The Wrath & the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

The Wrath and the Dawn is a wonderfully engaging young adult retelling of One Thousand and One Arabian Nights.
Khalid is the eighteen year old boy-king or Caliph of Khorasan and, true to the original tale, he marries a new bride each night and then has her put to death each dawn. There is great mystery behind why he is doing this, and as the reader, I really needed to know why he kept having the girls executed. One of the executed brides was Shahrzad’s best friend. Shazi is determined to seek avenge her friend's death and decides to get close to the Caliph the only way she can; by volunteering to marry him with the intention of killing him. Shazi is just the kind of female character I love; strong physically, intelligent and resilient. She has no idea whether her plan is going to work or not. She believes that Khalid is a heartless monster but she soon finds out that all is not what it seems. She is very strong-willed and that is what almost gets her killed because Khalid is determined to keep his secrets and she is determined to find them out. I especially enjoyed that their relationship was a complex one that took a while to grow. It would have felt wrong if they just fell in love instantly one evening. This is best read by a decent reader, but I suspect it will become a favourite among young adult romance readers.

---