Renee Ahdieh’s The Rose and the Dagger, the electrifying sequel to The Wrath and the Dawn has left me caught in a world of magic and caliphates – one that I almost don’t want to leave. Filled with even more action than the first, The Rose and the Dagger is a thrilling, heart-stopping ride. Shahrzad is back and more determined than ever as she works to break Khalid’s curse and stop the war looming over Khorasan. Featuring more points of view, this sequel gives a deeper look into many mysteries presented in the first book.
I really enjoyed all the action contained in this book. Whereas the first was mostly a mental game revolving around Shahrzad’s initial goal of murdering Khalid and discovering his secrets, The Rose and the Dagger is full of fight scenes, suspense, and thrilling travels. Shahrzad discovers new powers and even a flying carpet that can take her hundreds of miles away from her homeland to a dangerous place that might solve all her problems. While she looks for answers and attempts to shield herself from her sister’s prying eyes, the people around her are preparing for war.
The character development that happens here is amazing. Shahrzad continues to be unwaveringly stubborn, but she begins to be more open with her sister near the end of the novel. I loved seeing timid characters, people I could not really remember because of their lack of significance in the first novel, turn into strong, fierce young women that eventually save the day. Khalid also learns to be more accepting of others, and is more willing to show people different sides of himself.
This book provides a drug-free escape from reality. The action and plot development beautifully intertwines with vivid details of the character’s surroundings and feelings – so much so that reading this makes it truly feel like a movie is playing in your head. Moreover, it’s a movie that is incredibly captivating, one that you wouldn’t want to be checking your phone during because then you would miss out on the greatness. If possible, it’s extremely easy to forget what time it is when reading this and soon realize that the book is nearly over, it’s that good.
Despite my love of the novel, some of the things I found endearing when reading the first book didn’t feel like they fit as well for this one. Shahrzad’s thoughts, in first person, are often put in italics because the rest of the book is written in third person, and they felt more awkward and out of place than appealing. Maybe that was because they worked better when Shahrzad was mostly alone and plotting something, but either way it irked me. There was also some storytelling elements in this novel, where one character would explain an old tale to try to prove a point, which I enjoyed very much when reading The Wrath and the Dawn, but during this novel, I only wanted to move on with plot, not hear about a fictitious tale inside a work of fiction.
The Rose and the Dagger did, however, prove to be worthy of my love, and I am thankful that it did not fall into the trap of bad sequels. Even with an epilogue set about five years later, I am almost thirsting for more adventures with these characters. Ahdieh brings the right amount of romance mixed with fantasy that nearly anyone could enjoy. If you read the first book and only sort of liked it, I would highly suggest reading this as well, as it is even more exciting than the first.
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