Wednesday 16 March 2016

Review: Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton

Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton
Publisher: Faber & Faber Childrens Books
Publication Date: February 2nd 2016
My rating: 4 stars  


"Tell me that and we'll go. Right now. Save ourselves and leave this place to burn. Tell me that's how you want your story to go and we'll write it straight across the sand." Dustwalk is an unforgiving, dead-end town. It's not the place to be poor or orphaned or female. And yet Amani Al'Hiza must call it 'home'. Amani wants to escape and see the world she's heard about in campfire stories. Then a foreigner with no name turns up, and with him she has the chance to run. But the desert plains are full of dangerous magic. The Sultan's army is on the rise and Amani is soon caught at the heart of a fearless rebellion... An epic story of swirling desert sands, love, magic and revolution.

Rebel in the Sands was exactly the sort of book I needed in my life, its fast pace and vibrant characters reminded me of why I loved reading so much in the first place. To be honest at first I wasn’t sure Rebel of the Sands would be my sort of book, but within the first few pages I found myself sucked into Amani’s world and backing her to find a better life for herself. In the short time she was around her family it was clear and easy to see that she could do so much better than them and that she was destined to better and bigger things. So when a stranger offers Amani the opportunity, there’s no looking back.

Amani was exactly the sort of MC I like, she had a rough upbringing but she still believed that she could get out and achieve better things. I loved the journey that we got to experience with her, her character arc was brilliant, her fierceness and resilience continually came through and I just wanted her to finally get her happy ending. I enjoyed the characters that Amani got to meet along the way, they not only made the story come alive even more but they were characters that you couldn’t but help fall for, Jin was in particular one of my favourites. Despite being a formidable looking guy with tattoos (even I would have a hard time resisting him) he was charming and funny and could quickly bring a smile to your face with his quick wittedness. But most of all I appreciated the relationship that Hamilton developed between Jin and Amani, the slow burn romance was tantalising to watch play out, I liked how we got to see a different side of Jin because of it, his concern for Amani just made me fall for him even more, but the wait for the make out scenes were so worth it *fans self*. I hope we get a lot more of these in the rest of the series.

I honestly thought I knew the way things would play out for Amani, she would finally find a family and love that she had been missing out on for so long with her aunt. But the path that Jin and Amani found themselves on was so unexpected, but I loved the twists and turns that we got to experience along the way. Hamilton also gave us such a diverse set of characters that I really didn’t want to let these characters go after I finished the last page. There’s still so much to discover with these characters and they have so much more to offer that I can’t wait to see which journey they take us on next.




13 comments:

JennRenee said...

I love witty MC's. I am so excited for this book. I am glad you loved it. I think I need to read it soon.

Emma said...

I picked up this book in Waterstones, then I put it back down again as I wasn't sure this would be a kind of book I would enjoy. But the MC certainly sounds like someone I would enjoy reading about and the gorgeous cover. Great review. :)

Joy said...

Yasss! I really enjoyed this one, too. And I see you're reading The Wrath and the Dawn. I didn't quite like that one, tbh. But oh isn't Rebels of the Sands so awesome?! I can't wait for the next book!

Jenny said...

AH! I can't wait for this one Jasprit! I'm of course particularly excited about the slow burn romance between Amani and Jin, because well, romance. MY FAVORITE! So looking forward to meeting these two:)

Nick said...

I just finished writing my review for this one, Jasprit and I'm so pleased to see you enjoyed it. I LOVED Amani's character so much! And I liked Jin too and the chemistry between the two, but being the greedy reader I am, I wanted more!
I'm excited for more of this story! :)
Fab review, Jasprit!

Unknown said...

I have been seeing this book everywhere lately, and it seams everyone really liked it! It does also sound like something I would enjoy, so I hope I get to read it sometime soon. Amani sounds like a great character, and if the romance is as you say, I really have to read it.

Anatea | Anatea's Bookshelf

Lekeisha said...

I can't wait to read this one myself. I've read nothing but great things about it. Awesome review!

Heidi@Rainy Day Ramblings said...

This one has been getting some great reviews. I am going to have to grab a copy. I like the sound of the characters.

Alyssa said...

YAAAAY! So happy you enjoyed this book! To be honest, I haven't seen a single negative review, which is pretty AMAZING! Amani is definitely the type of heroine that I'd like to be friends with. :D

Lovely review, Jasprit!

Alyssa @ The Eater of Books!

Carina Olsen said...

Yay! Stunning review Jasprit :D I'm so glad you liked this book a lot. <3 It was a four star for me too. It was just such an awesome book :) Thrilled you thought so too. I hope we will both end up loving the sequel. <3 Thank you for sharing your stunning thoughts about this one sweetie :)

Keertana said...

I'm so glad you enjoyed this one, Jasprit, since it seems to be so unique and I'm always on the lookout for novels that are set in new locations or which feature protagonists I can really get behind. Plus, you know I'm a sucker for fantasy so I definitely need to push this up my TBR. Wonderful review, dear!

Nereyda @Nick and Nereydas Infinite Booklist said...

Yay, so happy you liked this one too! It was my first YA in a while and I really loved it, made me miss YA again :)

Ksenia said...

Such a gorgeous cover! I mostly read contemporary, and when I venture in other genres I prefer books with romance in them. And the romance in this book sounds so good. I love slow burn romance. This sounds great, but I think I’ll wait when the whole series would be released. I prefer binge-read series. Amazing review, Jasprit!

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