About the book. 

My thoughts.

{ S U M M A R Y }

Rebel Of The Sands written by Alwyn Hamilton is about Amani, a girl who is desperate to leave her dead-end town of Dustwalk. She has waited for the opportunity to do so and when a foreigner turns up, she finally has the chance to run. Together, they make their way over the desert plains and get caught up in the heart of a fearless rebellion.

I was really excited for this, going into it! It sounded amazing, I’d heard fairly good things and I really wanted to read more diverse books that were set in different places, time periods or with characters from different backgrounds and cultures.

I am going to talk about this more, but I was pretty disappointed and I found it was overly hyped.

{ C O V E R }

I am such a sucker for beautiful covers and Rebel Of The Sands is gorgeous! I like the colours used on the book and they contrast really well and the lettering and side patterns are in gold and they’re all shiny! *heart eye emoji* Also, I can appreciate a good font, and this bad boy has some seriously awesome font! The cover designer for this should get a huge clap on the back!

{ W R I T I N G }

I found this book didn’t have much, if any description or detail. There wasn’t enough told about the place, the characters, the plot, the history, the political problems and the main players in the book. The lack of detail really had me confused and made it really hard for me to really get into the book and enjoy it.

The writing, at times was also quite dry and although I read this book in two days, it felt like it took a lot of effort for me to read, which I hate to say, but unfortunately have to. I spent an hour or so reading it and I had only gotten 100 pages in which is pretty slow for me. Due to how unclear it was, I had to spend a lot of time re-reading passages, going back and forth and trying to rack my brain to remember what had happened before.

{ I D E A }

In all honesty, I think this book had an idea that was way too complicated and the lack of description and attention to detail made it harder to understand. There was the present with Amani and Jin (the foreigner) and the whole rebel cause and then there’s the whole political history of the two countries, the history of the monarchy, the history of the magic, the history of the characters and then to top that all off, there was magic too! If you didn’t get what I’m trying to say, it’s that THERE WAS TOO MUCH GOING ON!!!

For a 358 page book, there was too much complication when it could have been kept really, really simple. I was confused 99% of the time, which sucked because I really wanted to like this book. The whole system of magic was also so unclear and half the time, I sat there confused and the other half time, I was frustrated at not being able to understand anything.

This was especially disappointing because the core of the idea is actually pretty awesome. It’s intense and fun and if it had been done correctly, would have made for one hell of a book.

{ P L O T }

So…the plot. There was also a lot of jumping where the characters would be doing one thing and without much description, suddenly, they’d be fighting off this group or running away from these people, if you get what I’m trying to say. There was zero build up and too much action and it did not turn out well.

I find reading action hard anyway and when there is not enough description or background information, it just gets harder.

However, despite the not so great idea and writing, the plot wasn’t too bad. There were a few minor twists and turns and the fast paced action helped me to actually finish the book.

{ C H A R A C T E R S }

The characters, except for Amani did absolutely nothing for me. I usually cannot help but fall in love with the male protagonist and I am sorry, but that did not happen for me.

I feel so indifferent towards all the characters, especially Jin. There was nothing outstanding or appealing about them. They weren’t vibrant and real and bouncing off the pages for me, unfortunately. In fact, its been a few days since I finished it and I barely even remember any of the characters because they didn’t really leave a mark on me.

I know it sounds cold and harsh but it’s my job to share honestly with you what I thought!

Butttt….I did like the female protagonists of the book such as Amani. They were really kick ass and fun ladies and I liked how female empowered it was. The book focused on a world where women couldn’t do things just because they were women and I liked how Hamilton took that and totally turned it around, showing girls can be strong.

{ F I N A L L Y }

The second book in the series is coming out next year and I’m not yet ready to just write off this series so we shall see if I read the second book. However, it’s no secret I didn’t really love this book but, I didn’t completely hate it either. I liked its diverseness and female empowerment messages but I found the writing, idea and characters lacking!

Are you going to read this book? Or have you already read it? And if so, what did you think?

Let me know below!