Wrath and the Dawn)

This book is interesting and I love reading books based on cultures I don't automatically encounter in main stream culture. I really liked it, but was frustrated by the seemingly easy solution at the end of the book. I don't highly recommened this book, but I don't regret reading it.

A great sequel and conclusion to this beautiful love story. With twist that I didn't see coming and the intrigue of this magical world, I never wanted it to end. Recommend for everyone who want to read a lovely written love story !

I really enjoyed discovering how this tale would end. There were a few surprises to be found as well. The first book left me wanting to know more immediately and I'm happy to say this one brought a satisfying conclusion. I like the strong female characters and the fact that the romance isn't the only thing happening. I would recommend this to my YA friends.

Original Post: The Rose and the Dagger at FLYLēF (reviews.flylef.com)

HIGHLY ACCLAIMED AUTHOR Renée Ahdieh returns to the vividly exotic Middle Eastern culture she created in The Wrath and the Dawn with a stunning sequel—The Rose and the Dagger. It’s beautifully written with gorgeous world building, searing romance, rich characters, and an unexpectedly poignant finish.

Obviously, I liked this book—a 5 of 5! But, it isn’t without some quibbles like uneven pacing, cartoony magic (Disney’s Aladdin has ruined me!), and other hairsplitting complaints. However, here are all the other reasons I do love about it...

It was easy to forget that I was sitting in my living room within the first few chapters of The Rose and the Dagger. Ms. Ahdieh further improves upon “a palace of marble and stone” transporting me from the grainy dunes of the Sea of Sand to the brutally beautiful, wintry fortress high above the clouds.

The sizzling romance that continues between Shahrzad and Khalid was adeptly written with just the right amount of reticence, desire, and anticipation. It was tasteful and romantic. There were also new romances. They were not as passionate as Shahrzad and Khalid’s, yet I found them tender and sweet. They were lovely side vignettes that were equally heart wrenching and full of emotions.

I didn’t feel that this sequel was entirely about Shahrzad and Khalid as I did in the first book. It felt that a larger number of characters had a stake in the outcome of the story, and I loved that the story moved forward though character-driven conflicts! This attests to the fact that Ms. Ahdieh writes characters that are continuously evolving. This allows for so much more suspense as the shifting of alliances begin to unravel, and I was spinning in circles as to which way “the tides of fortune” would turn.

The Rose and the Dagger ended with just the right amount of heartache and tenderness, giving it the kind of bittersweet closure that I enjoy. In a moment of quiet contemplation, it also hit me as to how powerful the ending truly was. For it was in one father’s love for his daughter that cursed a whole kingdom; it was in another father’s love for his daughter that restores the kingdom. Proving that, love is always the answer—a very poetic ended to this duology. It deserves all the stars in the sky!

***Review posted on The Eater of Books! blog***

The Rose & The Dagger by Renee Ahdieh
Book Two of The Wrath & The Dawn series
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: April 26, 2016
Rating: 4 stars
Source: Preordered copy

Summary (from Goodreads):

I am surrounded on all sides by a desert. A guest, in a prison of sand and sun. My family is here. And I do not know whom I can trust.

In a land on the brink of war, Shahrzad has been torn from the love of her husband Khalid, the Caliph of Khorasan. She once believed him a monster, but his secrets revealed a man tormented by guilt and a powerful curse—one that might keep them apart forever. Reunited with her family, who have taken refuge with enemies of Khalid, and Tariq, her childhood sweetheart, she should be happy. But Tariq now commands forces set on destroying Khalid's empire. Shahrzad is almost a prisoner caught between loyalties to people she loves. But she refuses to be a pawn and devises a plan.

While her father, Jahandar, continues to play with magical forces he doesn't yet understand, Shahrzad tries to uncover powers that may lie dormant within her. With the help of a tattered old carpet and a tempestuous but sage young man, Shahrzad will attempt to break the curse and reunite with her one true love.

What I Liked:

I already know that I have no idea how to review this book. It was utterly beautiful, just as breathtaking as one would expect. I knew I would love it, and I did. It's getting four stars from me, but my true rating is 4.5 stars. I am so in love with this duology! The story is definitely a favorite of mine. So don't mind too much if this review is short or vague or a bunch of fangirling!

