Hello everyone!
After having to fan myself because the internet pretty much just broke over the news that Tyler Hoechlin has been cast as Superman for CW's Supergirl, I'm back with a book blog this week!
And okay, yeah, I'm human, alright? I can take a minute (or ten) to appreciate the eye candy that Mr. Hoechlin is. I've been wondering where Derek was in Teen Wolf.
Guess he's been getting measured for a new cape!
But I digress.
Two weeks ago I wrote a review about a book called The Wrath and the Dawn (I'll post a link down at the bottom of the page), and because it was such an amazing retelling of Arabian Nights, I just had to get my hands on a copy of its sequel, The Rose and the Dagger, pretty much as soon as humanly possible.
As I also knew that I probably wouldn't be able to put the book down once I started reading, I held back until earlier this week when I had time to spare, and then just curled up, reading it in one go!
Seriously, guys, these books are that good.
I mean, I'm a manic reader anyway, but I've learned to pace myself, and sometimes I actually have to do it because I can't push through the whole thing. But when it's good? I can be seen as immobile from where I'm sitting, book in my hands (not counting my soliloquys when something happens that riles me up, obviously).
To recap the first book very quickly: our lady protagonist married the Caliph of Khosaran because he had been murdering his wives the morning after their wedding for a long time, and as he had killed her best friend, she wanted revenge. But what she found was a troubled young man under a curse, fell in love, and ended up having to leave the city after her father went all-out with some ancient magic to set it on fire to 'save' her, along with her childhood crush.
Now in book two, the city is in ruins, and the Caliph is wandering about, helping where he can. Nobody really recognizes him since he doesn't want to be recognized, and his bodyguards are going nuts. At the same time, Delphina, Shazi's former handmaiden, announces she wants to marry te Rajput, aka the most badass bodyguard of all, who can't use one arm anymore because of an obsidian-fletched arrow, and they leave together, which results in Khalid getting the snot beaten out of him by his cousin Jalal, who is actually the father of Delphina's child, and loves her, but ...
You know, spilt milk and all that.
Meanwhile, at the beduin camp where an army is massing to attack the Caliph while everything in the capital is in dissaray, Shazi learns she's basically a prisoner among friendly faces who all think she's betrayed them. And while her sister Irsa's romance with another of their childhood friends blossoms, Shazi starts thinking of ways to create her own destiny.
They involve learning to fly on a magic carpet.
Which she then uses to get to a mage, Musa, who used to teach Khalid back in the day, and who can hopefully help her now. Introducing her to another magi who has powers such as she does (and flies a winged serpent too), Shazi learns that a witch in a frozen fortress might help her get rid of both the curse, and the book her father is maniacally attached to (said book giving him magical powers, after all).
Flying back to the capital, and convincing Khalid about her plan (after some reunion time, of course), the lot of them head up to visit the wicked witch, who enchants a dagger with Khalid's blood, marking him as the one to destroy the book (with said dagger, dripped in his own blood, and then he has to set the bastard thing on fire, natch).
No alternative left, Shazi confides in Irsa so they steal the book from their father, who has meanwhile promised their uncle to help him take more of Khosaran, but the girls are followed as they rush to meet with Khalid.
And in a wicked turn of events, old childhood sweetheart instead of shooting his rival shoots Shazi, who jumps in front of the arrow.
She doesn't die, of course, and Khalid, on his return to Rey, does destroy the book, but what happens is that our heroine gets kidnapped by her father and uncle and taken to Amardha, where the annoying Sultan who is Khalid's uncle wants to bargain with his nephew for her.
Oh, and, also, Delphina is a princess. Who would have thought.
But through her help (after some trust issues), the Rajput's, and Yasmine's (the OTHER princess of Amardha), Shazi is smuggled out to the war camp, because obviously the Caliph of Khosaran has marched his army to the border the moment he learned that his wife had been taken prisoner.
Unfortunately, Irsa's beloved loses his life in this venture.
Less fortunately for the Sultan, the Caliph is stronger than he is and has stronger allies - did I mention the winged serpent already?
The end result is that Yasmine is made the new Sultana, while her father is placed on lifelong house arrest, and the scheming uncle is killed. But Shazi's father is less than pleased, as he's figured out the book is gone, and goes after Khalid, striking him with the dagger that killed the book - and killing him.
Luckily for us though, there's magic, and a repentant father who trades his life for that of his son-in-law, and in the epilogue, we meet Hasoun, Khalid and Shazi's son, who has apparently inherited Shazi's magical abilities and Khalid's looks, and Shazi is still telling stories every night. Also, her childhood sweetheart seems to have moved on - with Yasmine.
Happily ever after!
Even though half the time I twisted my head around so fast as allegiances changed, it's a good thing that it's stuck on my neck still.
The difference in this book was that we saw many more points of view than just Shazi's, but I loved the detail and the little twists; it was a worthy retelling and a fitting end to the story begun in The Wrath and the Dawn.
I mean: love, magic, the desert, the Arabian Nights song in the background, a magic carpet - what else do you need?
xx
*image not mine
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