RENEE AHDIEH
(Book 1 of The Wrath and the Dawn)
(Note: there are other editions of the cover)
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?
Content:
Language: uses of minor swear words, one or two uses of stronger language, inappropriate insults, including “daughter of a whore.”
Violence: multiple fight scenes, but nothing very gory. The Caliph does hang a new girl every day, but there is never an on-screen hanging. Talk of suicide. Animals are killed to provide blood for dark magic.
Sex: multiple kisses, most of them descriptive, and several allusions to sex, fade-to-black sex scenes (nothing shown on-page), inappropriate insults, including uses of “whore” and a vague insult of male genitalia. (Nothing is really explicit though.)
LGBTQ: Not present
My Review: This is a retelling of the Arabian Nights/One Thousand and One Nights. It’s one of my all-time favorites. The characters are well-developed and the world is so fun. Khalid and Shahrzad are definitely near the top of my list of YA couples. Highly recommended.