The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh -- A Spoiler Free Review

(again....sorry for the shitty picture....the lazy is strong with me)


Summary: A girl volunteers as tribute to a Caliph who keeps murdering his wives every morning, one of whom was her best friend. Naturally they fall in love. Has some Arabian Nights story telling in it. Some shit happens. Eh?


3.5 stars (dropped from 5 stars)



3.5 stars is not a bad rating. It just hit me after a few weeks that I didn't love this book as much as I did whilst I was reading it. Haha

I'm not really sure how I want to organize this review, so I'm just going to talk about my feelings and we'll see where this goes from there. Hopefully there will be some organization involved...Hahahaha 😅 

For starters, I really wasn't too into the characters. I can't really think of one character that I was really excited for. Shahrzad was annoying for most of the book and I REALLY hated when it was in Tariq's perspective. He did NOTHING for me and I kind of wish he wasn't needed in the story. Shazi (Shahrzad) was just annoying and, to me, a typical YA female protagonist. Trust issues and a mission to complete but then forgets all about it when she falls in love. Instantly.

Yes, this has some insta-love in it. Barf. I mean it wasn't INSTANT..but it was too soon for my liking. I would have been perfectly ok if nothing happened until the end...or there was no romance in it at all. Why couldn't this have just been a fantasy/revenge story with some mystery? Why does everything have to have a romance in it?! SCHTAP IT YA AUTHORS!!!! NOT EVERY GIRL NEEDS A MAN!!! I liked that Shazi tried to uncover why Khalid (the Caliph) was killing all those girls and even though she did fall in love with Khalid, she never lost sight of the reason she was there. She would mention that she was upset that she liked him but how he had killed her best friend and many other innocent girls. That redeemed the book a bit....but not really by much.

I really liked the story telling element that Renee Ahdieh had in the beginning. Shazi would tell Khalid a story every night to keep her alive until the next day and it was really nice to hear the stories from Arabian Nights, a book I had a really hard time reading because of all the names. I wish that had carried through the book more. The author, at one point, decides that it's not necessary anymore and we stop getting stories. If I remember right...this is the premise of Arabian Nights? They are a bunch of short stories told to a Sultan who is murdery? Or was that just a Looney Toons short? Someone will correct me. Haha! I feel like that was lost and I wanted more! I don't think we'll be getting anymore of it in the second book...bummer.

I did really like the idea of the world. There was some interesting magic happening that I want to learn more about. And we got a VERY small taste of what the world outside the caliphate was like and I want to know more. Hopefully we will...because after the events of the first book...we kind of need to know more.

As much as I think I bitched during this review, I don't think this is a bad book at all. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who asked me. The atmosphere was great and the magic and world look really interesting. This is a good introduction to Middle Eastern story telling without all of the complicated names that can sometimes come along with it....and the family histories...Which are very important to Middle Eastern story telling but can be daunting to someone with isn't familiar with that part of the world. I'm really hoping the second book (this is a duology by the way) expands on the things that were really good about this book and that some of the things I didn't like get fixed. 

I think that's all I have to say? I have no idea if this is coherent or just a cluster fumble of nonesense...but I suppose someone will tell me if this is shit. Hahahaha!

If you've read this book, tell me what you thought about it? What did you like or not like? Let's start a conversation!

If you would like to follow my Goodread and keep up to date with what I'm reading and my thoughts on the things I'm reading, please feel free to send me a friend request! If you wanna see my stupid face and my friend's stupid face, please check out our YouTube channel! All links will be posted at the end of this post!

Until next time! Stay awesome!
~Momes (Momo)

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6483377-supermomochan-peachyfishybooks

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk5eRrShYL-HK0Gzg2qp4zQ

June Book Haul!

Hey guys! I'm here with another book haul! I wasn't planning on buying anything this month, but I ended up getting a sequel I needed and then my grandpa gave me some money for shopping...so I picked up a few things that I had been wanting!~  

P. S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han

After I finished To All The Boys I've Loved Before, I ran out and picked this up right away. I'm really not a huge fan of contemporary...but I really did enjoy this. I needed something light and I really enjoyed Jenny Han's writing. I am currently reading this book and am 68 pages in and am enjoying myself. ^^

Firefight by Brandon Sanderson

I read Steelheart recently and I really liked it...but I couldn't find this dang book anywhere!! Two Walmarts, Two Barns and Nobles and a Half Price Books later, I finally found it! XD I felt like Steelheart could have been a stand alone (ish), so I'm really interested to see what problems are going to arise in this book...hopefully there are less...feelings and insta-love-y-ness...That super annoyed me in the last one.

Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch

I had been wanting this book for a while, ever since it was hauled like mad on Booktube...but I haven't really seen anyone talk about it since. I did hear a few good things about it, so it kept me excited. ^^ I'm not too sure what it's about, but I like going into things blindly sometimes. 

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

I have heard mixed reviews on this book, but I still really wanted it.  I also don't know what this is about...but it's a fantasy that's based in Ancient Greece (or was it Rome.......?) and that's interesting enough for me! XD  It was said to be advertised as a fantasy stand-alone but then they announced another book after it was released...I heard that will change you views on it because it was written like it was for a series and not a solo book...hopefully I'll enjoy this. ^^

The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

Another book I have heard mixed things about but still wanted to try. This cover is so much prettier in person! Everything about this book is really nice! It makes me all the more excited to read it!~ I really like that books are starting to take place in different places other than the US and some sort of Europe. Yay!

Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff

Another book I have been wanting for a super long time and haven't picked up...Until now. I am SUPER excited about this book (which I have also heard nothing about). A Japanese steampunk novel with mythical creatures....ALL of the win! I don't really know what this book is about other than what I mentioned before...I'm super excited!~ 

The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan

My friend Robert has been wanting me to read The Wheel of Time series for a long time now and when I saw the trade paperback at Half Price Books, I decided to pick it up. I wanted to collect the hard covers, but I liked the way this book felt in my hands, so I decide that I'd finally give the series a shot. I am SUPER nervous about starting it though...Lindsey Rey and a few other Booktubers read them and they hated them...but Robert loves the series and I believe he said Lewis from Yogscast loves it...Gods I hope I like it.

Battle Royale by Koushun Takami 

This....This is one of my top 10 favorite books/movies of all time. This books is IMPOSSIBLE to find, so when I saw two copies sitting on the shelf I pretty much poo'd myself!! I read this while I was living in Japan (that's also where I saw the movie) and I have wanted to read it again ever since the Hunger Games became huge (I still think this is WAY better than HG). To those of you who love the Hunger Games and haven't read this....DO IT!!! The movie is also fabulous! The sequel film is rubbish though, so don't watch it...I like to block it from my brain and pretend it doesn't exist. XP

 Well that's all for this posting...and it'll probably be the last one, besides my June wrap up, until I come back from Japan (I leave in a few days).  I will probably end up doing a haul on some of the stuff I bring back, so that will be a thing to look forward to!

Until next time! Bye!!

Above mentioned Youtubers:

Lindsey Rey: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1VyYW1dxsY6z9j-dCWLEwA/featured

Lewis (Yogscast): https://www.youtube.com/user/BlueXephos