In a land on the brink of war, Shahrzad is forced from the arms of her beloved husband, the Caliph of Khorasan. She once thought Khalid a monster—a merciless killer of wives, responsible for immeasurable heartache and pain—but as she unraveled his secrets, she found instead an extraordinary man and a love she could not deny. Still, a curse threatens to keep Shazi and Khalid apart forever.
Now she’s reunited with her family, who have found refuge in the desert, where a deadly force is gathering against Khalid—a force set on destroying his empire and commanded by Shazi’s spurned childhood sweetheart. Trapped between loyalties to those she loves, the only thing Shazi can do is act. Using the burgeoning magic within her as a guide, she strikes out on her own to end both this terrible curse and the brewing war once and for all. But to do it, she must evade enemies of her own to stay alive.
After many years of having this on my TBR list and knowing I needed to reread The Wrath & the Dawn before diving into it, I have finally read this book. I decided to pick up the audiobook for this one after listening the audiobook of The Wrath & the Dawn and finding it quite engaging.
Sadly, I definitely found The Rose & the Dagger quite a lot less engaging than the first book, but it was also my first time reading this one. I will admit that moving the setting away from the palace itself felt a little disappointing to me, but I did really enjoy the fact that we were joined by Shazi’s family. Although I found it a little difficult to follow as an audiobook, I believe we are joined with a viewpoint from Shazi’s sister.
As the book went on, we see some of the characters from the first book meet some of the main characters from this book, mainly Shazi’s family. I enjoyed seeing the fire and passion of Shazi’s sister, and the dynamic between her and Khalid was really interesting.
One of the most enjoyable parts of this book for me was the romance, which does follow on from the first book as I also loved the romance as we see it initially develop. I will say I felt like this book was not the most memorable read, and the main memories I am taking away from this read are the relationships between the characters.
Overall, I’m glad I’ve finally completed this series, but I definitely didn’t enjoy this as much as the first book.
★★★
3 out of 5 stars
-Beth
May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽
Booktube | Storygraph | Instagram | Tumblr | Twitter | Facebook | TikTok | Goodreads
The Books are Everywhere 