The Rose and the Dagger
The Rose and the Dagger {The Wrath and the Dawn #2} - Renee Ahdieh
Blurb: 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.
Rating: 5/5 stars
My Review:
As soon as I finished this book I felt like my life meant nothing! Honestly, this is one of the best books I've ever read and it was an amazing end to an amazing duology. (This is now my favourite duology of all time!!!!) Usually sequels aren't that amazing BUT in this case, it was fantastic. It was an amazing end to the journey we've been going on.
The Rose and the Dagger had some beautiful writing. In all honesty, the way this book flowed was magical and wonderful. The writing between the characters and the way they interact draw you in for more and it's a real page-turner. It may not be a thriller, but I definitely read it like one. This book includes magic carpets that come along with us on the emotional rollercoaster!
One thing that I particularly like about this book is the amount of love the girls get in this book. The heroes of the story and the girls and how they work together. GIRL POWER IS STRONG! The women and girls in this book are presented with power and they are complex being to be reckoned with. They are empowering, strong and let's be honest... badass!
I could write pages and pages about Shazi's relationship with Khalid in this book but I'm going to stick to a few sentences. In the first book, their romance was almost your classic teen romance with the teen angst and everything. However, in the second and final book, it is a lot more mature and understanding. They listened to each other and had faith in each other. Not a lot of teen romances do this so this was beautiful to read. They saw each other as equals and not someone they can use for their benefit. They were best friends, lovers, husband and wife.
“Cut the strings, Shazi. Fly.”
There was a lot of plot twists, betrayals and magic in this book. It wasn't disappointing at all. If anything the plot twists made me want to throw the book across the room because it was so good. Every little thing and aspect of this book was majestic.
To conclude this relatively short review that I could spend hours writing about, The Rose and the Dagger changed my view on curses, love and empowering women. If a duology could hold magic it would definitely be this series.
I hope you all have a wonderful day and if there is a book you would like me to read then let me know in the comments or send me a DM over on my Instagram, @theflickeringpages.
