The Rose and the Dagger

Instant New York Times Bestseller\n\nThe much anticipated sequel to the breathtaking The Wrath and the Dawn, lauded by Publishers Weekly as "a potent page-turner of intrigue and romance."\n\nI am surrounded on all sides by a desert. A guest, in a prison of sand and sun. My family is here. And I do not know whom I can trust.\n\nIn a land on the brink of war, Shahrzad has been torn from the love of her husband Khalid, the Caliph of Khorasan. She once believed him a monster, but his secrets revealed a man tormented by guilt and a powerful curse--one that might keep them apart forever. Reunited with her family, who have taken refuge with enemies of Khalid, and Tariq, her childhood sweetheart, she should be happy. But Tariq now commands forces set on destroying Khalid's empire. Shahrzad is almost a prisoner caught between loyalties to people she loves. But she refuses to be a pawn and devises a plan.\n\nWhile her father, Jahandar, continues to play with magical forces he doesn't yet understand, Shahrzad tries to uncover powers that may lie dormant within her. With the help of a tattered old carpet and a tempestuous but sage young man, Shahrzad will attempt to break the curse and reunite with her one true love.\n\nEditorial Reviews\n\nPraise for The Rose and the Dagger:\n#1 New York Times Bestseller\n\n* "Beautiful, lyrical writing combines with a cohesive plot, richly drawn backdrop, and just the right mix of action and romance to create an undeniable new classic."--School Library Journal, starred review \n\n"Above all there is the shattering, triumphant catharsis of love... In a story about stories, love is 'the power to speak without words.' Thrillingly full of feeling."--Kirkus Reviews \n\n"Fiery romance, a spirited heroine, shifting loyalties... With more than a few heartrending twists and turns."--Booklist \n\n"[Ahdieh's] prose remains lush and evocative, ideal for sand-swept landscapes and racing hearts."--VOYA\n\nPraise for The Wrath and the Dawn:\n#1 New York Times Bestseller\n#4 on the Summer 2015 Kids' Indie Next List!\nAn Amazon Best Book of the Year for 2015 - Young Adult\nA New York Public Library Best Book for Teens for 2015 \nA Seventeen Magazine Best Book of 2015\nA YALSA 2016 Best Fiction for Young Adults Pick\n\n"Lushly imagined and powerfully characterized, it's a potent page-turner of intrigue and romance."--Publishers Weekly \n\n"This book is a fairy tale, a mystery, and ... promises to become a classic tale of its own."--VOYA\n\n* "Set against a backdrop of political intrigue and a simmering revolution, this is a carefully constructed narrative of uncertain loyalties, searing romance, and subtle magic in a harsh desert city."--Booklist, starred review\n\n* "The rich, Middle Eastern cultural context adds to the author's adept world building... a surefire hit with teens."--School Library Journal, starred review\n\n* "Renée Ahdieh's lush debut novel, The Wrath and the Dawn, is a suspenseful and beautiful reimagining of The Arabian Nights, with an edge."--Shelf Awareness, starred review \n\n"Dreamily romantic, deliciously angst-y, addictively thrilling."--Kirkus Reviews\n\n"Sumptuous detail ... satisfyingly steamy scenes, along with some angsty push and pull moments between the two for optimal romantic tension."--BCCB\n\n"Don't be surprised if the pages melt away and you find yourself racing through warm, golden sands or drinking spiced wine in cool marble courtyards. This is an intoxicating gem of a story. You will fall in love, just as I did."--Marie Lu, New York Times bestselling author of the Legend series and The Young Elites\n\n"In her absorbing debut, Renée Ahdieh spins a tale as mesmerizing as that of her heroine Shahrzad, filled with lush details and brimming with tension. The Wrath and the Dawn is truly an exceptional story, beautifully written."--Carrie Ryan, New York Times bestselling author of The Forest of Hands and Teeth\n\n"Ahdieh weaves a world that is lush with detail. You will want to hear, taste, and touch everything. But it's not just the world that is vividly alive. The characters are fascinating too: I loved the friendships, romance, and shifts in feeling. A beautifully written book, The Wrath and the Dawn is a story I could not put down."--Marie Rutkoski, author of The Winner's Trilogy\n- From the Publisher\n\n05/01/2016\nGr 9 Up--This sequel picks up right where The Wrath and the Dawn left off. Shahrzad is enduring a self-inflicted banishment to the desert since her father's attempt at magic left the city of Rey in ruins. Intent on discovering a way to end Khalid's terrible curse, she and her sister care for their ailing father while negotiating the dangerous political tensions in their camp. Shahrzad must learn whom she can trust while seeking the most potent, and therefore volatile, magic in the world. Meanwhile, Khalid is still in Rey, secretly helping to rebuild the city while suffering from the painful consequences of resisting the mandate of his curse. Fans of the previous volume will not be disappointed with the second installment of this epic retelling of One Thousand and One Nights. This entry succeeds in every way. Beautiful, lyrical writing combines with a cohesive plot, richly drawn backdrop, and just the right mix of action and romance to create an undeniable new classic. The author does not summarize the events of the first book, so some readers will be confused until they remember the secondary characters and their significance. However, the fascinating protagonists, nonstop action, and compelling dialogue will suck them back in and hold them there right up until the thrilling conclusion. VERDICT A first purchase, especially for fans of lush retellings.--Sunnie Scarpa, Wallingford Public Library, CT\n- School Library Journal\n\n2016-03-02\nPassion and betrayal; swordfights, spells, and sacrifice; and (of course) a flying carpet--all spill over in this culmination of the lush reimagining of The Arabian Nights that began with The Wrath and the Dawn (2015). Amid a devastating magical storm, Shahrzad is torn from her beloved Khalid, the cursed caliph of Khorasan. Held captive by her first love and the alliance massing against the reputed "bloodthirsty monster" Khalid, Shahrzad will need all her wits, courage, and stubbornness to break the curse, stop the war, and master her own awakening powers. Ahdieh plunges readers immediately into a complex tangle of political intrigue, dark magic, and twisted relationships with little explanation; various subplots are dropped along the way and other events never clearly explained. But the crowded, scattershot narrative is more than sustained by the heady prose, mixing poetic allusion and trenchant earthiness, redolent of exotic scents and sights and textures. The fairy-tale plotting is grounded in pure, raw emotion: Khalid's tortured nobility and leashed self-loathing, Shahrzad's brazen ingenuity and fiery devotion, and every other character's overflowing shame, rage, compassion, pain, loyalty, frustration, desire, loneliness, guilt, grief, and oily ambition. Above all there is the shattering, triumphant catharsis of love--between man and woman, parent and child, teacher and student, sisters and cousins, friends old and new. In a story about stories, love is "the power to speak without words." Thrillingly full of feeling. (Fantasy. 14 & up)\n- Kirkus Reviews