The Rose & The Dagger | Book 2 | Renée Ahdieh

 

  Star Rating: 4/5 Spice Rating: 1/10 Art Rating: 10 / 10

Favourite Quote:“ That is not the way of it, your future is not set in stone, my dearest star. A coin turns on itself a number of times before it lands”

Synopsis;

In a land on the brink of war, Shahrzad has been torn from the love of her husband Khalid, the Caliph of Khorasan. She once believed him a monster, but his secrets revealed a man tormented by guilt and a powerful curse—one that might keep them apart forever.

Reunited with her family, who have taken refuge with enemies of Khalid, and Tariq, her childhood sweetheart, she should be happy. But Tariq now commands forces set on destroying Khalid’s empire. Shahrzad is almost a prisoner caught between loyalties to people she loves. But she refuses to be a pawn and devises a plan.

While her father, Jahandar, continues to play with magical forces he doesn’t yet understand, Shahrzad tries to uncover powers that may lie dormant within her. With the help of a tattered old carpet and a tempestuous but sage young man, Shahrzad will attempt to break the curse and reunite with her one true love.

Review;

The Rose & The Dagger follows straight on from The Wrath & The Dawn and is written as beautifully, if not even more so. The narrative focuses on trust and friendship and how ultimately love conquers all. Compared to the first book in this Duology, this book focuses on breaking the curse & reuniting with Khalid. I was ever so slightly disappointed that the breaking of the curse scene wasn't made out to be bigger than it was. They find out how to break it, and then it is over within a few pages. Ahdieh could have definitely made this into a trilogy and really dragged out the curse breaking, have a few moments where it wasn't going to happen and then they solve the riddle & figure it out together. Bearing in mind the first book is entirely about the curse and in this book it isn't the main event. HOWEVER, this still gets 4 stars from me because i absolutely love Ahdieh's style of writing and how vivid her descriptive language is to describe characters, scenery & other things in the world she has created. 

Right, back to it!! So after the destruction of Rey caused by Shazi's father, Khalid remains in Rey whilst Shazi is reunited with her father and sister in a military camp in the desert, a force that is not in favour of Khalid and have united to bring about his destruction. Shazi is also reunited with Tariq whom she was in love with before she went to the palace to marry Khalid. Since the events of The Wrath & The Dawn, her feelings have significantly changed, however Tariq's have not. Character development is a major factor in this narrative and i personally think Tariq's development was the biggest out of all of them. At the beginning, Tariq has saved the girl he loves and believes she still loves him too. His hatred for Khalid all but consumes him and it makes the reader believe he cannot be reconciled with. But when Shazi comes back with him to the rebel camp and it is clear she is no longer in love with him, he tries to deny it, until he is faced with the opportunity to kill Khalid but instead shoots Shazi in the back with an arrow. Only then when he can visually see the devotion between Khalid & Shazi that he finally comes to terms with this fact. 

The diversity of action & location in this book is great! We get to visual more of the kingdom and the secrets it holds. I actually when Rahim died, not because of his actual death (that was very sad) but i cried when Irsa was told of his death and goes to see his body. The way she thanks him and that she will always love him - i was at work reading this and had to conceal my tears!

Overall it is a great read. I have read some mixed reviews but i think it's all about how you feel when reading - your opinion can be very different to someone else's! 

Have you read this? if you have let me know what you thought of it!