YA Fanatic

Rebel of the Sands starts off pretty strong, for about 90 pages. But then the rest of it falls a bit flat. While I did read it in mainly one sitting I was a bit bored throughout most of the book, as seems to be a common theme with journey books such as this one. 

Living in a small town in the middle of the desert, Amani has only wanted one thing, to get out. Living with her Aunt and cousin has not been pleasant for her. And along comes Jin, a foreigner and someone new. She soon finds he is on the run and she must go with him. Maybe then she'll discover who she really is and what she is really meant to do. 

I liked the beginning. It's very similar to Walk on Earth a Stranger, which I read last year. The problem with Rebel of the Sands is that it mixes different cultures together, Western and Middle Eastern as well as fantasy elements (eventually) and it just doesn't work all that well. 

This probably would have been even better without the Western elements throughout or even without any of the Middle Eastern elements and just as a western. 

I will probably read the sequel whenever that comes out but it's not my favorite fantasy out there.