3.5⭐️s rounded up
Story - 3⭐️s
Narration -4⭐️s
A loosely based, gender bent, re-imagining of The Count of Monte Cristo.
Varga has created a tasty little appetizer of female rage and revenge, with a side of light romance. #girldinner
For She Is Wrath is easily digestible yet a little light in substance... particularly when you're comparing it to TCOMC. I feel like that comparison should be tossed out, and it would be easier to accept that it's truly a good young adult tale. #girlpower
I listened to the audiobook, and Safiyya Ingar does a beautiful narration. She kept me engaged and gave the characters more depth than I otherwise might have read into them.
Altogether, a satisfying read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio | Macmillan Young Listeners for the advanced audiobook!

PLSSSS THIS WAS SO INSANELY GOOD AND UNLIKE ANYTHING IVE READ 😩😩

the narrator was also amazing!! you could really tell she put her heart and emotions into this project and it was so good i couldnt put it down!!

For She Is Wrath by Emily Varga
5/5 Stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

•••Spoiler free review below•••

An amazing fantasy debut filled with vengeful characters, captivating landscapes, and compelling magic — this is a fantasy read you will not want to miss! I was hooked from the first chapter and holding my breath until the end. I loved the magic and the world, but mostly I loved the revenge. Our main characters have been wronged and they will let nothing stop them from obtaining the punishment they crave. I cannot wait to see what is to come from this author!

Read this book if you like:
-prison escapes
-strong female characters
-revenge
-well crafted plans

For She Is Wrath is out now and if it's not already on your tbr, it should be!
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Special thanks to Wednesday Books for sharing a free copy with me in exchange for my honest opinions. And to Macmillan Audio for an advanced listening copy.

In turns thrilling and heartbreaking, this Pakistani fantasy take on the ultimate revenge story of The Count of Monte Cristo kept me glued. I devoured the first 70% on a plane ride where I really needed some sleep but decided I was better served going one more chapter...

I just think we should all have some more bloody revenge stories for the girls 😌

For She is Wrath sounded like something I should love, a Pakistani romantic fantasy featuring female rage and revenge. While it does feature all of those things, everything just felt a little flat to me. If you are looking for a quick read with themes of female strength, you may still enjoy this.

In full disclosure, besides the name, I was not familiar with the story of The Count of Monte Cristo to start with to compare this retelling to. Dania is wrongfully imprisoned after being betrayed by the boy she loved and is out for revenge. The story doesn't develop much from there. The friend she meets and breaks out of prison with, Noor, was my favorite character, and I kept wishing her storyline would have been expanded a little further.

Overall, it’s an okay book with an interesting idea, but it doesn’t quite deliver the emotional impact I was hoping to get from the story. The plot is straightforward, and while there are a few twists, they’re somewhat predictable.

An extra star for the narrator of the audiobook, Safiyya Ingar. I enjoyed her narration and am looking forward to hearing more from her in the future.

Thank you NetGalley for an early copy in exchange for this honest review.

Rating: 4.5 ⭐️

"The ones closest to you will betray you the most,”

This is a Pakistani romantic fantasy reimagining of The Count of Monte Cristo and as someone unfamiliar with the story of The Count of Monte Cristo, I was very uncertain and nervous to start this BUT I enjoyed every moment of this!!

This is an incredibly well done rendition of a fierce FMC full of rage and the need for vengeance. The story is packed with betrayal, tension, magic, unexpected friendship and the longing of hope and love. There was never a moment I was bored reading this - this story pulled me in from the beginning and had me on the edge of my seat until the end.

The characters were complex, multi-dimensional and easy to love. Noor is the best friend we all need! (I am going to need another book where she is the FMC. I NEED MORE!)

The narrator did an amazing job bringing this story to life!

Thanks to @macmillian.audio @wednesdaybooks and @netgalley for the #gifted copies of this book.

Summary: A Pakistani romantic fantasy retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo. Dania has been in jail the last year for a crime she didn't commit. She is counting down the days until she can exact her revenge on the boy she used to love, the very one who framed her for the crime. When a fellow prisoner tells her of a treasure that could surely help with her revenge, they create a way to escape the prison together. Once free, they begin to exact their revenge despite many obstacles in their way, including the attraction still there between Mazin and Dania. Will she continue with her plans of revenge which will erase her very humanity or will she chose another path?

