The Good: 
 This is everything I wanted The Wrath and the Dawn to be. First of all, look at that cover. It's gorgeous. It has the Arabian Nights feel to it. She's wearing the purple dress that has huge importance in the book. The font has that gold/copper color to it which is also SUPER important. Double high five to that designer because s/he nailed it. 
 I don't even know where to start. Should I start with how wonderfully feminist this is? Or how the culture is so well done and apparent through the whole book? Or how Lo-Melkhiin's actions are never once justified unlike another retelling that's really popular right now? 
 LET ME COUNT THE WAYS. 
 This story revolves around women, specifically our heroine and her sister. I would tell you their names but we never learn them which I thought was such an interesting creative choice. The two most important women remain nameless throughout the entire plot. Her importance isn't placed on her name; it is placed on her actions and how she saves her people. She is a common girl with exceptional strength, intelligence, and bravery, and that is what makes this story an excellent retelling. The book is less about her connection with Lo-Melkhiin and more about her relationships with the women around her. There are so many times when she talks about how women are the backbone of the society, and I felt that kinship she describes so deeply through the narrative. Her relationship with her sister is the most important bond to her, and that is reiterated over and over. I really, really enjoyed that. 
 Lo-Melkhiin's reason for killing hundreds of girls is revealed early on. I appreciated how Johnson never tried to justify his actions as a mass murderer. He's just evil, something to be defeated. It is very well done, and I never felt like Lo-Melkhiin's character took the focus away from where it needed to be. He is the villain. He isn't excused because of a magical love story. I felt that played very true to the original story of 1,0001 Nights. 
 The writing style is elegant. It has a storytelling quality to it which also echoes back to 1,001 Nights. It reads like a story that has been passed down for ages, which is also why leaving our heroine nameless works so well. I loved how visible and effortless the culture was, and I loved the detail that went into descriptions of rooms or religions or traditions. Again, it felt effortless. 
 The ending was exactly what I wanted it to be. So far, this has been the best tribute to 1,0001 Nights I've read so far. It allows the original story to grow while embellishing and adding enough personal touches to make the story feel new and exciting. I had very little to complain about when I reached the end, and I would love to read this again to see what I missed the first time. 
 The Bad: 
 If there was so much good, why doesn't it get the full five stars? 
 The pacing was a little slow at times, and that made the writing style hard to get through in some sections. Though I loved the writing style, sometimes it felt a little too heavy. Those were the sections I accidentally spaced out during and had to backtrack. I don't count that as a bad thing necessarily because the writing style does more for the overall effect of the story than it takes away. But because of the slower pacing, I would get caught in those pockets of text that were a little dense in language. If the story had keep my attention 100% of the time versus 80% where I had to keep going back to reread, it would have gotten the full five stars. 
 There's a lot to love here. I would absolutely recommend it over The Wrath and the Dawn 
 4/5 stars.