Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton Book Review

Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton

“So this really was where the stories came to life. Heroes and monsters come to fight and die for the Rebel Prince”

The novel starts off with Amani joining a shooting contest in order to win money so she can leave her dead end town for a bigger and brighter city.  The story isn’t bad but it just follows a lot of ya novel clichés.

The start of the book was probably the best part. Amani is in the final 3 of the contest when things go down and it’s this chaotic scenario leading to a hasty escape. Trouble follows when an army comes to town looking for a fugitive who is linked to her. Eventually she escapes with the help of Jin, the fugitive.

The book was action packed and the pace was fast making the book easy to read. The writing style is enjoyable and Amani isn’t a ‘perfect’ character which is refreshing. Some of her decisions aren’t ‘good’ and this goes against what we expect from MC however in her situation it’s realistic.

 The book was fun to read but it had so many clichés that after finishing it, the book wasn’t memorable. Clichés include; MC has hidden power, MC has been lied to by love interest, MC has special talents which save her all the time and MC is run out of her home.

Also there’s this repeat of this basic plot used in a lot of YA novel where the first half is spent learning about a rebel group and then journeying to the rebellion base and the second half is the MC joining the rebellion and defeating the villain. The problem with this plot isn’t just that it’s overused; it’s also makes the novel way too rushed as a lot of things are crammed in.

The romance was good. It wasn’t rushed but slowly built up however the first kiss was something out of a cheesy teen movie.   

 The book is probably one of the only books where I want a prequel which involves the trials that the Rebel Prince faced also the history/beliefs in this book are really interesting and I hope it’s expanded in the following books.

★★★☆☆