Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton // I’m so torn…

Rebel of the Sands (Rebel of the Sands, #1) by Alwyn Hamilton
Genres: Fantasy (YA)
Pages: 320
Goodreads

She’s more gunpowder than girl—and the fate of the desert lies in her hands.
Mortals rule the desert nation of Miraji, but mystical beasts still roam the wild and barren wastes, and rumor has it that somewhere, djinni still practice their magic. But there's nothing mystical or magical about Dustwalk, the dead-end town that Amani can't wait to escape from.
Destined to wind up "wed or dead," Amani’s counting on her sharpshooting skills to get her out of Dustwalk. When she meets Jin, a mysterious and devastatingly handsome foreigner, in a shooting contest, she figures he’s the perfect escape route. But in all her years spent dreaming of leaving home, she never imagined she'd gallop away on a mythical horse, fleeing the murderous Sultan's army, with a fugitive who's wanted for treason. And she'd never have predicted she'd fall in love with him...or that he'd help her unlock the powerful truth of who she really is.

*I had a really hard time structuring this review so I decided to just do a Pros & Cons list! My opinions are too much in the middle to do it any other way xD 

CONS

 Excessive amounts of back story – There was a lot of philosophical and historical mythology/stories that happened quite often. It became a bit distracting and interrupted the main story. It also affected the pacing of the story. It felt like it was very slow-going, especially the middle of the book.

 The western vibe – Sometimes it didn’t blend well with the middle-eastern setting. It was a little hard to imagine. Also, there were various attempts at a more “cowboy” dialect that I didn’t think worked very well.

Pros

Amani is bad ass – I thought she was a unique character. She has a survivalist mentality and knew that sometimes that meant she had to sacrifice other people to save herself. Sure, not the most admirable quality, but it’s realistic. I liked that about her. Although, her character does develop throughout the novel, meaning View Spoiler »she does start caring about others at some point. « Hide Spoiler

For people who have read it: View Spoiler »I liked that her power was revealed during an act to save herself. I thought that was also unique to the typical fantasy plot (where usually the person discovers some sort of ability or strength to save a loved one). What did you think of that? « Hide Spoiler

 Somewhat of a slow-burn romance – I say ‘somewhat’ because you can tell who the love interest is right away. Amani does form a bit of an attraction when they meet. However, their relationship blossoms throughout their journey together (which is several months, even though it doesn’t feel that way). While I wasn’t 100% sold on their romance, I still enjoyed the realistic progression of it.

 The Western vibe – I know, I know, this is also in cons. I did sometimes like it. The reason it is also a con is because of the attempts at dialect and sometimes it was hard to visualize. However, I do love sharp shootin’ females and a ragtag gang  of magical “cowboys”.

 The plot twists – There were plenty of twists, especially at the end, that I definitely did not see coming. Those are what kept me going with this book.

Overall

I’m so divided about this book. Sometimes I liked it, sometimes I wasn’t too fond of it. I really enjoyed the main character and her internal struggles. I will most likely pick up the second book based on the way this one ended. If there were fewer interruptions with the back story about the land and their mythology, I probably would have enjoyed it more. However, if you like that on top of a long journey, you’ll probably enjoy this one!

Rating Report
Plot
Characters
Writing
World Building
Overall:	3.5 / 5