Goodreads Choice Awards Book Club discussion

Winner of the Debut award



Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton

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.

Actually had to read this in November as it came available through the library with a limited loan period. It was really good. I look forward to discussing it, and will be reading the next in the series.

I read it earlier this year and really liked it. It's a sort of wild west / arabian nights crossover, very unexpected, not so predictable as some YA fantasy.

Paula wrote: "I read it earlier this year and really liked it. It's a sort of wild west / arabian nights crossover, very unexpected, not so predictable as some YA fantasy."

I liked that they left the main character plenty of room to grow.

Just finished this. I liked it, but all in all I don’t think I’ll be reading the next part of the series. Not awful or anything, but it failed to make me truly care about the characters. I also didn’t find it all that original ... it read a bit like a rip-off of Brett’s demon cycle just on a more young adult level. Again, not bad, but I just didn’t love it.