See this review and more on my blog, Lilybloombooks 
 *Winner of Convince me to read, part 2* Thanks to all who voted! 
 Dang, took me long enough, right? Only 3 months overdue, hmm? 
 I'm picky about retellings as a standard rule. Which now that I think about it, it is kind of dumb excuse in this case because I am not wholly familiar with the story in which this stems from. Have I heard of it? Yes. But I only know the basics of the story. Anyway, besides hype, I think this is the reason I held off for so long but I do believe this was one I would have eventually picked up. 
 What convinced me 
 Well, mainly the numbers. Comments were VERY mixed on this go around, so it was really the twitter poll that sealed the deal. Again, I was really surprised by the votes! 
 My Thoughts 
 I see the appeal and I see why SO many are head over heels in love with The Wrath & the Dawn. It's a magical story; with love, magic, and the setting! But, I didn't love it. 
 For starters, I think it would have had a HUGE impact on me as the reader if the story was in 1st person. Even though I fully understand the reasoning writing it the way it was written. We get different pieces to the story; with multiple POVs, so we are able to see the bigger picture. However, this created a level of detachment with the characters, and there were parts I felt were less to me because my emotions weren't involved. Not to mention, the voices were not unique in the slightest. 
 The characters were another aspect. Don't get me wrong; I loved Shazi. I think she is amazingly brave for what she did. Not only that, she is witty, smart and I loved her do not mess with me attitude all around. But, I wasn't sold on her... indecisiveness. She sounded like a pissed off kitten when it came to Khalid, not a woman filled with hate and set on revenge. I also didn't feel the transition from hate/love, even though I knew it was happening. That being said, their interactions were rather entertaining and I do love Khalid. Speaking of Khalid, I adored his character. I have a thing for the damaged ones. 
 I was confused too, regarding the intentions of Shazi's father. I mean, besides the obvious, what was he doing!? 
 One more thing and this is a personal THING, I hated having to flip to the glossary all the time! There were many terms I knew but there were some I had NO IDEA what they meant and I would easily forget. >.< 
 Does it deserve the hype? 
 Well... yes? I mean, I really enjoyed it - but I wasn't OHEMGEE wowed by it at all. It deserves recognition, for sure, but I'm glad I waited to read it. I have the sequel, 
 The Rose & the Dagger 
 , and I will be reading it soon!