The Wrath & the Dawn

I've been keen to read The Wrath And The Dawn since I first saw it enthusiastically reviewed on Sarcasm And Lemons way back in September 2015. I was delighted to spot an unread copy on a local book sale table last summer and I've now finally managed to get to read it! With all that build up I was a little concerned that the novel might not live up to the gushing reviews I've read of it and, erm, I am afraid that this is the case. Not that this is a bad story - far from it! It's just that I wanted to be completely enthralled and I actually felt more pleasantly diverted.

On the good side of the scale our heroine Shahrzad is fantastic. She is witty, highly intelligent, impetuous, brave and also kind. At the time of the original Sheherezade legend I think a female character like our Shahrzad would have been male! I loved her maid Despina too. Ever practical but also mischievous and just a little romantic, I could have happily spent far more of the story with just these two young women. Surrounding them however are various factions of power-seeking men, some chasing revenge and others more concerned with personal glory. The best scenes for me were when Shahrzad pits her wits against the most pompous or patronising of these men and bests them!

I had misunderstood that The Wrath And The Dawn is only inspired by the story of Sheherezade and isn't a full retelling. I felt let down that there weren't more stories in this story! The initial tension of Shahrzad's situation didn't seem to me to be explored in as much depth as I would have liked and that aspect faded too swiftly. This was a recurring issue for me in that I think I wanted The Wrath And The Dawn to develop into a full literary historical work and I had to remind myself that it is a young adult novel. Still, Ahdieh beautifully evokes the gorgeous luxury of Khalid's palace and its lush gardens. I loved all the food descriptions too - this is a novel that encourages snacking! By the second half, I did feel myself becoming swept into Shahrzad and Khalid's world and am intrigued by how certain aspects of their tale will pan out in the sequel. This is a good escapist read and I could understand how others rave about it.

2015 brought with it two young adult interpretations of Scheherazade’s story from A Thousand and One Nights. I had previously read E.K. Johnston's A Thousand Nights and I think my reading of The Wrath and the Dawn suffered from a bit from over-familiarity.

In this version, Shahrzad volunteers herself as a bride, shocking her family. Her best friend died at the hands of the king and she knows the only way to avenge her death is to get close to him. To put off her death she tells him a story, a story that can’t be told in one night.

In the original stories, the king starts murdering his brides after his first wife is unfaithful, here it's Khalid's father who had an unfaithful wife. For most the book, the reason for the deaths is kept secret, with Shahrzad growing less and less dedicated to her revenge because she starts to quite like him.

The fantasy elements don't really emerge until quite near the end. It seemed obvious from quite early on that there would be a reason for Khalid's murderous ways. I wanted the reveal over and done with earlier because otherwise it's just a bit odd that she forgets her purpose and hatred so quickly. He stays distanced from his brides, which makes sense, but her behaviour doesn't.

Tariq, the childhood love interest, is the possessive kind and it came across as if he felt she belonged to him. At no point did I really want her to go back to him.

Whilst there were sumptuous descriptions of food, it was lacking the magical world-building to support the core aspects that the tale revolves around. What was going on with Shahrzad's father all this time? It pootles along like a historical romance and then wham, there's magic all of a sudden.

Only one of Shahrzad’s stories is told fully, although it is inferred that she tells a lot more. The problem with the inclusion of one, it didn't come across as told captivatingly enough to persuade a bloodthirsty king not to kill her.