Review--For She is Wrath by Emily Varga

 

What if the man you loved was the very person who betrayed you?

Dania has been betrayed by her lover and falsely imprisoned for a crime she didn't commit. She's counting down the days until she can exact her revenge, when a fellow prisoner offers a chance at escape and the keys to a dangerous jinn magic.

Armed with a brand new identity and all the power she could want, Dania enacts a plan to bring down those who cheated her and her family. But when the one person standing in her way is the very man who signed her life away, retribution becomes a complicated game of cat and mouse.

Because betrayal isn't simple and revenge certainly isn't easy, not when your heart is involved.

Emily Varga's For She is Wrath was the gender-swapped Fantasy retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo that was I was looking for! I've had this on my TBR for ages and I finally decided to crack it open (this is the Fairy Loot edition, by the way)! It was exactly what I was hoping for when it came to my favorite tale of revenge and I thought that Varga played it out sooo well, paying homage to its origin story while still staying original and unique!

One year ago, Dania was accused of a murder she didn't commit but was locked away anyway, all while the man she loved, the guard, and the king himself got away with the injustice of it all. Dania has been planning her revenge for a good long year, while also trying to escape her hellish prison. Then finally, an opportunity comes crawling up from the ground and she meets Noor, another prisoner who is trying to escape the prison and they team up, naturally.

Noor was in prison because she has knowledge that she won't relinquish for anything. She knows where a horde of treasure is that also includes zoraat seeds which contain djinn magic. Noor also wants revenge against the king because he is the reason her father was killed and she wants revenge and justice. They devise their plan that Dania will use the zoraat seeds' magic to disguise herself into one of the rich and elite to weedle her way into places where her targets will be.

I think what I really enjoyed about this story was the revenge! Yes, I have a bit of a dark side sometimes, lol. But I really liked that Varga kept the plot for revenge alive in this book. And not just wanting to kill people, death is too easy sometimes, which is what I loved about the original classic, the Count decimates the people who wronged him and leave them in ruin (which considering their time and place was a fate worse than death) and the same is applied here with Dania plotting her revenge. And like with the original classic, some things...happen. Lol.

But since this is a YA Fantasy, there was a bit of romance happening between the pages. Although, here, we learn that it's Dania's ex-lover who betrayed her. But naturally, old feelings are harder to get rid of than not. While she's out to break his heart this time around, we are treated to a series of flashbacks that show us how their romance came about and eventually, the betrayal. Now, some of these flashbacks I felt like were unnecessary. Some were long and just seemed out of place. I mean, I get the need to show there was an established relationship. There was no insta-love going on, Dania hated Maz in the first flashback, but eventually hate turns to companionship and just keeps going further after that.

We also have more magical elements happening in this one as well, that really amped up my enjoyment! The djinn and their magic are involved. I don't want to get too into it, but basically Dania is able to pull off her new disguise as the rich and elite thanks to magic and hide her identity from the people who might know her, who she's out to destroy!

I think one of the few issues I had with this book were the flashbacks. Some of them just felt ill-timed. I would be really getting into a scene or a moment and then suddenly the next chapter puts us back in time and it just throws you out of the story for awhile. And sometimes, the flashback just didn't seem to work with what was happening. I mean, there was a small connection or so, but I felt like a lot of the flashback chapters could've been shorter to contain those moments and get you back to the present day where the action was happening.

But overall, I did really enjoy this one! This is how I enjoy seeing a retelling of a classic done! It still has the main drive or story element of its predecessor but puts a new spin or twist on it. That this story has Pakistani roots gives it a new flare that was enjoyable; a new environment with different rules and lore, make for a fresh new setting to a familiar tale. 

As a bonus in this Fairy Loot edition, I loved seeing a collection of letters passed between Dania and Noor! It was reminiscent of the letters and journal entries I vaguely remember from the original tale as well. Perhaps it was a little nod to the classic, or it truly was just for fun!

For She is Wrath was the perfect tale of revenge done right! I loved The Count of Monte Cristo for this very reason and I enjoyed reading Varga's YA Fantasy take on this beloved classic of mine! This is probably my favorite retelling of the classic to date and I highly recommend it if you too love a story of good old fashioned revenge!

Overall Rating 4/5 stars