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.
“For one wild second all I could see was the stars and all I could think of was the foolishness of immortal things who’d never seen death and so didn’t know to fear it.”
I want to preface this review with the fact that I picked up, and put down, Rebel of the Sands twice before picking it back up and sticking with it until the end. It had an interesting premise and I was excited to read a desert themed tale with an independent, female, sharp shooting lead, but it just didn’t have that pull to make me dive right in and hook me. My favorite parts were the different tales and legends of the various gods, Djinn, and ghouls.
I could appreciate Amani’s determination, fighting tooth and nail to get out of her dead end life, but for the most part I didn’t feel a strong connection to the remaining characters. I was surprised by a lot of her choices, choosing herself, over and over again - not the typical, predictable YA hero. And I found myself hoping Amani and Jin didn’t end up together. I think I’m over the whole YA trope of girl and boy meet, go through dire situation, and fall in love in a short amount of time. This was Amani’s first time out of her town, first experience with any crush, and it’s love? Is it too much to ask for characters to just be, without there being love?
I appreciated the exploration of women and their lack of rights. In a world where this still exists in many places, it’s interesting to see a situation where women and young girls are married off against their will, with no rights to property, money, or their own bodies. Amani finds herself in this very same situation, and who can blame her for not wanting to accept the status quo? It was nice that other characters also took this viewpoint. Hopefully this can inspire positive thinking and actions.
The writing had a tendency to jump forward in time, then after a paragraph or two go back and explain what happened in the gap. After going back and double checking I didn’t skip a page the first few times, it was a very easy read.
Overall I’d rate Rebel of the Sands 3.5 stars. The potential is definitely there and I plan to read the sequel, Traitor to the Throne.
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