I had no idea what to expect with this one after glancing at the summary, and author Emily Varga exceeded all expectations. There was no time to slow down during this story. From the very beginning, it dug its hooks in me. I couldn't stop reading or listening often times bouncing back and forth between the audiobook and eARC to stay engrossed in the story. I loved how fierce and determined Dania was, which bled into her relationships. The comedic first meeting between Dania and Nora I just knew they were going to be friends through and through. I loved how we got glimpses of the past as we continued to follow Dania on her path of vengeance. It was so hard to put this one down when real life came calling. Safiyya Ingar was a spectacular narrator. The voices for the different characters giving them personality and life off the page. I would highly recommend the audiobook version on this book! Cannot wait to get my hands on my hard copy this week!

Read if you like:
💘Lovers to Enemies
🖤Revenge
🔥Fierce Female Friendships
👀Count of Monte Cristo Retelling
😊Swoony Moments
🗓️Dual Timelines

In this Western Asian inspired fantasy, the heroine has been wronged and is out for revenge against everyone who wronged her... but at what cost? This story has been told before, but this one has some fun twists. The main character is a little frustrating, but I think readers will still enjoy the story here as it is a bit different from others on the market.

Oh wow this was really well done! I found this to be a perfect mixture of YA and intense themes. I think sometimes YA novels shy away from dealing with intense political themes of corruption, but this novel did it amazingly. It portrayed how different people react to grief and pin in different ways and that one’s grief doesn’t define oneself. Instead the way one reacts to said grief defines a person. To revenge or not to revenge!!

I will say I think that the ending did Noor a bit dirty… While I generally loved this book, I wish we had stuck with more of a found family theme rather than enemies to lovers towards the end. Noir was by her side the whole book and then basically ditched for a man. I thought Noor could have been done a bit better in the end, but overall enjoyed the novel a ton other than that!

This narrator was the perfect choice for this book and I will be recommending it to every audiobook lover I know. The story was a brilliant balance of action and emotion as you followed the protagonist from her prison cell into the world as she seeks revenge and the narrator really brought it to life.

The author has a clear mastery of character and it is the kind of book you can’t put down. One of my favorite reads of the year.

This novel was well-written, with a storyline that kept me engaged throughout. However, I found parts of the character dynamics challenging to connect with—especially when it came to the love interest. There were moments that left me feeling frustrated, yet I could still understand the character’s perspective and emotional conflict. The author did a great job capturing the push and pull between desire, vengeance, and revenge, creating a tension that was both intense and compelling. The narration by Safiyya Ingar was fantastic; I loved their narration skills from the moment the audiobook started. Each character’s voice was distinct and easy to identify, adding another layer of enjoyment to the experience. Despite my mixed feelings about some character choices, I enjoyed the story overall and am curious to see how this author grows. I’ll definitely pick up another book by them in the future!

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio | Macmillan Young Listeners for this ARC Audio Copy! 3.5 Stars

I have been looking to this book since the first day that I saw it. The adult female seeking revenge and showing her absolute female rage in the process was what I expected going into this book and it is probably my fault for expecting too much and ending up disappointed in the end. All in all it was a good story, I enjoyed the found family aspect, the betrayals were shocking and really drew you in, but then the FMC would make decisions that did not really fit into the earlier version of her when she was unapologetically seeking revenge. I understand why the things that happened happened.. I just would have enjoyed it more if the rage and fight that was so much a part of our characters personality in the beginning had carried through to the end of the story.

5 Stars

Phenomenal! I cannot stop raving about this book and begging others to pick it up.

A female led Count of Monte Cristo retelling that has everything a fantasy lover would adore. Romance, swords, bada** women taking down the trash that used them. UGH IT WAS PERFECTION. The magic was well thought out and made the retelling entirely believable. It moved so quickly and was fast paced and I could not put it down. EXCEPTIONAL!

Also, the audiobook was incredible and I highly recommend it if you enjoy listening to your books. The narrator brought the book to life!

