I found a young adult romance novel that I like!  This is big guys.  The Wrath and the Dawn is exciting, it’s heartbreaking, it’s different.  When I first started reading this I did think it would be the stereotypical teen romance novel, mainly because the front of the book says “She came for revenge, will she stay for love?”  I read that and knew they would fall in love.  I was not prepared to be taken on this Aladdin-esque adventure. As I got more into it, I found out that Shahrazad, the main character, volunteered to be Kahlid’s bride in order to find his weaknesses and kill him.  Did you just read that right, yes you did.  How can you go from wanting to kill this man to loving him and needing him like you need air?  It’s a long story punctuated by first loves, assassins, greedy uncles, countless secrets, and a rebellion on the rise.

Another cool part of the novel was the addition of magic.  It’s not present the entire book, but you see Shahrazad’s father making a rose bloom for his daughter on the wedding day, a magic carpet, and a magical transformation of one character that may not be such a good thing.  The magic was threaded in in such a way that gave the book a deeper story yet did not take away from the main storyline.

We also see a different culture than our own throughout the novel.  The story takes place in Khorasan, which I believe to be something like India.  It is always interesting to experience other cultures and the way people live.

This novel does have a sequel, The Rose and the Dagger, that came out earlier this year and I cannot wait to read it!