The Rose & the Dagger: 2 (Wrath and the Dawn)

The sequel to The Wrath and the Dawn starts with Khalid helping to restore a broken city and his queen separated from him. Shahrzad discovers her magic and a way to break the curse - the god damn curse that doesn't make Khalid a villain thanks to a vengeful father.This book was just beautiful written - I can't express the sheer brilliance in the description and absolute wonder woven into this story. I adored the love between Khalid and Shahrzad and actually smiled when they were finally reunited. I found Irsa a bit annoying at times but it was quite nice to have a bit of family relationships explored too.It was a satisfying end to the story that began in Wrath with the matter of Khalid's curse being addressed and development of the magic hinted at Wrath. Tariq is soooo annoying and barges into any situation without thinking and actually causing so much trouble in this book.A rather significant event happened near the end and I was in a state of shock thinking no that did NOT just happen but thank goodness I turned the page and read on and it calmed my anxious heart.Magnificent and mesmerising, I can't wait for new projects from this author.

The Rose and the Dagger, Renée Ahdieh’s sequel to her 1001 Nights retelling, The Wrath and the Dawn, is a wonderful mix of evocative, folkloric storytelling and the tense buildup to a rebellion. The first book saw the brave teenage girl Shahrzad walk into a palace full of danger and secrets, and willingly marry a ruler whose every wife was murdered after one night of marriage. Shahrzad was able to stave off death with her quick wits and judicious telling of stories, and got to the heart of the mystery that was causing the deaths of all the women who came before her. In The Rose and the Dagger, she’s left the palace, hiding out in the desert with her family, childhood sweetheart, and the burgeoning rebellion against her husband’s rule. There are lots of fabulous touches: flying carpets, dragons, and a soul-sucking book of magic that quite literally possesses its user, but most satisfying for me were the strong friendships between female characters with very different personalities, and a conclusion to the rebellion, simmering political tensions and supernatural threats which was delivered by a mixture of chutzpah, alliance between multiple women, and the pooling of very different kinds of strengths.Enjoyment of this series is going to depend on your ability to deal with the fact that it is a YA romance retelling of the 1001 Nights played fairly straight. The central romance is between Shahrzad and her murderous husband Khalid, and although Ahdieh gives a fairly convincing reason for Khalid’s murder of a series of teenage girls and women (it’s not the reason in the original tale), it may not be enough to get beyond some readers’ ‘cool motive, still murder’ reaction to this.

As with the first book of this duology - The Wrath and the Dawn - I felt that the story dragged at times.In this book in particular, the first 2/3 were really slow while almost too much happens in the last hundred pages or so, giving the impression that the ending was a bit rushed.As in the first book, I really liked the world setting but I was hoping that the magic system would be explained better in the second book and that did not really happen. New characters with magic are introduced but it was all a bit too vague for me.Also, I felt that the resolution to the issues the main characters - Shazi and Khalid - faced in the first book was quite underwhelming and anti climatic.Overall, I enjoyed the conclusion to this duology but I was hoping for something more.

