Review: Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton

Name: Rebel of the Sands
Author: Alwyn Hamilton
Pages: 358
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Faber and Faber
ISBN: 978-0-571-32525-2
Rating: 5/5

Amani Al'Hiza lives under the oppressive thumb of her Uncle and is subject to the wrath of an Aunt who hates her, a situation she is desperate to leave. When she attempts to shoot her way to freedom at the Pistol Pit she meets a foreigner who turns her life into nothing but chaos. Chaos that leads her down a path she never thought possible and to a truth she can hardly believe. 

I stayed up till ridiculous o'clock to finish this. I absolutely adored it. Basically, this novel is a western in the desert with slight feminist undertones and a great magic system.

The characters were so well done and very likeable. I found myself rooting for Amani through the entire novel and gasped along with her at every turn. Being a very high spirited and independent girl in a culture that shames women, for simply being women gave Amani an even greater presence. This I felt took the novel from only being a great adventure story to having a message prevalent in our society today. Don't let anyone tell say you can't do something simply because of your gender (also applies to sexuality, race, religion.)

Jin. He's awesome. I love how we really didn't know anything concrete about him until the very end of the novel. It really added a great weight the the plot twist at the end. (Might I add this is one of the best plot twists I have ever read.) 

Plot. I'll admit it felt slow to begin with but I had faith and powered on through and then lost a fair amount of sleep. Halfway into the novel I felt sad every time I had to put it down. I mentioned before that this novel has one of the best twists I've ever read and I'll say it again. It really has!

I highly highly recommend this. I must say though its only March I can see this making its way into my 2016 favourites...

Have you read this?

Katie x