At the end of The Wrath & The Dawn, Shahrzad left Khorasan - and Khalid - and went to the desert, where her family had taken refuge. Her father was badly burned by a book of his (if you read book one, you know why). Irsa, Shahrzad's sister, has grown in Shahrzad's absence. And Tariq is distant, no longer the friend Shahrzad remembers. Shazi is determined to find a way to break Khalid's curse, and with the help of an ally, she may have found a way. Back at Khorasan. Khalid has been helping his city rebuild. He mourns the disappearance of his love, but a greater danger is looming. While Shazi is in the desert, learning her dormant powers and hunting for a way to help Khalid, Khalid is determined not to sacrifice any more girls, and to help his city recover.

One of the best things that Ahdieh did was reunite Shazi and Khalid *fairly* quickly. It was about 150 pages into the book, so you could look at that as quickly or not quickly. I thought it was pretty quick. A LOT happens in the first 150 pages though, mostly on Shazi's side.

Shazi is steadfast in her love for Khalid. Though she is in the desert and surrounded by her family that does not know the depth of her feelings for the "monster boy-king", she never wavers. She protects herself and defends herself and never stops trying to find a way back to Khalid. She isn't trapped in the desert (hello, flying carpet!), but she wants to return with good news for him.

We are introduced to some secondary characters that I adore. Irsa, Shazi's younger sister, is only fourteen (going on fifteen) but she is tough and strong and totally underestimated. Rahim is a soldier and Tariq's best friend. I like Rahim and Irsa's budding romance. I don't like Tariq and never will. Same with Shazi's father. We don't see too much of Jalal, or Despina, or the Rajput, but we learn more about them on personal levels, and they all play a huge role in the book. I didn't love Jalal like I did in book one, but he has good reason for being the jerk he was in this book.

Khalid. Khalid deserves his own paragraph. I love this man of few words, with few expressions and few weaknesses. He is misjudged though not underestimated, and he carries a heavy burden that most do not know of or understand. I love his fierce protectiveness over Shazi, and how he lets her be and doesn't try to control her. I love how he loves her. I love how she loves him.

I love the romance. Looking back, I don't even know how I was worried about a love triangle. Tariq had no chance with Khalid in existence. Even with Khalid not in existence... Shazi loved Tariq as a friend. I felt a little bad for Tariq, but also I didn't, because he is a huge idiot and deserves terrible things that never came his way. There were many unforgivable things he did, especially in this book. Anyway, I loved the romance between Khalid and Shazi. I love how it blossoms, how they lean on each other and trust each other. I love how their relationship never wavers, only strengthens.

The big-picture issue in the series goes beyond Khalid's curse - there are masses that want to destroy Khalid's empire. I like how the author intersects these two important points of the story - Khalid's curse, and the impending war.

So, characters were amazing. Khalid was my favorite, Shahrzad in close second. The character development was well-written. The writing was absolutely beautiful. The romance was wonderful. This conclusion novel was all kinds of stunning!

The ending is a rollercoaster! But so, so satisfying (except for one thing, which I will mention next). I am in love with this story! I adore how the author ends the series - it seemed pretty wonderful to me. And you know how much I love a good HEA!

What I Did Not Like:

Khalid and Jalal have a sort of, um, disagreement, in this book. And Jalal says some pretty harsh things and turns his back on Khalid. Given the epilogue, from what I can indirectly infer, this fight is very much in the past, by the end of the book. But I wish the author would have shown the reconciliation between the two cousins, explicitly. In fact, Jalal all but disappears from the story, after this argument. I wanted to see the men patch things up, do the bromance thing. This is my one complaint about this book - their relationship needed to be addressed, at the end of the book, when all was said and done.

Would I Recommend It:

I highly highly HIGHLY recommend this book. And the first book. Haven't read The Wrath & The Dawn? Fix that. There is no reason not to, now that the series is complete! Plus there are a few short stories on the store that are free (and one Jalal/Despina novella that is $1.99) to enjoy as well - not that you *need* to read any of those. This series, overall, is easily a favorite. I don't throw around the word "favorite" often!

