Review: Traitor to the Throne (Rebel of the Sands #2) by Alwyn Hamilton

Firstly, thanks to Faber & Faber for this review copy <3



Date Read: February 1 - 11 2017
Date Released: February 2nd 2017
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Source: Review copy via publisher
Genre: Fantasy
My Rating:

Synopsis:

"This is not about blood or love. This is about treason.

Nearly a year has passed since Amani and the rebels won their epic battle at Fahali. Amani has come into both her powers and her reputation as the Blue-Eyed Bandit, and the Rebel Prince's message has spread across the desert - and some might say out of control. But when a surprise encounter turns into a brutal kidnapping, Amani finds herself betrayed in the cruellest manner possible.

Stripped of her powers and her identity, and torn from the man she loves, Amani must return to her desert-girl's instinct for survival. For the Sultan's palace is a dangerous one, and the harem is a viper's nest of suspicion, fear and intrigue. Just the right place for a spy to thrive... But spying is a dangerous game, and when ghosts from Amani's past emerge to haunt her, she begins to wonder if she can trust her own treacherous heart."

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While I enjoyed Rebel of the Sands last year, I wouldn’t say I loved it and I had my problems with it. That being said, I was still eager to see where Amani’s journey, and that of the rebellion, would go to next. I’m happy to say I really enjoyed Traitor to the Throne and found it fun and thrilling.

Amani is a character whose perspective I’ve always enjoyed reading from. She’s able to think quickly on her feet – at times too quickly, acting before she thinks but that’s what makes her such a fun character. Nobody is without their flaws though and I’d rather someone who acts than stands still. Amani’s wit is also something I adored. She’s snarky and her comebacks are blunt and accurate. I could relate to this so much because this is the type of person I am. I really admired her capacity to care. She was constantly thinking of everyone, giving everybody the benefit of the doubt, thinking of ways to help others while she herself was in peril. That’s one amazing strength of character right there. Oh don’t get me wrong she used people to her advantage but to me, her overarching kindness outweighed that. Amani is definitely somebody you want as a friend.

This series has a lot of secondary characters but my favourite was the Sultan. The infamous Sultan, so hated and talked about in the previous book, the whole point of the rebellion. He was not what I (or Amani) expected. Kidnapped into the harem, Amani meets the Sultan and it turns out he’s not crazy and pure cruelty. You know what makes scary tyrants? Not the unreasonable ones, but the ones who are able to take your argument and your beliefs and spin them with their reason so you end up seeing their point of view. You almost believe that what they’ve done is justifiable because of their rationale. That’s what makes a leader to be concerned about – their cunning and smarts. The Sultan is definitely a clever man and I loved the way Hamilton crafted his character. Another character I adored was Shazad, daughter of the general and she is so freaking brilliant. She’s just so supportive and smart and the strength of her friendship is goals.

Romance isn’t everything; I mean heck I liked that this book concentrated on Amani’s ability to be independent as she survives in the harem but Jin’s absent for the majority of the book and I felt it. I’m kind of disappointed because I lived for this ship in Rebel and I wanted moar MOAR MOOOARRRRRR. I was a bit mad at Jin for his constant disappearing acts too, like boy, get your act together and be more responsible. I know it’s a lot to ask for but I’m praying for a happily ever after.

Hamilton’s style is easy to read and I could tell she’s definitely improved since Rebel. She’s more detailed and there’s more imagery in Traitor however I still felt the lack of world-building which was my issue with book 1. It’s definitely a lighter touch than what I’d expect from a high fantasy.

The plot is very twisty and had me gasping and I loved the politics and games in the harem. There were a lot of secrets and conspiracies which were all slowly revealed. I did have issues with the pacing though. This book is over 500 pages and this probably won’t make sense but while I turned the pages quickly and got through this quite quickly, I felt the story itself was slow? I felt the pacing was off and everything happened in the last 70 or so pages. But those fast few chapters, they were like BAM BAM BAM and the ending had me shook. For ages I thought this was a duology so when I got to the end my feelings nearly died because I was like no way is that the end. THANK GOODNESS THERE’S ANOTHER BOOK. That’s all I have to say.

Overall I found Traitor to the Throne to be an enjoyable and relatively fast read. A witty MC who is fast on her feet, Amani takes the rebellion to the next stage with action and politics and I can’t wait to see the final showdown.