The Rose and the Dagger by Renee Ahdeih {Yomna's Review}

MY REVIEW

My rating: 5/5

ONE WORD: PERFECTION 

This book captivates beginning to end and it left me so incredibly satisfied. Happy to say this is an immediate favorite. Everything in this book is perfection. After being disappointed by one of my absolute favorite series ending badly this yeah (*cough cough* The Crown) I feel quite confident that I could not be happier about this ending. This review will probably essentially be a love letter to Renée Ahdeih. 

Spoilers! 


By the way, the quote of the week this week is from this book so check it out below:

This book though. Wow. I just can't think about it too much without being really happy. Thank you so much Renée Ahdeih. 

I actually cried a lot while reading this book but there were two specific parts that really saddened me:

Rahim's Death: Rahim is such an amazing character. He's so sweet and I absolutely love him and Irsa together. I think Rahim's death accentuates the lesson that it's better to have loved and lost that person than died and not loved at all. The thing that made me cry the most about this part (I'm crying while writing this bloody review) is the fact that he thought about Irsa even while he was dying. This selflessness is a beautiful thing to behold. 

Khalid's almost death and Jahandar saving him: this part very nearly killed me. And I believe if Khalid had died it would've definitely. Again, the selflessness, the ability to forget yourself and your situation just to look at the person you love one more time is heartbreakingly lovely. I admire this book's characters endlessly for that. 

Also I really like how Jahandar brought Khalid back to life because he realizes how much he's hurting his daughter. Throughout the first book and in this book until the very end he's been so very blind to what his daughters really want and I thank god that he realized that he was actually making a very wrong decision for them. 

Khalid: I admire him endlessly. His ability to persevere under undoubtedly difficult conditions. His selflessness (I've been saying that about everyone lol, can I vary my adjectives?). His willingness to sacrifice anything of his own for other people. His undeniable sweetness. I love how strong he is, how unflinching and fierce. These are all lovely qualities. 

Shahrzad: I love her so much. She's such an accurate representation of girl power. She's smart, intelligent, fierce, powerful, and a very good strategist. I absolutely loved getting to read more about her in this book, because her story enchants me in every way possible.

Plots lines and dynamics: I remember while reading the first book feeling quite annoyed when they switched so you could read about different characters. But I felt no such thing while reading this book. I was intrigued by everything. I think it made for a much fuller story. Instead of just learning about Shahrzad and Khalid, you learn about  countless other characters in the story and I think that was amazing in this book because there are often a lot of characters in other books that are neglected in favor of the main characters. 

Third Person POV: I usually prefer first person POV for books but after reading The Winner's Kiss and now this, I am utterly convinced that books can be good in third person too. Which is great, since I am planning to start reading the Throne of Glass series next. 

Chapter titles: I haven't read a book in a while with titles for the chapters. This is a pleasant change. 

The writing: needless to say, literally the most important part of a story is the writing. The writing is this book was STUNNING. Literally every two pages there was something worth quoting. It's like the author just can't help it. I'm so impressed.

Romance: I think it very important to discuss the romance in this story because I was a bit scared it would be repetitive since the romance was already established in the first book. However, that was not the case at all. Every moment felt original to me and no part of it annoyed me. And also, I really enjoyed seeing other characters fall in love like Irsa and Rahim. It added so much depth to the story. I love Shahrzad and Khalid's love. It's so beautiful. 

Also, I hope Yasmine and Tariq end up together. I ship them to the grave.

Fantastic world: I really liked this world. I really felt like Renée Ahdeih did not take time off the world building to have more romance. No, she balances the two masterfully. 

Epilogue: Absolutely adore Haroun! He's so cute and bright. And I love that Shahrzad's story ended as it began, with a story. It's so so very lovely.