Rebel of the Sands Book Review: Western Meets Eastern Fantasy

Rebel of the Sands Summary

Mortals rule the desert nation of Miraji, but mythical beasts still roam the wild and remote areas, and rumor has it that somewhere, djinn still perform their magic. For humans, it’s an unforgiving place, especially if you’re poor, orphaned, or female.

Amani Al’Hiza is all three. She’s a gifted gunslinger with perfect aim, but she can’t shoot her way out of Dustwalk, the back-country town where she’s destined to wind up wed or dead.

Then she meets Jin, a rakish foreigner, in a shooting contest, and sees him as the perfect escape route. But though she’s spent years dreaming of leaving Dustwalk, she never imagined she’d gallop away on mythical horse—or that it would take a foreign fugitive to show her the heart of the desert she thought she knew.

Rebel of the Sands reveals what happens when a dream deferred explodes—in the fires of rebellion, of romantic passion, and the all-consuming inferno of a girl finally, at long last, embracing her power.

Rebel of the Sands Review

Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton follows the story of Amani across the deserts of Miraji. Amani belongs to her uncle and he is free to marry her off to anyone he chooses, or even marry her himself.

Refusing to accept her lot in life, Amani plots to run away from the family that has never accepted her and the dead-end town of Dustwalk.

She sneaks out one night and heads to a shooting competition, hoping to win the bounty of 1000 coins.

She’s an amazing shot and knows that she can easily win, but the game makers are corrupt and things don’t go to plan.

It is here that she meets Jin, a mysterious foreigner, and their stories become entangled from here on.

Great world-building is crucial to a fantasy novel, and Alwyn Hamilton does this perfectly.

We are quickly plunged into a magical world that seems to fuse a Western and Aladdin.

There are mortal and immortal beings, new mythical creatures and rebel armies.

Characters sit around campfires telling tales of old, and I found it so exciting to learn about all the new rules in this fantasy world.

It’s difficult to write something completely original these days as the young adult genre is so saturated, but Hamilton’s world is mysterious and magical in all the right ways.

Hamilton spends the first half of the story introducing you to her new world and characters, but it’s not until the second half that things start to get really interesting.

It took me a little while to get into the story as I found the first half to be a little slow at times. However, there are numerous plot twists towards the end of the story that are completely unpredictable, and you’ll be tearing through the last few chapters.

If you’re looking for a book with a kick-ass female lead, then Rebel of the Sands is for you.

Amani is a tenacious girl, fighting against the prejudiced system in her home county. Women have no rights so Amani must disguise herself as a boy in order to escape Dustwalk and her uncle’s control over her.

She is feisty and reckless, and you’ll be rooting for her from start to finish.

I have to say that despite this, I didn’t find her to be the most likeable character, but I did admire her a lot.

She’s certainly a very interesting character, but I didn’t think that she was developed quite as well as she could have been.

I’m looking forward to the subsequent books in this series to see how her character progresses.

Admittedly, I wasn’t sold on the character Jin at all at first. As a result, I also wasn’t really rooting for the romance between Jin and Amani initially.

However, the Jin at the beginning of the book is very different to the Jin at the end of this story, and I eventually came round to him.

His character definitely could have been developed a little better, as I know I wasn’t the only one a little perplexed by his character development.

However, Hamilton has laid the groundwork for an awesome young adult trilogy in a world that is completely different from anything we’ve seen before. The strong female lead is definitely a huge plus, and this mystical world will have you dreaming about desert sands and rebel princes.

Now, before I wrap up this book review, I have a confession. One of the main reasons I was drawn to this book is because of the cover.

Yes, I’m a sucker for pretty covers, and let’s be honest, who isn’t? I needed a beautiful book to take with me on my travels around Thailand, and Rebel of the Sands was my pick.

All in all, this is a strong debut to a new young adult fantasy series. This is only the first in the Rebel of the Sands trilogy, and I, for one, can’t wait to see what happens next!

Find Rebel of the Sands on Amazon here

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