The Rose and the Dagger Review

The Rose and the Dagger by Renee Ahdieh (420 pages)
My Rating 4.5 Stars
Date Read: 24 May 2016

Synopsis:

The darker the sky, the brighter the stars.

In a land on the brink of war, Shahrzad is forced from the arms of her beloved husband, the Caliph of Khorasan. She once thought Khalid a monster—a merciless killer of wives, responsible for immeasurable heartache and pain—but as she unraveled his secrets, she found instead an extraordinary man and a love she could not deny. Still, a curse threatens to keep Shazi and Khalid apart forever.

Now she’s reunited with her family, who have found refuge in the desert, where a deadly force is gathering against Khalid—a force set on destroying his empire and commanded by Shazi’s spurned childhood sweetheart. Trapped between loyalties to those she loves, the only thing Shazi can do is act. Using the burgeoning magic within her as a guide, she strikes out on her own to end both this terrible curse and the brewing war once and for all. But to do it, she must evade enemies of her own to stay alive.

The saga that began with The Wrath and the Dawn takes its final turn as Shahrzad risks everything to find her way back to her one true love again.

My Review:

I thought this series was going to be longer. Why did it have to end when I just started it?

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I thought I was going to be in a major reading slump for a while after reading ACOMAF, but this book proves that I'm not! Yay!

I liked how the characters developed in this book. (If you can't tell, that is one of the main things I judge on whether I enjoyed the book or not.) Shazi and Khalid are so adorable and will go to the ends of the earth for each other, but not in an overbearing or controlling way. As it says in the book they don't belong to anyone. They belong together. I feel like that is a good way to look at them. They care so deeply for each other, but they are still independent and are able to function without the other (for the most part).

I wanted to see more of Despina in this book. The parts we did get to see her in, though, were awesome! Girl power!

I loved getting to know Irsa, Shazi's sister, because she showcased another side of Shazi that wasn't shown much in the first book. We get to see her interacting with the family she loves so much, and I really appreciate that.

The plot was also super fun. I won't post any spoilers, but it moved along very nicely and it wasn't predictable to me!

I was lucky enough to get to meet Renee Ahdieh at YA'llWest this year, and she is so sweet! She honestly cares about her readers and her writing!!

The only thing I'm bummed about is that my picture I took with her disappeared from my phone, so that's a bummer!

Overall, I would definitely recommend this book series, including the cute short stories, to just about anyone. They have the fairy tale-esque vibe to them while still being very independent and powerful! I am so glad I was convinced to pick up this series!