“One hundred lives for the one you took. One life to one dawn. Should you fail but a single morn, I shall take from you your dreams. I shall take from you your city. And I shall take from you these lives, a thousandfold.”
How far is too far in the pursuit of revenge? What cost is too much? Is it worth innocents paying the price for it? The Wrath & the Dawn is a 1000 and 1 nights retelling that examines revenge and the costs that come with it. The theme runs through the whole book and is the catalyst for the main characters actions.
Shahrzad is a girl driven by revenge after the death of her best friend at the hands of the Caliph of Khorasan, Khalid. Volunteering to be his next ill fated bride she attempts the impossible, surviving the dawn. By tempting Khalid with the promise of continuing the tale she weaved till that first dawn the next night, she survives where others perished. Hoping with time she can learn his weakness and exact her revenge on the mysterious monster that has destroyed so many families for no apparent reason, she weaves her tales and enchants the monster of her nightmares.
Enemies to lovers is one of my, if not my favorite tropes ever. Unfortunately the Wrath & the Dawn, while beautifully written, falls short on the enemies to lovers romance. Mostly because it lacks the back and forth dialogue and slow burn that’s so enjoyable with the trope. Shahrzad is to quick to fall for Khalid and there isn’t enough engagement between them building that love. Usually you see small things that snowball over time causing the shift from enemies to lovers that is just missing here. There is no real basis to the shift, it just happens, and happens fast. The romance is still sweet and endearing in the end. There is a love triangle in it but very little time is devoted to it and its not very strong or impactful. If love triangles are not your thing, don’t let it keep you from picking up the book.
The world building is beautifully done with enough description to paint the scene but not to the point that it gets heavy feeling. Ahdieh illustrates the world around her characters and their effect on it poetically. One of my favorite examples of this was when Shahrzad is pacing and her footsteps are describes as “leaving imprints on the shinning black onyx. Then, like a whisper of a suggestion, they vanished without a trace.” This is where her writing truly excels.
Overall the Wrath & the Dawn is an engaging enemies to lovers story set in a beautiful and rich middle eastern setting, even with its shortcomings in the romantic development between the main characters.
