Book Review: Traitor to the Throne by Alwyn Hamilton

Traitor to the Throne
Author: Alwyn Hamilton
Series: Rebel of the Sands (Book 2)
Publication: Viking Books for Young Readers (March 7, 2017)

Description: Mere months ago, gunslinger Amani al'Hiza fled her dead-end hometown on the back of a mythical horse with the mysterious foreigner Jin, seeking only her own freedom. Now she's fighting to liberate the entire desert nation of Miraji from a bloodthirsty sultan who slew his own father to capture the throne.

When Amani finds herself thrust into the epicenter of the regime—the Sultan's palace—she's determined to bring the tyrant down. Desperate to uncover the Sultan's secrets by spying on his court, she tries to forget that Jin disappeared just as she was getting closest to him, and that she's a prisoner of the enemy. But the longer she remains, the more she questions whether the Sultan is really the villain she's been told he is, and who’s the real traitor to her sun-bleached, magic-filled homeland.

Forget everything you thought you knew about Miraji, about the rebellion, about djinni and Jin and the Blue-Eyed Bandit. In Traitor to the Throne, the only certainty is that everything will change.

Rebel of the Sands was a New York Times bestseller, published in fifteen countries and the recipient of four starred reviews and multiple accolades, with film rights optioned by Willow Smith. And its sequel is even better.

My Thoughts: This book follows REBEL OF THE SANDS and ramps up the excitement to an even higher pitch than the first book. Amani is a Demdji - half immortal djinni - and a revolutionary. After leaving her dead end town she took up with a couple of rebel princes who were trying to overthrow their tyrannical father.

Demadji have powers as a result of their djinni fathers. Amani can control the desert sands. She is also an exceptional marksman and goes by the name of the Blue-Eyed Bandit. When she is kidnapped by her aunt and sold to the Sultan, she finds herself even deeper in the plots and politics of the kingdom.

Confined to the harem and cut off from her magic, Amani needs to find another way to survive and escape. But as she gets to know the Sultan, she begins to wonder if she is on the correct side of this revolution.

This story has wonderful characters and is set in an intriguing magical world. There is romance, friendship, and betrayals aplenty in this exciting story. I liked the chapters that were written like stories that told of these characters as long-ago heroes while the other chapters had the characters in all their humanity and faults actually doing what the story chapters romanticized and sanitized.

Amani is a wonderful character. She is loyal, courageous and more than a little reckless. I liked her romance with Jin which went through its ups and downs in this book since they kept losing each other.

I can't wait for HERO AT THE FALL to find out how everything works out for Amani and her friends.

Favorite Quote:

I had a plan. Well, plan might be a strong word. Shazad was the plan maker between the two of us. This was more like the beginning of an idea that I was hoping wouldn't get me killed. Which was more my style.

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.