The Wrath and the Dawn
#3274.04 in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 2 books Status Complete 2015–2016 Reading commitment Low Renée Ahdieh Last reviewed 2026-08-25
Overview
A retelling of One Thousand and One Nights following Shahrzad, who volunteers to marry a young caliph, Khalid, who has taken and executed a new bride every dawn, resolving at first to avenge her murdered best friend and uncover the secret behind his curse, only to find herself falling for him despite her intentions. Renée Ahdieh's two-book duology, published in 2015 and 2016, is set in an opulent, Middle-Eastern-inflected world "redolent of perfumes and spices, luxuriant with jewels and silks," and was praised on release as a potent blend of political intrigue and romance aimed at an older young-adult readership than most fairy-tale retellings. The Wrath and the Dawn reached the New York Times bestseller list in 2016, had its film rights optioned by a major production company in 2017, and was adapted into a webtoon that ran from 2019 to 2022 and drew nearly a million subscribers.
Fairy-tale retelling · For YA
Core Canon: Reading Order (2 works) counts toward ranking
The Wrath and the Dawn Duology Renée Ahdieh
| Work | Year | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | The Wrath and the Dawn | 2015 | core | 4.04 (187,975 ratings) |
 | The Rose and the Dagger | 2016 | core | 4.03 (100,859 ratings) |
A complete two-novel retelling of One Thousand and One Nights.
Quick answers
- How many books are in The Wrath and the Dawn? The Wrath and the Dawn's Core Canon is 2 books.
- What is the reading order for The Wrath and the Dawn? Publication order, starting with The Wrath and the Dawn. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is The Wrath and the Dawn finished? Complete (2015–2016).
- How much reading does The Wrath and the Dawn take? Low reading commitment (estimated from 2 Core Canon books · ~420 pages).
- How is The Wrath and the Dawn ranked? #327 in this site's official ranking, based on 288,834 reader ratings across 2 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #327?
Ranked #327 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 4.04 across 2 core books.
- Backed by 289k reader ratings.
- Remarkably consistent across the whole series: all 2 rated core books rate within 0.01 of each other.
- 0.03 behind #326, Saint Death's Daughter.
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Well rated · 2 books · Complete · 289k ratings · Ranks #327 overall
Good choice if you want a quick, low-commitment fairy-tale retelling fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
Publication order (2 Core Canon books)
- The Wrath and the Dawn (2015)
- The Rose and the Dagger (2016)
Awards (verified)
- No confirmed major juried award win found after a genuine search.
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Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 4.04 across 288,834 ratings on 2 Core Canon books. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: The Wrath and the Dawn admitted (Renée Ahdieh) accepted 2026-08-25
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
Last reviewed: 2026-08-25
Rule: Core Canon = the complete two-novel duology: The Wrath and the Dawn (2015) and The Rose and the Dagger (2016).