Book Review | Dancers of the Dawn by Zulekhá Afzal

Title: Dancers of the Dawn
Author: Zulekhá Afzal
Genre: YA Fantasy
Publication Date: June 6th, 2024
Publisher: Rock the Boat
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Thank you to the publisher for a complimentary earc to review!

“Dancer. Warrior. Executioner.

Deep in the desert a storm is brewing.

Under the blazing sun, an elite troupe of dancers are trained to harness their magic. They are the queen’s most formidable assassins. Aasira has one of the rarest talents – for she is a flame-wielder. Feared by all and envied by some, she uses her power to execute enemies of the crown.

Aasira’s greatest wish is to serve her queen. But on the eve of her graduation, with tensions rising among the dancers and secrets stirring in the shifting sand dunes, she begins to question whether she was truly born to kill…

An epic story about truth, loyalty and betrayal.“ (Goodreads)

This was an anticipated read for me. I loved the cover and the sound of the book! I don’t think I have ever read something with dancing and magic. It was an interesting concept.

I feel like this could have been a great book, but the writing kind of fell short for me. It didn’t feel as impactful with the emotions as I would have liked. I also couldn’t connect to the MC and I do feel like this had to do with the writing. Although the plot could be interesting at times the reveals and plot twists of the story were not surprising and it left something to be desired. There was no romance and even though it is YA, I still wish we would have got something.

My favorite part of this book was the magic and dancing! I liked how the author described it and it left me very intrigued.

Overall, it was a decent book but I don’t think I would continue on with another book in the series. It just didn’t give me everything I had wanted.