The Rose & the Dagger

Pacing started off relatively slowly but really crammed lots of action in at the end. Appreciate that the ended the story in 2 books and she didn't try to drag out the story just to create an unneeded trilogy. I enjoyed Shahrzad as a character, and the retelling of Arabian Nights was fun. Like the first book, the descriptions drag on far too long, so gloss over all of those. I listened to the audio book at 1.75x because the narrator was a tiresomely slow reader.

Ah yes, the romanticization of a serial killer 😍  she falls in love and marries, then have a child with a man who killed we don't know how many girls, INCLUDING HER BEST FRIEND for a CuRsE. And people think this is romantic. This is straight up horrible. Please do not hype books like this, I beg of you.  

The misogyny in this book is strong
The “oh so strong girls” never do anything. It's the boys who push the story forward. Shazi was supposed to learn magic. Does she ever use it? No.
Her sister and the other guy's romance is pointless. No, really. The book wouldn't change a bit if you take it out. In fact he dies. Thank god he dies, he was annoying as fuck. Also, Khalid was supposed to die (I was cheering so much), I mean he's a rpist and also a killer  but then Shazi's father sacrifices himself to save that useless piece o sht? Hell no

5/5 stars As always. As ever. As a rose to the sun. I am envious of writers, because for some reason they are able to find the right pattern of letters to construct worlds, create friends or enemies, fashion together a beautiful romance, and destroy a reader's life. [a:Renee Ahdieh 4600197 Renée Ahdieh https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1487663209p2/4600197.jpg] is a prime example of this.This book is a masterpiece inside and out. I took my time reading every word, getting to know every character. I found myself emerged into the beautiful world and trudging along with each character's trials. But because I took so long to finish, my thoughts are so disorganized that I can't herd them together for a longer, organized review. So I guess I'll just have to say this: for a sequel, this book was phenomenal. I have just finished this book maybe 10 minutes ago, and I'm already craving more. In all honestly, I enjoyed [b:The Wrath & the Dawn 18798983 The Wrath and the Dawn (The Wrath and the Dawn, #1) Renée Ahdieh https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1417956963l/18798983.SY75.jpg 26724902] much, much more, but this book wrap up the series in such a unique, memorable way that given a few weeks to think everything over, the series might find its way onto my favorite books of all time list. Truly magnificent. Astounding. Breathtaking. All positive adjectives.