Review 'The Wrath and the Dawn' by Renée Ahdieh

"My queen is without limitations. Boundless in all that she does."

""What are you doing to me, you plague of a girl?" he whispered. "If I'm a plague, then you should keep your distance, unless you plan on being destroyed." The weapons still in her grasp, she shoved against his chest. "No." His hands dropped to her waist. "Destroy me.""

""I want someone who sees beneath the surface - someone who completes the balance. An equal." "And how will you know when you've found this elusive someone?" Shahrzad retorted. "I suspect she will be like air. Like knowing how to breathe.""

"Get up, Shahrzad al-Khayzuran. You kneel before no one. Least of all me."

The Wrath and the Dawn is a lush and magical tale of love and dreams. A story of passion and undiluted love that is brighter than every last star in the galaxy, fiercer than any rising sun, and more beautiful than any unfurling rose. It is magnificent and magical. Dazzling from beginning to end.

Some books take you a while to get fully emerged into the story, they start slow and build up gradually. But The Wrath and the Dawn grabs you by the collar of your shirt and hurls you right into the story of darkness and secrets. I was hooked from that very first page, feeling the need to discover all the hidden secrets that are ingeniously woven throughout this story.

Renée has created a unique world with a whirlwind of colors and spices, dreams and nightmares, love and passion. It is beyond rich and colorful. It is magical. Its characters are equally magnificent. They are well-crafted, handled with care and exquisitely well rounded. You find yourself peeling layer after layer away from them, getting to know their fears, their desires, their darkest secrets. It's like slowly plucking the petals of a rose.

And then there is the passion. The passion! It's a rare thing for me to be swept away into a story from the very beginning the way I did with this book. But once I was swept away I did not want to leave. From the very first page, you can feel the passion burning hot like a bright flame against your skin. It's intense and all-consuming and it only gets grander the farther you get into the story. It usually takes a lot of time for me to become deeply attached to characters (I need at least one/two books) but it did not take long for Khalid to melt my heart with his words, for me to love Shazi and her big mouth and courageous heart. Khalid is a man of many secrets, always followed by darkness. But when you get past that, you discover the man he really is. A man burning with passion, loving so fiercely despite all that he has had to endure in his life. Shazi has always been a flame burning bright. She does not cower, does not hold her tongue to fight for what is right. She is a fierce female character who fights not only for herself but for the girls alongside her. She fights for justice through brutal honesty and does not apologize for who she is. As a queen, she bows to no one.

I find it hard to emerge myself in a love story where I feel the lack of passion between the couple. But this story was oozing with it, dripping deliciously with everything I desire from a great love story. Mutual respect, equality, and passion. Shazi and Khalid's journey is a slow but magnificent one. From raging arguments to passionate embraces.

This book gave me everything I wanted and more. I fell, hard, and I'm not even mad about it. If I could, I would live in this book forever. But the story was over all too soon. Unable to put it down, I read all night until the early hours, needing to finish this book. Needing to know what happens next. Every time I found myself saying this is the last chapter, another thing happened that had my heart racing and my body shaking. I had to read on, had to know what would happen. I stopped reading just for a moment at three in the morning to order the next book before continuing to devour this book.

It's safe to say that the story of Shazi and Khalid has me by the throat. I feel overwhelmed, I feel restless, I feel fulfilled. Because even though this book was way too short, it lacked nothing, it holds everything you could possibly desire. And with this in mind, I anxiously await the arrival of The Rose and the Dagger in the mail.