Review – Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton

Title Rebel of the Sands

Author Alywin Hamilton

Description from Amazon

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. 

Initial Thoughts

I had this book on my shelf for years and I hadn’t picked it up but was feeling super inspired after finishing a trilogy in a day.  The premise sounds like a Western Arabian Nights and I love that.  I bought it a long time ago and never read it.  But, about a month ago, I got the other two books in the series off of Book Depository so I decided it would be a good time to read the series.

Favorite Character

Jin — Jin was mysterious and perfect and I love him so much.  He might be my favorite male character of 2019.  And that’s super high praise given that I have read 117 books so far this year.

Some Things I Liked

• The setting was amazing.  It was super imaginative and it combines two things that I would never have thought to put together.  The Wild West and the Middle East.  It felt like Aladdin meets Wild Wild West (see what I did there, two Will Smith movies).
• The characters.  I loved the characters.  All of them were so well written and the dialogue was witty and perfect.
• The plot twists.  I didn’t feel like any part of the story was predictable.

One Thing I Wasn’t Crazy About

• I would have liked a smidge more romance.  But since this is a trilogy, I can forgive its absence in this book (on the hope that there is more to come in the next two books).

Final Thoughts

I loved this book.  Once again, I find myself feeling so dumb for having waited to read it.  It’s an amazing start to an incredibly promising series and I can’t wait to continue reading.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Recommendations for Further Reading

• Traitor to the Throne by Alwyn Hamilton – if you liked this book, you should absolutely continue with the series and read the next one.
• We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal – secret, rebels, romance, and the desert?  Both books have this and more in common.  Definitely give We Hunt the Flame a chance if you enjoyed this book.
• Thief of Cahraman by Lucy Tempest – this is another desert/Arabian nights inspired story.  Since it’s also part of a series, I think it’s definitely worth checking out if you liked Rebel of the Sands.