Good morning everyone and happy Saturday! I hope you're all having a lovely weekend so far. I haven't done a book review in a couple of weeks and since I recently finished this beauty, I thought I'd share my thoughts and feelings with you all. As always I'll give general opinions and the blurb before we get in the spoilery stuff.
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Every dawn brings horror to a different family in a land ruled by a killer. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, takes a new bride each night only to have her executed at sunrise. So it is a suspicious surprise when sixteen-year-old Shahrzad volunteers to marry Khalid. But she does so with a clever plan to stay alive and exact revenge on the Caliph for the murder of her best friend and countless other girls. Shazi's wit and will, indeed, get her through to the dawn that no others have seen, but with a catch...she's falling in love with the very boy who killed her dearest friend. She discovers that the murderous boy-king is not all that he seems and neither are the deaths of so many girls. Shazi is determined to uncover the reason for the murders and to break the cycle once and for all.
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Okay so I saw this book on my recommendation page a few months back on Kindle and it sounded like something I'd really enjoy. However, at the time it was like £8.99 and I didn't really fancy paying that much for a book. But thankfully, when I was perusing the YA section the other day I noted that the price had gone down and everything was fabulous. So naturally I bought it and here we are.
The first thing I'd like to say is that the writing style of this book is gorgeous. It really doesn't feel like a YA novel because the prose is so beautiful written. Everything is described in a way that makes you visualise exactly what the author intends for you to see. Like seriously, writing goals right there. And considering the author is a debut novelist... Well, it's just amazing.
I would recommend this book for anyone who likes mystery and intrigue - it's technically a fantasy but it's not too heavy in terms of magic etc, so even if fantasy isn't really your thing, you might still enjoy this book. The story is based off of Arabian Nights I believe, and is set in a fictional kingdom called Khorasan.
All in all I'd give this book a 4.5 star rating and a 85%
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Now onto the spoilers so if you haven't read, I'd highly recommend going away and then returning so we can discuss!
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This story was written so well, it literally kept me on the edge of my seat for the whole duration of the read. It was definitely one of those books that took a little while to get into - as in learning place names and the jargon in which the characters speak - but once I'd gotten there, IT WAS AMAZING! There was a glossary at the back of the book which explained all this terminology, but because I was reading on Kindle I didn't realise until I'd finished the book. #Smooth.
So firstly let's talk about Shahrzad. I have to say that often when I read YA I find the main female protagonist a little on the irritating side. They're usually like bulls in china shops, intent on having their own way whatever the cost. But with Shazi I was pleasantly surprised. She was certainly a strong female character, definitely played on her sass and wit but remarkably: wasn't annoying! In fact I generally found her one of my favourite characters in the entire book. I really cannot wait for the next book to come out as I'm super excited to see where her journey takes her.
Now onto Khalid. He was such a deep character, with so many layers that defined him. Once again he broke the YA stereotype of being the 'hot' guy who can wield a sword and not much else. By the end of the book I really admired Khalid and could definitely see why Shazi was falling for him. He was such a tortured soul, I just wanted to wrap him up in bubble wrap and protect him from the world! And to the people saying that his relationship with Shazi was too 'insta-love' I disagree. Sure there was initial attraction but it took a little while for them to be smitten with each other. Plus this book took place over a couple of months I believe so it wasn't like one day Khalid walked into her chambers and she just dropped to the floor in a pool of drool!
I don't know about you guys but I didn't guess the plot twist about why Khalid was murdering his wives at all. and this is coming from someone who prides themselves on guessing such things. Initially I'd thought that maybe Khalid was practising the same magic as Shazi's father but he was so far along that he had to keep killing these girls in order not to go crazy! And then I considered that maybe he was paying a debt off to someone in order to stop the drought (this guess was closer) but I never really considered that he might have been married before. Which I guess makes sense when you look at it and to be honest if I'd played around with dissecting the curse a little more I might have gotten closer. But I was super shocked and stoked to find out the actual reason! It was a really clever plot twist.
Okay so my favourite character in the entire plotline was Jalal. Initially I was expecting a love triangle between him, Khalid and Shazi (still refusing to believe Tariq is a thing) but as soon as we found out about the Despina thing I was like 'ohhhhh cute' and now I totally ship them. In fact I really hope in the next book that we get some more Jalina (Despal?) action because I feel like that's something I'm missing in my life!
Now of course aside from the plotline in the palace we had Tariq and co on their adventures attempting to rescue Shazi. I've gotta say I wasn't too much of a fan of these chapters as all I cared about was Khalid and Shazi by this point and Tariq just needed to pipe down. I mean, I get it, he wasn't exactly expecting to find his girlfriend in love with the man who murdered her best friend but I just found him so annoying. Oh my gosh haha.
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So the next book comes out April 26th I believe and is called The Rose and The Dagger. I'm already so excited for this and will be for sure reviewing it!
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Do let me know if you've read this book or if it sounds like something you'd like!
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