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yodamom's review
5.0
4.5 stars Oh my, my, my, I am breathless ! What a glorious twist of One Thousand and One Nights. The vivid detailing in this story was so richly done I think I gained 5 pounds on description of foods alone. The clothing, the town, the palace, the horses, the landscape, each given such beauty in this author's words. I found myself rereading sections aloud just to hear them spoken, I have to get this on audio. The story is a tangle of what is believed, what is assumed and the truth somewhere in the middle. Hate, fear, resentment, revenge, friendship, respect, love and sacrifice. I loved it all. Now I must go order book 2 beacuse of a cliffhanger ending, beware. :D
shes_book_obsessed's review
4.0
The Wrath and the Dawn
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Such cunning tales, I want more! The writing style made this book so much better than I expected, mysterious and fairytale-like. I was rather confused about what was happening at the beginning, but I slowly understood what the book entailed the more I read. The first 100 pages bored me to death, but the continuous banter between Shahzard and Khalid made my enemies-to-lovers obsession happy! Tariq made me so frustrated, although I could see where he was coming from at times...
The sequel better live up to my expectations!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Such cunning tales, I want more! The writing style made this book so much better than I expected, mysterious and fairytale-like. I was rather confused about what was happening at the beginning, but I slowly understood what the book entailed the more I read. The first 100 pages bored me to death, but the continuous banter between Shahzard and Khalid made my enemies-to-lovers obsession happy! Tariq made me so frustrated, although I could see where he was coming from at times...
The sequel better live up to my expectations!
ritasreadingcorner's review against another edition
5.0
Although it took me a long time to actually read this book, I loved it. I don't really remember the original story, but I really liked this one. It's an amazing retelling. I adore Shazi, Khalid, Jalal and Despina, they're such great and strong characters. On the other hand, I absolutely despise Tariq. Ugh, just go away. There are some things I don't really understand, such as wtf Shazi's father is doing, but I don't like him either. And this ending was so so so so sad. What the hell??
Anyways, I loved it. Such an amazing book!
Anyways, I loved it. Such an amazing book!
aafleeds's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
ella_booksmage's review
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
courtnoodles's review against another edition
4.0
I'm extremely torn with how to rate this book.
My hopes going into this book were through the roof. I'd been waiting since July to read this when I first put it on hold at my library, and I heard nothing but good things.
The start of this book, though, was ROUGH. Shazi was annoying and entitled. She had no interest in actually being queen, but used her queen status to essentially manipulate her staff into letting her do whatever she wanted. Her character was totally inconsistent, loving one moment and completely cold and calculating the next. I was never sure what was genuine. And nothing else in the story really made sense. The writing style was way too flowery for me to understand anything that was going on, motivations, emotions, anything. I thought it was gonna be a huge disappointment.
But about halfway through the book, something changed. I can't say specifically what. But some kind of switch went off and suddenly I was into it. Don't get me wrong, the writing is still too flowery for me to actually grasp the emotions and the feelings of the characters. I'm still not sure I can get behind Shazi and Khalid as individual people. But as a couple? One word. Hot.
They're really the only reason why I'm rating this so high. And it is primarily a romance, so it seems fair. But I absolutely devoured Khalid and Shazi's scenes, to the point where there was one line Khalid said that caused me to slam my face into the book and get my makeup on the pages.
My favorite kind of romances are, I don't know if I would say sexy ones, but I love it when the passion is more sensual and backed up with deep, deep adoration and love. That's Shazi and Khalid. So this review is all over the place, but I'm going with a comfortable 3.5 rounded up to 4 because I don't want to rate it any lower considering I paid for this with my own money, which I hardly ever do anymore, and I plan on reading the sequel ASAP.
My hopes going into this book were through the roof. I'd been waiting since July to read this when I first put it on hold at my library, and I heard nothing but good things.
The start of this book, though, was ROUGH. Shazi was annoying and entitled. She had no interest in actually being queen, but used her queen status to essentially manipulate her staff into letting her do whatever she wanted. Her character was totally inconsistent, loving one moment and completely cold and calculating the next. I was never sure what was genuine. And nothing else in the story really made sense. The writing style was way too flowery for me to understand anything that was going on, motivations, emotions, anything. I thought it was gonna be a huge disappointment.
But about halfway through the book, something changed. I can't say specifically what. But some kind of switch went off and suddenly I was into it. Don't get me wrong, the writing is still too flowery for me to actually grasp the emotions and the feelings of the characters. I'm still not sure I can get behind Shazi and Khalid as individual people. But as a couple? One word. Hot.
They're really the only reason why I'm rating this so high. And it is primarily a romance, so it seems fair. But I absolutely devoured Khalid and Shazi's scenes, to the point where there was one line Khalid said that caused me to slam my face into the book and get my makeup on the pages.
My favorite kind of romances are, I don't know if I would say sexy ones, but I love it when the passion is more sensual and backed up with deep, deep adoration and love. That's Shazi and Khalid. So this review is all over the place, but I'm going with a comfortable 3.5 rounded up to 4 because I don't want to rate it any lower considering I paid for this with my own money, which I hardly ever do anymore, and I plan on reading the sequel ASAP.
_blair_'s review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
harper11's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
annashiv's review
5.0
I was surprised with how much I loved this book. I started it skeptical because I didn't much like Shazi's character and the apparent love triangle thing. It seemed over-dramatic and Shazi's anger and threats in her mind were repeated too often, but then it got better and better. I think I even like Shazi now at the end of the book. I was kept on my toes the whole time and loved it all. I do with there had been more stories Shazi told Khalid, but I understand that this is an adaptation and kind of a loose one at that. I really enjoyed it though. It was romantic and intense. I was glad that they didn't just fall in love too quickly for the most part. It felt like it was paced well. I can't wait to see what happens in the next book. I wish it were already out.