Review: Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Published: February 4th 2016

Goodreads Summary:

"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 a 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... An epic story of swirling desert sands, love, magic and revolution."

Review:

I won this book from a contest on goodreads and I'm so glad I did! I haven't read a book this fast in a long time. I think it took me about 5 days and the average time that it usually takes me to read a book is maybe a month if I'm lucky. I usually do all of my reading on the toilet (perhaps I shouldn't admit that on the internet) but I found myself taking this book out on the couch or to bed because it had so captured my attention.

Probably the best thing about the book is the pacing! The pacing is phenomenal. Never a dull moment in Rebel of the Sands. Pacing is such an issue in so many books. There are large chunks of absolutely nothing that could have been cut out or changed to make the plot move faster. But Alwyn Hamilton knows what you want to read and gives it to you. Thank you, Ms. Hamilton!

I was not totally pleased with the setting - it's sort of a mix between the Wild West and an Arabian country. The fictional country itself is called Miraji, not the most creative name if you ask me, but I digress.  I can't put my finger on what I didn't like about it - a desert country is certainly an interesting place to set a book, as I feel like most fantasy books are based in countries that closely resemble the UK or North America. Maybe it was that the people of Miraji seemed like caricatures, what a Westerner would assume an Arab population is like: uncles that look to prey on their nieces, the stoning and hanging of women that are raped, marrying young girls off against their will, etc. The Mirajin citizens are portrayed very negatively and it felt as if the author had a narrow-minded view of what Arabian countries are actually like. Of course, I myself know very little about the Arab world, so it's not like I'm an authority or anything. But it did affect my enjoyment of the book itself.

That said, it did give an intriguing look at what it's like to live in an occupied land, which I assume would feel like being an unwanted guest in your own country. The Gallan - the people intruding on or assisting the Mirajin people, depending on which character you ask - felt like a thinly veiled allusion to Europe, thus creating an interesting allegory for the British Empire and its occupation of places like Egypt and Iraq.

The magic system was refreshing. It was obviously mirrored after Arabic mythology, so it had an Eastern base. It's rare to see that in fantasy (or at least popular fantasy). I am fascinated with how the people of Miraji learned to live alongside the magical beings that inhabited the country. What I was also thrilled about was the implication that magic existed in every region of the world. 

That leads me to another great part of Rebel of the Sands: the world! What fantastic worldbuilding. Honestly top-notch. It addressed things as small as the religious customs and government of Miraji to bigger things such as the terrain of the other countries and the relations between Miraji and its neighbors. I love, love, love when international relations of a different world are fleshed out. I could read an entire book dedicated to the history of the world and the modern political climate in Rebel of the Sands. Are you listening, Alwyn Hamilton?! I need it!

I wasn't too fond of the main character, Amani. Her characterization as the tough, smart-mouthed girl felt a little forced; a lot of her sarcasm fell flat for me. I liked her more in the beginning but as the book went on I related to her less and less. 

The romance was also something that I wasn't thrilled about, although there were parts of it that I enjoyed. What I did like about Amani's relationship with her love interest, Jin, was that before they became romantically involved, the story cemented the idea of them as friends and more importantly, a team. So many books take the leap from first meeting to love without establishing any sort of rapport between the characters. Most of the couples I know are also each other's best friends, which means they got to know their partner first and liked what they learned instead of diving into the relationship head first. Amani and Jin certainly worked well together and that's something that's encouraging to see in YA. However, the romance itself didn't make my heart flutter or anything like that. Though that might be because I'm a lesbian, who knows.

Overall, the book is definitely worth the read. I criticize it so much because I liked it and I want to keep liking it. While I think there are things that could be fixed, the series has a good foundation in this book and I'm looking forward to the next one.