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Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton // I’m so torn…

Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton // I’m so torn…
Rebel of the Sands (Rebel of the Sands, #1) by Alwyn Hamilton
Genres: Fantasy (YA)
Pages: 320
Goodreads

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.

rebelsandsreadingprogress

*I had a really hard time structuring this review so I decided to just do a Pros & Cons list! My opinions are too much in the middle to do it any other way xD 

CONS

deco-chevron-2 Excessive amounts of back story – There was a lot of philosophical and historical mythology/stories that happened quite often. It became a bit distracting and interrupted the main story. It also affected the pacing of the story. It felt like it was very slow-going, especially the middle of the book.

deco-chevron-2 The western vibe – Sometimes it didn’t blend well with the middle-eastern setting. It was a little hard to imagine. Also, there were various attempts at a more “cowboy” dialect that I didn’t think worked very well.

Pros

deco-chevron-2Amani is bad ass – I thought she was a unique character. She has a survivalist mentality and knew that sometimes that meant she had to sacrifice other people to save herself. Sure, not the most admirable quality, but it’s realistic. I liked that about her. Although, her character does develop throughout the novel, meaning View Spoiler »

For people who have read it: View Spoiler »

deco-chevron-2 Somewhat of a slow-burn romance – I say ‘somewhat’ because you can tell who the love interest is right away. Amani does form a bit of an attraction when they meet. However, their relationship blossoms throughout their journey together (which is several months, even though it doesn’t feel that way). While I wasn’t 100% sold on their romance, I still enjoyed the realistic progression of it.

deco-chevron-2 The Western vibe – I know, I know, this is also in cons. I did sometimes like it. The reason it is also a con is because of the attempts at dialect and sometimes it was hard to visualize. However, I do love sharp shootin’ females and a ragtag gang  of magical “cowboys”.

deco-chevron-2 The plot twists – There were plenty of twists, especially at the end, that I definitely did not see coming. Those are what kept me going with this book.

Overall

I’m so divided about this book. Sometimes I liked it, sometimes I wasn’t too fond of it. I really enjoyed the main character and her internal struggles. I will most likely pick up the second book based on the way this one ended. If there were fewer interruptions with the back story about the land and their mythology, I probably would have enjoyed it more. However, if you like that on top of a long journey, you’ll probably enjoy this one!

Rating Report
Plot
Characters
Writing
World Building
Overall: 3.5 / 5

16 Comments

  • Reply Alisha 06/01/2016 at 12:46 pm

    This is definitely interesting because I had totally wanted to pick this up. I think I still may, and if I end up not liking it then whatever, it’s pretty.

    • Reply Molly 06/01/2016 at 2:04 pm

      It is pretty xD I’m going to keep it just because of that pretty cover lol

  • Reply ltlibrarian 06/01/2016 at 12:54 pm

    Hmm I don’t know how I would feel about this mix of western and middle east setting. I suppose both could technically work in a dessert-type environment? Though part of me worries that this will be like The Wrath & The Dawn where I thought there would be lots of magic but then there was almost none… How was the magic element for you?

    • Reply Molly 06/01/2016 at 2:03 pm

      The mix just threw me off every now and then because I don’t imagine people in that region to have western accents, you know? But it wasn’t terrible. It was more of a mix of the western lifestyle and the middle-eastern mythology sort of thing.

      There actually isn’t all that much magic. There are a few “magical” creatures, but the magic doesn’t really come until closer to the end. I think that’s because of the set up of the plot, the next book should have a lot more magic.

      • Reply ltlibrarian 06/01/2016 at 6:02 pm

        Oh no 🙁 that’s too bad, I may still give it a shot though. I’ll wait on your review of the second book before deciding

        • Reply Molly 06/14/2016 at 11:29 am

          It was still a decent book! But I will read the second book when it comes out. There should be more magic in the next one.

  • Reply Jord (Simply Adrift) 06/02/2016 at 5:13 am

    I’m not sure how I felt about the romance, I wasn’t exactly shipping it. At the beginning I was hoping he wasn’t going to be the other main character of the story… Towards the end I just accepted it lol.

    The twist was pretty awesome! I didn’t see it coming, which I always like.

    I too thought the two blended settings didn’t quite work, to be honest I thought it more of a western than the other.

    I hope the next book is more action than history telling!

    Jordon @ Simply Adrift.com

    • Reply Molly 06/14/2016 at 11:25 am

      You kind of know he’s the love interest like right off the bat. I wasn’t SUPER into the love story, but hey, it took a long ass time to develop so that’s good?

      I think most of us agree that the setting was a bit odd. It just didn’t blend all that well.

  • Reply Annika 06/02/2016 at 12:21 pm

    I really liked the history/mythology part of this one!
    I’ve heard others say things about it being slow before, and now I finally understand what they meant! That the mythology and backstory felt slow. Since the release I’ve just been going “how is this slow?! there’s nothing slow about it?!” but okay, yes, I get it now xD
    Also I’m hoping there will be more magic in the second one! And maybe less backstory? 😉 And and and… I definitely agree that Amani is pretty awesome!

    • Reply Molly 06/14/2016 at 11:18 am

      hahah for me, there was just TOO much. To the point that I got really confused and didn’t know how some of the backstory really helped out the plot at all.
      There should DEFINITELY be more magic in the next one…I mean come on…if there’s not, the big ending had no purpose. lol

  • Reply Zoe N. 06/02/2016 at 2:21 pm

    This is why world-building is so important – too much of it and it feels like you’re drowning in unnecessary information, but too little and you don’t know anything about the world you’re reading about. It’s definitely a hard thing to find the right balance. But I’m glad you liked it despite its flaws though! Thanks for sharing Molly and, as always, fabulous review! <3

    • Reply Molly 06/14/2016 at 11:17 am

      Exactly! There is definitely a delicate balance between too much and too little. Also, thank you! 🙂

  • Reply Tracy 06/04/2016 at 1:19 pm

    I’ve been so interested about this book, but I just can’t get over the weirdness of combining a book set in the middle east with the western thing… It just doesn’t seem like it would work. And just… why? Like, why couldn’t she have just written a book set in the middle east? But I dunno, maybe I’ll like it. I really do like that there were lots of plot twists though! I love that! Great review 😀

    Tracy @ Cornerfolds

    • Reply Molly 06/14/2016 at 11:11 am

      I completely agree. It was kind of a weird mix. Sometimes I would forget that it was even there in the first place. But I think that’s because there was just a really incohesive blend of the two. I don’t know. I didn’t hate it, it just wasn’t easy to picture. If that makes sense! hah xD

  • Reply Shannon@ It Starts At Midnight 06/05/2016 at 9:56 pm

    TOTALLY agree with you on pretty much all of this! And I think the thing you said in the spoiler tag is SPOT ON. I hadn’t really thought of it that way, but you’re so right! And I love it! It’s refreshing AND authentic to the character. I agree with the too much backstory (and I am usually quite the fan of such things ha) and the western thing- it wasn’t that I disliked it, I just couldn’t necessarily make it “fit” in my head, if that makes any sense? Anyway, great review, I will definitely be reading the second book too, since the ending was strong IMO!

    • Reply Molly 06/14/2016 at 11:08 am

      It was very different (the spoiler) compared to like….EVERY OTHER BOOK with that. So, yeah, I definitely enjoyed that. I agree with the western thing. I didn’t HATE it but yes, it was kind of hard to imagine. The ending was good! So I’ll be reading the second book 😀

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