Title: Traitor to the Throne (Rebel of the Sands #2)
Author: Alwyn Hamilton
Edition: Paperback
Rating: 5/5
The sequel to Rebel of the Sands begins with a recap of the first book, told as a campfire legend. It’s an engaging way to begin, but when the story moved past the end of the first book, and summarised what happened next, I was frustrated. I wanted to experience the events through Amani’s first-person narration.
And they are big, life-and-death events, skipped over in a few paragraphs. But when Amani’s narration begins, we are thrown painfully back into the action, and I was hooked all over again.
Amani’s strengths – her knowledge of the desert, her bravery, her skills with a gun – make her a valued member of the rebel group fighting to overthrow the Sultan. She is at home in the desert, and she knows its power. When she is kidnapped and imprisoned in the Sultan’s harem, she finds herself far from the sand, unarmed, and in need of new ways to survive. Royal politics, possessive princes, and jealous wives all threaten her safety, but the Sultan’s interest in her could be far more dangerous.
The pace slows while Amani finds her way around the politics and threats of the harem, and finds herself in the middle of negotiations that could provoke or avoid a war. There’s a constant background of danger – from the princes, the wives, and the Sultan – but the action picks up again as the twists and intrigues of the story come together in the final chapters.
I still love Amani, and it was interesting to see her learning to survive outside her comfort zone. There’s plenty of character development here, for Amani, and for the people around her. There are some shocking plot twists, but no neat ending. I can’t wait to see what happens in Book 3!
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Review cross-posted to GoodReads.
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