Rating:

4.5 stars -> rounded down to 4 stars. While this book isn't one of my rarely dubbed favorites, this series in general definitely is. Thank you, Renee Ahdieh, for blessing the world with your beautifully written story of Khalid and Shahrzad.

Let me preface this review by saying that I really liked The Wrath and the Dawn - even with its flaws. However, the issues I had with The Rose & the Dagger were a bit more difficult to overlook.

The three stars are given without hesitation to the intriguing Middle Eastern influenced world, the well-developed characters, and the realistically depicted relationships (both romantic and platonic). While I did enjoy the unique aspects of this world, it was definitely the characters and their relationships that were the highlight for me. Shahrzad and Khalid were still my favorite characters and the moments when they were together were beautifully done. Their relationship was refreshing and even better in this book. There was a real partnership between them as they discussed matters, listened to each other, expressed their opinions, and allowed the other freedom to disagree. I loved seeing this kind of relationship develop from one of fear and suspicion to one of mutual respect and admiration. I appreciated that the friendships featured in this series were also strong and believable. The bond between Tariq/Rahim was fantastic - with their continued banter and loyalty toward each other. I also liked seeing the sisters - Shahrzad and Irsa - interact together. I wasn’t a fan of Irsa at first, but seeing her connection with Shahrzad made her more likable. I was a bit miffed that the relationship between Jalal and Khalid was strained throughout this book, but I sort of understand why.

So what went wrong? Pretty much everything else. ***SPOILERS FROM THIS POINT ON***

As much as I enjoyed The Wrath and the Dawn, I almost stopped reading during the early part of this sequel due to the massive amount of bizarre happenings which seemed to come out of nowhere. (While some of these were later explained, the fact remains that they made NO sense at the time.) Within the first few chapters: Rahim is suddenly flirting/in love with Irsa - who was absent throughout the majority of the first book; Jalal and Khalid are fighting over a dumb misunderstanding; Shahrzad is having vivid conversations with ghost!Shiva and somehow she is totally cool with Shahrzad falling in love with her murderer? WHAT?!

I was incredibly disappointed with how anticlimactic the ending of the curse was. At first, I didn’t even believe that Khalid has been successful as it just couldn’t have been that easy. I really thought that Khalid would have die or sacrifice himself in order to break it - especially after what Artan’s aunt told him. I also thought that the breaking of the curse should have involved both Khalid and Shahrzad fighting side-by-side to further emphasize their partnership. Alas…

There was such a missed opportunity when it came to Shahrzad and the potential for her magical powers. Her abilities were foreshadowed in the first book, yet other than some “training” with Artan and a few small instances, this is never really explored or developed. It would have been way more satisfying to see her use this power against the Sultan or the men who harassed her while in the dungeon.

While I think it was unnecessary to kill Khalid, it would have been way more impactful for Reza - who lost both his daughter and wife - to be the one to kill him. Then after seeing Shahrzad’s despair, Jahandar could have saved him and therefore redeemed himself. (I mean, I assume his abrupt repentance and sacrifice were meant to be a form of redemption for his character. But the way that it happened in the book was weak and not effective.)

Finally, I felt the characters of Despina and Yasmine were both wasted in this book. Both had real potential, but neither was well utilized. Despina was so enjoyable at first, yet here it was dizzying trying to keep up with her deceptions and double-crossing. By the end, I didn’t even care about her or her relationship with Jalal. Yasmine - who was only briefly introduced previously - should have played a larger role here. I would have loved more time with Yasmine and Shahrzad together in the Sultan’s palace. That would have been a perfect way for Shahrzad to get to know her more intimately and see her conflict between her love for Khalid and her loyalty to her father. As it was, her role in the finale felt forced.

While I’m disappointed that this sequel was not as amazing as its predecessor, I am glad that I was forewarned about some of the overly convenient aspects. For fans of The Wrath and the Dawn, I recommend reading this if you are invested in the characters/relationships. However, be aware that this book may not meet your expectations.