Published by Faber & Faber on February 2nd 2017

See more about it here: Traitor to the Throne by Alwyn Hamilton This book has an equally gorgeous cover, so I’ll probably end up buying it for that reason alone (le sigh. Happy book birthday (today!) to Traitor to the Throne, the sequel to Rebel of the Sands. In fact, as I was writing this review I had to sit and think really hard about what the conflict even was.ĭefinitely worth a read if the synopsis appeals to you! The source of the main conflict of the novel was meh to me.

Yeah, this doesn’t actually contribute to my overall rating, but it’s worth mentioning (and probably part of why I bought this book in the first place).

The cover of this book is one of my favorites ever.

I don’t want to mention them and ruin any elements of surprise, but Hamilton did such a good job incorporating them, they ended up being believable.

I loved the mythology elements of the story.

Again, I had been reading so many crap YA novels, so to sit down and read the first page of Rebel of the Sands felt like taking a cool bath after being out under a desert sun. As you progress, the novel slowly begins incorporating fantasy elements, and while I thought it would be weird, it ended up being perfect!

You start reading this novel and it really feels like you’re reading about a Western set in the middle east.

What I give the Ali Seal of Approval (aka what I liked): or that he'd help her unlock the powerful truth of who she really is. And she'd never have predicted she'd fall in love with him. But in all her years spent dreaming of leaving home, she never imagined she'd gallop away on a mythical horse, fleeing the murderous Sultan's army, with a fugitive who's wanted for treason. When she meets Jin, a mysterious and devastatingly handsome foreigner, in a shooting contest, she figures he’s the perfect escape route. But there's nothing mystical or magical about Dustwalk, the dead-end town that Amani can't wait to escape from.ĭestined to wind up 'wed or dead,' Amani’s counting on her sharpshooting skills to get her out of Dustwalk. Mortals rule the desert nation of Miraji, but mystical beasts still roam the wild and barren wastes, and rumor has it that somewhere, djinni still practice their magic. She’s more gunpowder than girl-and the fate of the desert lies in her hands. Published by Viking Books for Young Readers on March 8th 2016īuy on Amazon, Buy on Barnes & Noble, Buy from The Book Depository

I can see why it won the Goodreads Choice Award for debut author. Alwyn Hamilton did a fantastic job crafting a tale that combines a spunky, sharp-shooting, female protagonist with mystical middle-eastern mythology. Luckily, Rebel of the Sands saved me from that fate. I’ve read too many that were crummy, and I was about to write off genre altogether (unfair, I know). I’ve been feeling sort of down and out with young adult novels lately.

Rebel of the sands book 3