The Wrath and
the Dawn, Renee Ahdieh
404|Putnam|12th May
2015
Synopsis
One
Life to One Dawn.
In
a land ruled by a murderous boy-king, each dawn brings heartache to a new
family. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, is a monster. Each
night he takes a new bride only to have a silk cord wrapped around her throat
come morning. When sixteen-year-old Shahrzad’s dearest friend falls victim to
Khalid, Shahrzad vows vengeance and volunteers to be his next bride. Shahrzad
is determined not only to stay alive, but to end the caliph’s reign of terror
once and for all.
Night
after night, Shahrzad beguiles Khalid, weaving stories that enchant, ensuring
her survival, though she knows each dawn could be her last. But something she
never expected begins to happen: Khalid is nothing like what she’d imagined him
to be. This monster is a boy with a tormented heart. Incredibly, Shahrzad finds
herself falling in love. How is this possible? It’s an unforgivable betrayal.
Still, Shahrzad has come to understand all is not as it seems in this palace of
marble and stone. She resolves to uncover whatever secrets lurk and, despite
her love, be ready to take Khalid’s life as retribution for the many lives he’s
stolen. Can their love survive this world of stories and secrets?
Inspired
by A Thousand
and One Nights, The Wrath and the Dawn is
a sumptuous and enthralling read from beginning to end.
Review
Renee Ahdieh’s debut is the
second retelling of A Thousand and One
Nights I've read this year and definitely my favourite of the two.
I listened to the audiobook
version of The Wrath and the Dawn and
within only a few minutes I was completely drawn in. Ahdieh’s writing is beyond
beautiful. Her prose is lush, poetic and so incredibly rich that I was hanging
off of every word. The descriptions of the setting, the clothes, the food,
Shahrzad’s conflicting emotions – everything is so beautifully evoked. I think
the narrator of the audiobook was in awe and savouring everything too as I had
to speed it up to x1.5 as she was speaking so slowly!
Though I've never actually read
the original story (I really must rectify that!) I do know it, and I was really
intrigued by the take Ahdieh took on it. I’m not going to spoil anything at
all, but it made the romance believable and gave Khalid a personality behind
his actions as well as a pointy of sympathy. It was really well done and
allowed the novel to extend beyond just the original tale. I also really loved
that The Wrath and the Dawn took
place in an Ancient Greek/Mesopotamian setting (it’s never said outright, but
that’s what I gleaned from the context), mostly because I'm a sucker for
ancient settings and mythologies!
I thoroughly enjoyed The Wrath and the Dawn and I already
have the sequel, The Rose and the Dagger,
on pre-order after that rather dramatic ending!
The Queen of the
Tearling, Erika Johansen
512|Bantam|16th July 2015
Synopsis
Kelsea Glynn in the sole heir to the throne of
Tearling but has been raised in secret after her mother – a monarch as vain as
she was foolish – was murdered for ruining her kingdom. For 18 years, the
Tearling has been ruled by Kelsea’s uncle in the role of Regent however he is
but the debauched puppet of the Red Queen, the sorceress tyrant of neighbouring
realm of Mortmesme. On Kelsea’s nineteenth birthday, the tattered remains of
her mother’s guard – each pledged to defend the queen to the death – arrive to
bring this most un-regal woman out of hiding…
And so begins her journey back to her kingdom’s
heart, to claim the throne, win the heart of her people, overturn her mother’s
legacy and redeem the Tearling from the forces of corruption and dark magic
that are threatening to destroy it. But Kelsea’s story is not just about her
learning the true nature of her inheritance – it’s about a heroine who must
learn to acknowledge and live with the realities of coming of age in all its
insecurities and attractions, alongside the ethical dilemmas of ruling justly
and fairly while simply trying to stay alive…
Review
I was a
little wary of The Queen of the Tearling for
several reasons: 1) It’s really quite chunky, 2) I’d heard it’s very political,
but even with a dodgy audiobook narrator, I ended up really enjoying it.
Considering
the political nature of the story was something I was most hesitant about, it
turned out to be one of my favourite elements of the novel. YA fantasy is
usually heavily involved in defeating an antagonist, an all-encompassing
romance and lots of epic battles, but there’s very little of all of those
things in The Queen of the Tearling. Kelsea
has been in hiding for 18 years and is the heir to a kingdom she knows very
little about. When she is crowned she learns of how her mother ruled the Tear,
hidden from her by her foster parents, and the reign her uncle, the Regent has
held it in her stead.
