Rebel of the Sands by Alywn Hamilton
Spoilers for dayzzz
It was pretty good; it kept my attention and I liked the action element to it. The world building is well-thought-out and I liked the fantasy element to it but I would have preferred more references or an appearance of a Djinni.
Amani is smart-mouthed but apparently, so is every person–so I guess it is not that much of an accomplishment. Everyone has a ready, witty comment to be made, which does not correlate with the fact that the government is very strict and would discourage and punish people who were so outspoken. Overall, she is a headstrong and formidable but naive, which is expected.
The love interest was so obvious, a YA-type obvious that made me want to roll my eyes and throw my Kindle across the room. The first she boy comes across who isn’t creepy-looking and huge is the one she falls in love with and ohh yeah it’s an accident that they ran into each and all these coincidences. And of course, the “Rebel Prince” is just soooooo perfect. A natural born leader…handsome…deserves the crown more than all of his like 30 brothers… and all that jazz… blah, blah, blah everyone is just soon perfect. (As you can tell, I am not buying it). The storyline would have been more mature and pronounced if there was more complexity with the Princes and depth to them other than their beauty and entitlement.
Honestly, “it just seemed to good to be true” was the entire theme of the book. Like surprise, surprise, the only reason why Amani can survive traveling in the desert for weeks is because she not completely human–such a connivence. And I do not get why she is so friggin awesome at shooting. Not once did I go like “Wow, so that’s why she is a badass.”And how did no one notice her apparently practicing shooting like a badass?
Overall, Rebel of the Sands was a good book but I would not recommend breaking your back rushing to read it. I think it will be a trilogy but I cannot imagine why. The cliffhanger was… okay but I really hope there is only one book after this because I cannot imagine it prolonging for a third book or being interesting.
Mecca-Amirah Jackson 