She’s more gunpowder than girl—and the fate of the desert lies in her hands.

Mortals rule the desert nation of Miraji, but mystical beasts still roam the wild and barren wastes, and rumor has it that somewhere, djinni still practice their magic. But there's nothing mystical or magical about Dustwalk, the dead-end town that Amani can't wait to escape from.

Destined to wind up "wed or dead," Amani’s counting on her sharpshooting skills to get her out of Dustwalk. When she meets Jin, a mysterious and devastatingly handsome foreigner, in a shooting contest, she figures he’s the perfect escape route.

But in all her years spent dreaming of leaving home, she never imagined she'd gallop away on a mythical horse, fleeing the murderous Sultan's army, with a fugitive who's wanted for treason. And she'd never have predicted she'd fall in love with him...or that he'd help her unlock the powerful truth of who she really is.

NICK:  Rebel of the Sands is quite possibly my favorite 2016 debut! I’ve had such terrible luck with the others, so I was a bit hesitant especially because this one is also very hyped, but I had a fantastic time reading this one and by the end, I was clamoring for more.

NEREYDA:  I think I read waaaay too many YA books in the last few years, last year especially that I got burned out on them.  It tends to happen to me once in a while if I don’t mix things up.  I went on a bit of a YA break for a few months and read some chick-lit books instead.  None of the YA books were really catching my eye at the time, until Rebel of the Sands.  It was more than just the pretty cover, because luckily I think I’ve finally been able to see past a gorgeous book cover, but something about the summary held my attention and made me want to read this.  I was nervous since this was my first YA book in a few months and the first 2016 debut book, but I ended up loving this!

NICK: It didn’t take me very long to fall truly, madly, deeply in love with our protagonist, Amani. The girl was fierce, badass and tough as nails. She was the perfect kind of character for a book like Rebel of the Sands, and she is one of the main reasons why this book worked so fabulously for me. She also had a very spunky personality and was never afraid to speak out in defiance.  You feel for her and you root for her as her desire to escape the clutches of her family only increases at the beginning of the book. She’s the kind of heroine you become so attached to, that you flinch and internally lash out at the author for tormenting her, and Alywn Hamilton definitely tormented this poor girl. Despite it all though, she was able to rise up against all her circumstances and came out of the stronger than before. I also loved how Amani was flawed – she made some mistakes along the way, some that will come back to haunt her no doubt, but to me. it made her much more relatable and even more loveable.

Jinn on the other hand was a bit tougher for me at first. I liked the idea of him most definitely, but it took me some time to warm up to him, mostly because he was so secretive at the beginning and kept so many things hidden. I just wasn’t sure if I should trust him or not, but as he slowly opened up to Amani and the reader, I found myself feeling the beginning of a crush towards him. Of course, by the end of the book, I didn’t think all of his layers had been peeled, but I am eager to learn more of him in the subsequent books.  While the main characters were no doubt excellent, I did find myself struggling with some of the secondary characters. They weren’t bad by any means, but I felt like compared to the main characters, they were underdeveloped. They form an interesting crew though, and I’m hoping we get to learn more about them in the sequel.

NEREYDA: Amani is exactly the kind of heroine that I love!  She was bad ass in more ways than one and I loved that she also had her flaws.  Amani was definitely my favorite part of the story.  Even though she’s had a tough life, and has an even bleaker future ahead of her, that doesn’t stop her from trying to change her fate and escape her small town.  She dreams of bigger and better options and uses her skills and knowledge to achieve her dreams, no matter how far-fetched they may seem at times.  At a time when girls have no options, she isn’t content to follow the rules.  She uses her sharpshooting skills, quick-thinking, and smart mouth to try to escape her fate…even if that may not be the best option at the time.

I must be a sucker for a mysterious boy because it didn’t take me long to like Jin.  We know he’s definitely hiding secrets, big ones, but I still couldn’t help but like him.  The relationship between Jin and Amani is definitely slow-paced since they start off as enemies and even when that develops into friendship they still don’t fully trust each other.  I liked getting to know more about Jinn, even if it was in bits and pieces.  We get a great group of secondary characters by the end, some that I liked more than other and a few that were a little cliché but I hope to learn more about them in the next book.

NICK: Rebel of the Sands is the kind of book that makes me want to use “majestic” as a word to describe it. It has such a vast and sweeping kind of plot that hooks you in line and sinker. From the very start, I was rather obsessed with the whole story. How could I not though? It’s got a Western meets Middle Eastern setting mash-up, magic, jinnis and mystical beasts! And Alwyn Hamilton handled all those very well. I did feel like the beginning part of the book was a little slow, but not the kind of slow that made me want to reconsider reading this book. The pacing was actually great, it slowly built up to the climax and ended with a bang. Another pro to this book, it had no cliffhanger! It ended in a decent place, but promises more thrills in the subsequent books.

NEREYDA: Fantasy is one of the genres I struggle with the most, sometimes too much world building can either lose me or bore me.  I feel like Rebel of the Sands had just the right amount of it to show us Amani’s world without losing my interest.  The world is vividly described and I could almost picture it.  This would make a fantastic movie just to see the scenery.  At times, it reminded me of a Western meets Aladdin complete with magical creatures.  I think we’ve barely scratched the surface when it comes to this world and I’m looking forward to seeing what the author has in store for us next!

NICK: I got tingly feelings when it came to this ship very early on in the book! Amani and Jin had the chemistry and along with the banter, the stolen glances and the undeniable connection they had, I stood no chance against them. Still though, I felt like their chemistry wasn’t explored enough. They could have been so much more ship-worthy had there been more moments between the two. When the secondary cast came into play, I felt like their chemistry sort of fizzled out, which was a shame because some of my favorite scenes in this book involved the two of them. They do have a lot of potential as a couple though and I’m wishing hard here that Alwyn Hamilton explores that connection they have more thoroughly in the second book.

NEREYDA: I really, really liked the romance between Amani and Jinn!  Like I mentioned earlier, it has a slow build up but it makes up for it with the chemistry and those moments where one or both of them let their guards down.  I did want more out of the romance, but I was happy with what I got although I do have demands for a lot more romance in book two!  The chemistry between them is one of the reasons that kept me reading, even when I had other stuff I had to do.  I’m really hoping that this series stays love triangle free and the romance gets better and more kisses please!

NICK: Overall, while I wanted more out of some parts of Rebel of the Sands, I had a really good time with the book. I have faith that Alwyn Hamilton will only continue to get better and better with her writing and no doubt, this series has the potential to be amazing in every sense of the word. This is one 2016 debut that deserves all the hype! If you haven’t read it yet, get to it ASAP! You won’t regret it.

NEREYDA:  I absolutely fell in love with this book!  Not only did I ended up loving it, but it reminded me of why I love reading YA and made me want to read YA books again.  I ended up liking this more than Nick, but we’re both really excited about continuing this series.  I was a little bit worried that this would be another debut book that is all hype, luckily it wasn’t the case.

Book Collage for The Great Hunt

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Have you read Rebel of the Sands yet? What’s your favorite YA Western or YA Fantasy novel? Let us know in the comments below!

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The post Review: Rebel of the Sands by Alywn Hamilton appeared first on Nick & Nereyda's Infinite Book List.