Book Review: Rebel of the Sands Trilogy by Alwyn Hamilton

★★★★

Rebel of the Sands Synopsis: "Dustwalk is an unforgiving, dead-end town. It’s not the place to be poor or orphaned or female. And yet Amani Al’Hiza must call it ‘home’. Amani wants to escape and see the world she’s heard about in campfire stories. Then an foreigner with no name turns up, and with him she has the chance to run. But the desert plains are full of dangerous magic. The Sultan’s army is on the rise and Amani is soon caught at the heart of a fearless rebellion..."

Okay. I know Rebel of the Sands came out in 2016 (did it?). But I reckon there are lots of people out there like me, who simply cannot keep up with all the hyped books and inevitably you just end up two years behind.

BUT at least I could read the whole trilogy in one week, and believe me, I feel bad for the people who had to go through those cliffhangers and wait for a year to read the next book.

So, without further ado, here is my mini review of each of the books in the trilogy, spoiler-free! Which means you can read the whole thing before you start the series.

Book 1: Rebel of the Sands

Obviously, I loved this book. If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have finished it, and I definitely wouldn’t have read the rest of the series* That being said, I think this is my least favourite book in the series, which is quite an accomplishment, since usually the first book in a trilogy or series is the best one (in my opinion).

The book is incredibly fast-paced, and you’re immediately thrown into the action in the first chapter. Personally, I love Amari, even if she suffers from a few fantasy young adult clichés, such as the whole I-don’t-belong-in-this-town-I’m-meant-for-something-bigger-and-more-exciting syndrome. Or as I like to call it, Disney Princess Syndrome.

The only down-side of the book was that I would have liked more background and world building. There was some back story on the mythology, for example on what Buraqis (awesome horses made from SAND) were and where they came from. But I would’ve liked more of that sort of world-building.

*Okay that’s a lie, because I don’t DNF books, even if I don’t like them.

Book 2: Traitor to the Throne

BEST. BOOK. IN. THE. SERIES. I LOVED this book. It basically was the first book, but WITH the world-building I was missing there. There were many more folktales included and these are always my favourite parts in a book. And the plot twists. Can we talk about the plot twists? I won’t say anymore. But the plot twists.

All in all, I would’ve given this instalment on its own five stars. I think (?) it might be the longest book in the series, but this is the one I read the fastest, just because I wanted to see what would happen next!

Book 3: Hero at the Fall

Since this review is spoiler-free (I didn’t realise how hard it is to keep this spoiler-free), I won’t say anything about the plot. But all I can say I really liked how the plot developed. Usually in last books I feel writers try to go to extremes to escalate events further than they have before, which sometimes can come across as ‘too much’ or ‘unrealistic’? Yes – they’re fantasy books, I know they aren’t really similar to your usual Friday night, but still there are rules in every fantasy world. This book suffered from that a tiny bit, but nothing I couldn’t get past.

Obviously, last books in a series are always bittersweet because you want to see what happens, but you also know when you finish it you’ll have to say goodbye to the characters. And I have to tell you, the book hangover was REAL this time. Usually I can start a book a day after I finish the last one, but this series took me a weekend to get over.

Overall

One of the best thing about this series was definitely the characters. I loved Amani and Shazad especially (I want a Shazad BFF please thank you very much). But the very very best thing about it was the SETTING. This series has made me realise just how many fantasy books are set in dark and rainy forests and woods and other western-type settings. I want MORE like this. I want fantasy books set in deserts, tundras, and RAINFORESTS. Especially rainforests.

Overall, then, I’ve seen a lot of people characterise the Rebel of the Sands Trilogy as a ‘classic young adult fantasy series’, and I can’t disagree. I think if you want to read a solid fantasy series and be swept away for a while, it’ll be difficult for this series not to meet the requirements.

If you would like to buy your own copies of the Rebel of the Sands Trilogy, you can do so at Book Depository.*

*Please note that I'm a Book Depository affiliate, so I might make a small profit if you use the link above