<blockquote><b><i>"It was because they were two parts of a whole. He did not belong to her. And she did not belong to him. It was never about belonging to someone. It was about belonging together."</i></b></blockquote> Damn you, Renee Ahdieh. My heart is on the floor after this book. I had to give myself some time after finishing it to be able to write something somewhat coherent or else this entire review would be a mess of emotions and feels. This is the final book in "The Wrath and the Dawn" duology and it picks up right where the first one left of - Shazi was taken to Omar's camp and it's left to deal with Tariq and her father, as well as her uncle and the sentiment of mistrust and betrayal around the camp - not to mention her own doubts and the feeling that she failed her best friend by falling in love with the man who killed her. Khalid is picking up the pieces of the storm and trying to rebuild the city, and is left to deal with the fact that Shazi is gone. At the beginning, we see Shazi feeling kind of impotent, full of doubts and not her usual fiery self and that's a bit frustrating, but I think that was important for her character. She's out of her element, she's hurting and she's worried with too many things at the moment, so she needed to sort through her feelings first to then start doing something. But once she reverts back to the character we know and love, shit gets real. I love her training and figuring out how to work with her magic - it was nice to see that aspect of Sharzad, and it also provided us with hilarious scenes. Her interactions with Artan are gold and I like their friendship a lot. The scene with Shiva was beautiful and it had me tearing up a bit. And it was a nice Harry Potter reference as well ("Of course it's happening inside your head, but why on earth should that mean that it's not real?") hahaha And Khalid, my poor bb. We get his POV during this book, since he's away from Sharzad and we need to see what's happening back in Rey, so we can see how much he's suffering and struggling. Why people won't just leave him alone? Everyone is blaming him and fighting him like everything it's his fault, and he already blames himself too much - it makes him much more self-deprecating and it hurts my heart. But oh, when he sees Shazi again! And their scenes together, especially with magic carpet and the first scene. UGH. Like I said on other reviews, Renee's writing is so beautiful and fluid, it brings the characters alive and makes you feel for them and WITH them. And like I also said before, KhalidxShazi's scenes are special, they are always charged with this emotion that always makes me shiver and have goosebumps. In this book, though, his character development is astouding. At the end, we see him fighting for his happiness as much as for Shazi, we see him letting other see his passionate and kind side and it was so beautiful! As for Tariq...I liked him better by the end, but during most of the novel he was pushy and a jealous idiot, so I always wanted to slap him or have Shazi do it. The secondary characters, especially the ones introduced in this book, shined and gave the novel a nice flavor, something else to crave for aside the two MCs and the main plotline. None of them was there by accident, they all had a role to play in the book for things to work the way they did and I found myself wanting more on some of them. I especially loved Ilsa, Sharzad's sister, and the role she had on this book, as well as her character development. It was interesting to see the contrast between the sisters and their relationship. The girl power feel at the end was another thing that had me in this book - it was the women who saved the day, in the end, they made the whole plot move and were the direct cause and solution to everything that happened and this was one of the greatest things about this series. The rest of the book is a roller coaster, I laughed, I cried (yep, a few times), I squealed and I cursed. There were some things I saw coming a mile away and others that slapped me in the face and had my jaw on the floor. It was amazing, from page 1 to the last. It was one of the best books I've read this year, easy. That being said, I had some issues with some things in it. Like the curse. Am I the only one who thought it was broken way too easily? I mean, I know there were other things that they needed to worry about, but the main plot since book 1 has been the curse put upon Khalid that made him kill all those girls to protect the kingdom. And after they figured out the way to break it, they did with no consequences? No setbacks? I was expecting tears, a supernatural force out to get everyone, dark magic as well as a bigger role for Shazi's father in all of this. Speaking of dark magic, why introduce Artan's aunt and hint at her need for the book and it's 'dark' past involving their family and then just leave it at that? We simply don't hear from her anymore and this plotline is never closed properly. I also wanted to see more magic. Yes, we see Shazi learning to control her powers, but we don't see them at work, not truly. I really wished we saw more of that. There's Omar too. I've been dying last book for some OmarxShazi interactions because it would have been very interesting and I think they would like each other a lot, but aside from the first dinner scene, they were not even in the same room once. That disappointed me greatly. But, despite these minor things, I gave the book the full rating, because it didn't diminished my great joy and pleasure in reading this novel. It may not be as perfect as the first one, but it's incredibly good and I'm a fan for life. Also, I'll be reading anything Renee Ahdieh writes from now on. I'm sad this series is over, because I was captured by Khorasan's world from the first page of the first book and all it's characters, and I'm gonna miss it greatly. <blockquote><b><i>"Cut the strings, Shazi. Fly."</i></b></blockquote>