She’s more gunpowder than girl—and the fate of the desert lies in her hands.
Mortals rule the desert nation of Miraji, but mystical beasts still roam the wild and barren wastes, and rumor has it that somewhere, djinni still practice their magic. But there’s nothing mystical or magical about Dustwalk, the dead-end town that Amani can’t wait to escape from.
Destined to wind up “wed or dead,” Amani’s counting on her sharpshooting skills to get her out of Dustwalk. When she meets Jin, a mysterious and devastatingly handsome foreigner, in a shooting contest, she figures he’s the perfect escape route. But in all her years spent dreaming of leaving home, she never imagined she’d gallop away on a mythical horse, fleeing the murderous Sultan’s army, with a fugitive who’s wanted for treason. And she’d never have predicted she’d fall in love with him… or that he’d help her unlock the powerful truth of who she really is.
~ Blurb from GoodReads
I LOVED this book.
You know when you find a book and from the first page you’re like, ‘Ok, everyone leave me alone, i’m going to be out of commission for a few days!’
Yeah, this was one of those books for me. Which was lovely as I hadn’t had one of those books for aaaages.
First off, the setting. An Arabian-style, fantastical desert. No fantasy urban city or European magical kingdom but a land of sand and oasis. How often do you come across a setting like that in fantasy? And in YA.
Not often at all.
Instantly more interesting.
Characters: loved them. Our lead, Amani, is tough and sassy and can hold her own against any man she is told she cannot best – be as sharpshooter or sharp-tongued.
There’s a scene right at the beginning that I still remember even after it being so long since I read it where she is confronted at her store by soldiers hunting a fugitive (a particularly sexy fugitive) and her easy charm and turn-of-phrase, ah! I love her!
The plot, well, it caught my attention from the get-go, as I said. It’s an adventure, what’s not to love? All Amani wants to do is escape her hum-drum-you’re-going-to-marry-your-uncle life (Can’t say I blame her) aaaaand she winds up getting caught in the middle of a war between the country’s royal family and a rebellion as they rush to stop a secret weapon that will unleash pure devastation if it is not stopped.
No pressure or anything, Amani, you’ll be fiiine. Who cares if you have no knowledge of the outside world, are paired off with a criminal you should never fall in love with and have one heck of a secret to discover about yourself? You’ll be grand.
The only thing I didn’t like was the ending. It was VERY sudden.
HUGE climax. Bye bye.
That was it. It left me unsatisfied. However, it is only the first in a series, the second book being released in a few months from now. Thus, I can forgive it the sudden ending. And most of the things you needed/wanted answered in a first book were answered nicely.
As for the cover work, I have the UK cover (as seen above) and absolutely love it. I have a proof copy so it doesn’t have the extras but in the final cover shines with gold – who doesn’t love a shiny shiny cover! And I just really like the subtle, magical Middle Eastern style.
SO! Overall: 4 1/2 stars.
And I’ve just received a copy of the second book: Traitor to The Throne. YAY! And thank you to the publishers
Until next time
Ja ne~
Book received as a proof from publishers in exchange for a fair review.
Rena Freefall Reviews 