Overall, the Wrath and the Dawn was pretty great. The characters were well-written, especially Sharhrzad (argh spelling). The quick-witted conversations between characters are perfectly done. The story melds the familiar tale of the 1,001 nights with the author's own version, throwing in magic, politics, and romance while she's at it. The writing is flawless and professional (sad that that even has to be a consideration nowadays, but so many books make it to publication riddled with grammatical travesties). There were quite a few plot points that were only barely touched upon, but I suppose we'll have those to look forward to in the sequel. 
 My only real issue with the book is that the foreign words and terms that the author judiciously uses are defined in a glossary hidden at the back of the book behind the Acknowledgments page and before the pages with a preview of the sequel. Even if you think to check the back for a glossary (which I actually did this time) you won't find it if you're also trying to avoid looking too closely at the pages for fear of spoiling the ending. Because I could only guess the meanings of the words, I was constantly being jolted out of the story. The foreign terms were cumbersome to read around, but I suppose lent authenticity to the story.