Kelsea
suddenly has to reconcile everything she's learned with the reality, as well as
the evil Red Queen from the kingdom over from the Tear whose cruel treaty is
the only thing preventing an invasion; the pushy, domineering church; the
nobles used to the special treatment from the lazy, indulgent Regent and the
poor treatment of her people. She had a lot to navigate and tackle, all while
protecting herself from assassination. And yet I loved the thread of humour
that ran through the novel, particularly when Kelsea conversed with Mace and
Fetch.
Kelsea is
so badass. She's unusual for a YA queen: she’s not traditionally beautifully,
she likes to eat, she's not a good fighter and she is instantly fierce and
fair. I love her. She never once sacrificed her morals or beliefs, but still
did right by her people and I liked that she demonstrated strength in a
non-physical way. Strong female heroines in YA have recently become synonymous
with a girl who can hold her own in a fight or someone who can defeat a
fearsome enemy, but Kelsea demonstrates the strength of heart and mind that I
truly admire.
I
thoroughly enjoyed The Queen of the
Tearling and I’m really looking forward to diving into book two, The Invasion of the Tearling very soon.
P.S.
I Still Love You, Jenny Han
337|S&S US|26th
May 2015
Synopsis
Lara
Jean didn’t expect to really fall for Peter.
They
were just pretending. Until they weren’t. And now Lara Jean has to learn what
it’s like to be in a real relationship and not just a make-believe one.
But
when another boy from her past returns to her life, Lara Jean’s feelings for
him suddenly return too.
Can
a girl be in love with two boys at once?
In
this charming and heartfelt sequel to the New York Times bestseller
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, Lara
Jean is about to find out that falling in love is the easy part.
Review
I really loved To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before last
year so I have no idea why it took me so long to get to PS I Still Love You!
The second (and
hopefully not last) instalment of Lara Jean’s adventures was a lot more focused
on the boys compared to To All the Boys…
strangely. Particularly, Lara Jean’s relationship with Peter. I was a little
war of Peter in book one – I could never quite decide if I liked him or not –
and I ended up preferring Josh, even though he’s Lara Jean’s big sister’s
ex-boyfriend. And my feelings to that effect only got stronger in PS I Still Love You. He's very sweet to
Lara Jean and I enjoyed their teasing and banter, but I was so excited when
John Ambrose McClaren came onto the scene.
John was the only recipient
of Lara Jean’s love letters to not get in touch with her, but we finally get to
meet him properly here. I fell head over heels in love with John Ambrose
McClaren and I was firmly Team John. I loved the way he remembered snippets about
Lara Jean, helped her out at Belleview and just, ugh, everything. Their scenes
together gave me warm fuzzies and I often found myself grinning like a loon
because of the cute.
Aside from the
boys, the relationship between the Song sisters is another huge part of PS I Still Love You. Kitty got lots of the
limelight in this book and I really do love her. To be fair, I'd murder her if
she were my sister – I do not have Lara Jean’s patience – but she’s is
brilliantly funny. It really became apparent how much she has been brought up
by her sisters as well as their dad and I loved that. The support, love and
friendship between Lara Jean, Margot and Kitty is something I can only aspire
to create with my two sisters. So lovely!
I'm not going to
give any details of the plot, but Jenny Han tackled slut-shaming, consent and
double standards perfectly when a video was posted online. The negative role of
social media and the internet was enforced and the risk which that carries;
once something’s online, it’s never completely gone. It was a scary thought for
the victim of this bullying and the way they were treated afterwards was awful,
especially in comparison to the reaction to boy involved received. Every way in
which this was wrong and harmful was illustrated with strength and confidence
and I'm so glad. It's not often this sort of situation shows up outside of a
gritty, dark, ‘issues’ novel and it should be. In our technological world, you
never know who’s filming you, taking pictures, live-tweeting, tagging you on
Facebook etc, and people need to know that’s it not okay.
PS
I Still Love You is
sweet, funny and charming with the emotional resonance I've come to expect from
Jenny Han. I wasn’t too happy with the conclusion of Lara Jean’s relationships
so I’ desperately hoping for a book three.
Sophie
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