Rebel of the Sands (Rebel of the Sands #1) by Alwyn Hamilton // Steampunk Arabian Nights that stole my heart

GOODREADS // AMAZON // BOOK DEPOSITORY

Mortals rule the desert nation of Miraji, but mythical beasts still roam the wild and remote areas, and rumor has it that somewhere, djinn still perform their magic. For humans, it’s an unforgiving place, especially if you’re poor, orphaned, or female.

Amani Al’Hiza is all three. She’s a gifted gunslinger with perfect aim, but she can’t shoot her way out of Dustwalk, the back-country town where she’s destined to wind up wed or dead.

Then she meets Jin, a rakish foreigner, in a shooting contest, and sees him as the perfect escape route. But though she’s spent years dreaming of leaving Dustwalk, she never imagined she’d gallop away on mythical horse—or that it would take a foreign fugitive to show her the heart of the desert she thought she knew.

Rebel of the Sands reveals what happens when a dream deferred explodes—in the fires of rebellion, of romantic passion, and the all-consuming inferno of a girl finally, at long last, embracing her power.

     A million thanks to my long lost twin sister Farha, @theanatomyofabookworm for buying me this book and hitting me on the face with it so I'd finally read it. You won Farha.

~ I have found another found family y'all~

     Excuse me, the greatest cast of characters coming through. I would give 5 stars for just the characters honestly. They're all so different from each other, beautifully written, flawed and SO real that I want to pick all of them up and carry them home where they can be safe from Alwyn Hamilton because I just know she's gonna hurt them!

     ↠ There's Amani, our trigger happy heroine with the perfect aim. She ROCKS. Can we just talk about her character development? She's NOT always likable. At the beginning there's this selfish and kind of heartless thing she does that made me scream AMANI WHYYY?? I mean she admits she's being selfish but she has to be because that's how you survive in this world but ALL THE SAME, I was kind of mad at her. But THEN, the character development. Hell, I LOVED it. She goes from a kind of "to each their own" midset to a kind of "what are we if we don't have people we care about?" mindset and it was heartwarming ( but in like a brutal way because it's a brutal world ).

“The world makes things for each place. Fish for the sea, Rocs for the mountain skies, and girls with sun in their skin and perfect aim for a desert that doesn't let weakness live.”

     ↠ Jin. Seriously authors NEED to stop handing over the perfectest book boyfriends to me on a platter because I NO LONGER HAVE SPACE IN MY SHELVES. Jin is a total sassmaster (my favourite type of characters really) and also so complex and sweet and will 1000% die for his found family. WE LOVE JIN (in case that wasn't clear).

She turned to Jin now, sprawled by the fire, his hat pulled over his eyes. “I can tell you’re awake. Are you coming with us?” He sighed, tipping his hat backward. “Yeah, yeah. Just trying to get some sleep before going to near certain death.”

     ↠ The whole horde of secondary charcters OMG Ms. Hamilton you are an utter goddess to have created the PERFECT bunch of characters who I connected with in like three pages. Shazad is my favourite girl and I want her to be my best friend. WHERE CAN I FIND A SHAZAD? I SHALL SELL MY SOUL (I keep forgetting I don't have a soul)

~ Middle Eastern fantasy world meets the Wild West ~

      I rarely come across fantasy novels that have gun and kind of modern non-fantasy ammunition. I mean our MC is basically a sharpshooter who sneaks out as a guy and takes part in shooting competitions. It has a kind of steampunk Arabian nights vibe and I'M SO HERE FOR IT. There are djinnis, ghouls and rocs but also guns, trains and factories and I say BRING IT ON.

“For a second it looked like a mortal horse. The next it was pure sand. Shifting from bright gold to violent red, fire and sun in a windswept desert.”

“So are you planning on stealing all our guns, or do you think maybe you only need one per hand?”

~ Fast paced plot, engaging writing ~

     I pretty much read this in one sitting. I could NOT look away. I HAD to finish it because it was so fast paced and something or the other was always happening. It wasn't completely unpredictable. There are some things you just know from the start but still the author managed to surprise me and keep me engaged through out which I applaud.

~ A sweet romance to root for ~

      I love the kind of slow burn between our main characters and it's sweet but not always easy. I loved how realistic the romance felt; they have their differences, misunderstandings and it's not always peachy perfect between them. I can't wait to see more of the Amani X Jin dynamics in Traitor to the Throne (Actually at this point I've finished reading the trilogy hehe)

“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.”

~ THE ENDING~ 

       Can I say just one thing? Alwyn Hamilton deserves an award for writing the perfect first book with a perfect ending. NO CLIFFHANGER, no 'slowly' dying inside, just a sense of hopefulness and curiosity to learn more about this world.

 ~ Basically, GO READ THE BOOK~

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Have you read this book? Any favourite middle eastern fantasy books? Tell me in the comments below!