Rebel of the Sand/ Alwyn Hamilton
3 stars
to cut it short- I think the hype for this book was misleading.
There were two 'major' plot twists in this book- the first one I had already figured out BEFORE the first half, and the second one I didn't really see coming, but still for some reason didn't seem very shocking or exhilarating.
I had some problems with the main character- Amani. She had flaws that might have made her more realistic, but also made her annoying for me and after she did the things she did (no spoilers), she felt bad about it, said she wouldn't do it again, but then after a while she did the SAME thing again- this repeated itself like three times or something. I wanted her to have to face her friend, but that didn't happen- disappointing, but maybe in the next book?
I felt like the Author didn't delve too deep into Jin's character, which I would have liked- when Jin explained his actions throughout the last two or three months, it was only a few lines and I feel like a lot of important details had been left out. I wanted to have more depth to his character because I think he has some potential and also because it would have helped me understand him and Amani as a pair- I felt like it wasn't really based on anything and was rushed, which confused me a little bit.
On a different note, I really liked all of the side characters- Shazad (though again, hers and Amani's friendship was sudden and wasn't really detailed in the book) was a great female character- she was strong, capable, independent and a warrior in her own right.
Bahi was cute and funny and an altogether important, optimistic and light-hearted character in the midst of war. Again, wished we could've got more information about him.
Noorsham was also a character with a lot of potential, and I actually felt as if I got more details about his character than Jin's. I really liked his background and how it has affected him in the long run- Ironically I felt like he was the most explained and deep character in this book.
to sum this book up, it felt like we only got to read and understand the tip of the iceberg, and maybe the whole character-and-world-building would be better in the next book, but I'm not sure I'm intrigued enough to buy it and find out.
Anyway, read it and let me know what YOU think!
Georgie xxxxxx
