Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed this duology... but I didn't love it. 
 The Arabian setting was a breath of fresh air and I hope many YA books to come follow its example; it was the sole reason I rated it 3 stars instead of two. The plot was so full of cliches that made me extremely disappointed! The story had everything to be amazing, but it fell short. The love triangle, the insta-love, the predictability, the cheesy moments... 
 I was bored to death until the 40% mark: Shazi is taken to the desert and spends her time moping while Kahlid remains in his palace, helps rebuild his city during the nights using a disguise, and also mopes. A new character is introduced at that point, Artan, which I loved and I continue to read just because I wanted to learn more about him. That didn't happen, he is put in the shadows after a few chapters, but the pace of the book did pick up a little. 
 It was really interesting to see Kahlid interact with Irsa, Rahim and Tariq face to face, but (view spoiler)[what about the others? Did his people forgive him? Or do they consider the caliph a monster still? Was the truth revealed to them? What about Jalal? Did the two make up? And Omar? What happened to him? 
 The cheesy epilogue almost made me barf... (hide spoiler)] 
 Meh