The Rose and the Dagger (The Wrath and the Dawn #2) - Renee Ahdieh [Review]

Book: The Rose and the Dagger (The Wrath and the Dawn #2)

Author: Renee Ahdieh

Published: 26th April 2016

Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers

Pages: 420

Rating: 3/5 stars

Following on from The Wrath and the Dawn, comes the conclusion to the duology, The Rose and the Dagger. I was fully expecting to love this book, and whilst I enjoyed it, I was left a little disappointed.

However, I will say that this book is, like the first, beautifully written. Ahdieh has such a way with words and that is really what carries this book first and foremost. There is a stunning poetry to words, which I loved. I also enjoyed the magical elements (would have liked more) and the setting is spectacular.

So, why didn't I love it? A few reasons: 

1) The story is incredibly slow moving in the first two thirds of the book. Although there is a lot of talking, and thinking, the story never really progresses, and I was waiting with baited breath for something to happen.

2) To perhaps make up for the slow moving first and second act, the last segment of the book (just over 100 pages or so) moves incredibly fast. Like, I'm talking lightning speed fast. There were so many plot twists and turns in this segment that I was left thinking - why couldn't this have been spread out evenly throughout the first two parts?

3) Significant trials from the first book are accomplished in this book with relative ease. I'm particularly referencing the curse on Khalid from the first book here. Everything seems to slot into place and the curse really plays no big factor in this book at all. It's all very convenient and anti-climatic. 

4) Strange and lacking character developments. Some characters seem to act ridiculously out-of-character, and particularly in the last couple of pages, characters are discarded, killed, revealed to be good guys etc. in rather implausible ways. I would have also liked to see more development of other characters, like Artan, or Rahim. The only two characters who maintain basically the same foundations are Shazi and Khalid. 

Ultimately, I felt like there was too much to accomplish in this book, and that for only a duology, the book moved incredibly slowly to start off with. Although I enjoyed the ~girl power~ moments, all the enjoyable segments were segregated to the end of the book, at which point I had slightly lost interest. 

The Wrath and the Dawn worked for me because it was a story rich with detail and romance. There were supporting characters, but the story was mainly about Shazi and Khalid. As a standalone, I loved it. However, it feels like the loose threads left by The Wrath and the Dawn needed to be tied up in a much more progressive manner, as opposed to what was presented in The Rose and the Dagger.