Following on from The Wrath and the Dawn, comes the conclusion to the duology, The Rose and the Dagger. I was fully expecting to love this book, and whilst I enjoyed it, I was left a little disappointed.However, I will say that this book is, like the first, beautifully written. Ahdieh has such a way with words and that is really what carries this book first and foremost. There is a stunning poetry to words, which I loved. I also enjoyed the magical elements (would have liked more) and the setting is spectacular.So, why didn't I love it? A few reasons:1) The story is incredibly slow moving in the first two thirds of the book. Although there is a lot of talking, and thinking, the story never really progresses, and I was waiting with baited breath for something to happen.2) To perhaps make up for the slow moving first and second act, the last segment of the book (just over 100 pages or so) moves incredibly fast. Like, I'm talking lightning speed fast. There were so many plot twists and turns in this segment that I was left thinking - why couldn't this have been spread out evenly throughout the first two parts?3) Significant trials from the first book are accomplished in this book with relative ease. I'm particularly referencing the curse on Khalid from the first book here. Everything seems to slot into place and the curse really plays no big factor in this book at all. It's all very convenient and anti-climatic.4) Strange and lacking character developments. Some characters seem to act ridiculously out-of-character, and particularly in the last couple of pages, characters are discarded, killed, revealed to be good guys etc. in rather implausible ways. I would have also liked to see more development of other characters, like Artan, or Rahim. The only two characters who maintain basically the same foundations are Shazi and Khalid.Ultimately, I felt like there was too much to accomplish in this book, and that for only a duology, the book moved incredibly slowly to start off with. Although I enjoyed the ~girl power~ moments, all the enjoyable segments were segregated to the end of the book, at which point I had slightly lost interest.The Wrath and the Dawn worked for me because it was a story rich with detail and romance. There were supporting characters, but the story was mainly about Shazi and Khalid. As a standalone, I loved it. However, it feels like the loose threads left by The Wrath and the Dawn needed to be tied up in a much more progressive manner, as opposed to what was presented in The Rose and the Dagger.

The following is a copy of the review on Paein and Ms4Tune's book blog:THIS!!!!This is how to write a love triangle and a separation, if indeed you need to write one at all. This is also how to write a love story!I don't want to give too much away, but if you've read a review or two of mine, you'll know how I feel about love triangles and separations and what I think really should happen instead. ( 1.Dislike, 2. Dislike, 2. Stick together and help each other.) While I've recently found myself enjoying such painful series as The Greatcoats by Sebastien De Castell and The Winners' Trilogy by Marie Rutkoski, this is the kind of thing I've been looking for.I think the person who has the least growth within this storyline is perhaps Shahrzad. She was more of a catalyst and it really works. I'm not even annoyed that she sort of spent time hanging around waiting to be rescued. She was in pretty hopeless situations and she's from a culture and a time when women were basically just pretty. She was also, by all accounts a pretty tiny young woman and if she had been able to take down swaths of soldiers it would have been silly. Especially with little training. It's perhaps because of her attitude while waiting around that contributed to my feelings about this. ( see my chosen quote above)Khalid was certainly my favourite character, he goes through so much and yet he doesn't follow in the personality footsteps of his father or his uncle. In believing he doesn't deserve what he has, he deserves it all the more. His reactions in all the situations that could have gone so wrong were so perfect. Tariq grew on me too, when he grew up and faced the truth. The fact that he actually did was a big step and it was only a little too late, but I think that's part of why he changed so much. Some love needs to go to Shari too though, for when she was told of a promise made, she did not sulk about it, but honoured it and that sounds like nothing, but I've read stories where that sort of thing was scorned and pouted about and, though I know it's possible, I just don't understand how people can be that way.Now, I have to admit, as soon as I picked the book up I checked the end, so any curves or shocks didn't really work on me, in fact I didn't really consider them until I was sent a warning! (Which I received after I actually finished reading the book and I logged on to start this review.) Generally I try not to do this, but this series seemed to be shaping up pretty fantastically, so I had to make sure things were going to work well to the end. While the ending may not be to everyone's liking, it's how they got there that I loved the most.Though it has little relation, I've found this series has called to mind the Tricksters series by Tamora Pierce (or as it seems to be on Goodreads "Daughter of the Lioness duology) and I'm not completely sure why. The setting is different, the characters are different, even the setting is different! But I'd recommend those books too.I could have stood for a little more at the end of the story. How was their return received? Were the letters ever sent? Explanations given? What? Also more of Omar and his wife please. Or, just this world in general....I certainly loved this series and I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys - for a want of a better name - oriental romances and fairytale retellings.(Of course The Star-touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi turned up as I was reading this series...But I can't read it right after! They'd be too similar - a discovery I've found while reading high fantasy)