As someone who is unfamiliar with The Count of Monte Cristo but loves YA fantasy, this was a fun book. There is so much feminine rage and revenge as the focus of the book. The magic system was unique. There’s friends to lovers to enemies to lovers going on. I also really enjoyed the friendship in this book.

I ended up listening to the audiobook of this one and felt that it was done very well. I really liked the narrator.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and for an ALC in exchange for my honest review!

This book was wonderfully fast paced with action from the get go. It’s a retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo, which I’m not going to lie, I’ve never read. Or don’t remember reading it. So every bit of this was new for me. I loved it. Dania is the definition of feminine rage. Thrown in jail for a crime she didn’t commit, betrayed by her lover, she now seeks revenge. Another prisoner stumbles upon her cell (well, breaks into accidentally) and they decided to team up to escape.

The magic in this was super fun, and I haven’t read many books that include any type of Djinn magic, especially in the sense of magic seeds giving people power. I kind of suspected why Mazin did what he did, and I’m glad I was right. I really enjoyed the flashbacks of Dania’s life with Mazin up to the incident that got her thrown in jail, and it really helped with the background of our characters. I listened to the audiobook for this, and I thought the narrator really fit the voice for Dania, and really helped me become immersed in the story. The descriptions and imagery were fantastic. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this story

This story had a lot of promise but ultimately fell flat for me. For She is Wrath is a revenge tale inspired by "The Count of Monte Cristo". The magic system and the cultural elements were very intriguing and what was originally pulled me into this story. However , Dania, our FMC, didn't feel like a well developed character and her motivations felt flat and shallow, making the revenge plot less compelling and not very satisfying. The romance was also underwhelming, with little chemistry or development, I actually enjoyed Dania and Noor's friendship much more.

I listened to the audiobook, and Safiyya Ingar's performance was great and kept me engaged throughout. I felt like her performance actually added a lot to the characters and would recommend checking out the audiobook. (Safiyya is also one of the narrators in Fledgling by S.K. Ali and does a great job in that one too!)

Thanks to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the ALC.

The Count of Monte Cristo is one of my favorite novels of all time. It is beautiful and brilliant in its exploration of isolation, grief, hatred, and revenge. For She is Wrath is billed as a retelling of that novel, but it is not beyond involving a prison escape and revenge. If you enjoyed The Count of Monte Cristo, you will not enjoy this one. It involves torture instead of isolation and quick gratification over carefully well planned vengeance. The magic of the djinns only serves to cheapen the innate strength of the FMC.
Maybe this is unfair if me. Varga does not write like Dumas. Her prose is very YA, and I suspect the reason her FMC only spends a year suffering in jail is so she isn't old when this story takes place.
Pros: Representation (a full star added just for that), concept, there's a clever line about reading a person laced with some serious innuendo
Cons: illogical plot, illogical relationships, uncomfortable contraception conversations with strangers, family members who stab you in the back when you didn't deserve it, people who say they love you but then also leave you in prison bc they think you'll be SAFE there (?!), not even the one bed trope could save this one.
I read both the ebook and audiobook. The narrator, Safiyya Ingar, did a very good job, even when I sped it up to 2.5x to get through the end.
Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Macmillan Audio for this advanced copy for review.

🗡️ Book Review 🗡️

For She Is Wrath by Emily Varga
🗡️
I don’t think I’ve ever read a book that was so specifically written for me. It’s a Pakistani gender swapped retelling of “The Count of Monte Cristo,” and it was flawlessly executed. Dania is an excellent main character. She is strong, fearless, stubborn, and absolutely filled with rage. But she also still cares and risks a lot to protect the people she loves. The second chance romance was filled with anger, angst, regret, and pining. I loved every second of it. This book is absolutely packed with action, fighting scenes, a complex revenge plot, betrayals, magic and the supernatural, female friendship, and a scorching romance. The audio was so well done and brought Dania and her story vibrantly to life. This was one of my favorite reads this month, and I cannot recommend it enough. Go read it right now!
🗡️
My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice level: 🌶️
🗡️
Read if you like:
▫️revenge is the plot
▫️lovers to enemies to lovers
▫️djinn and magic
▫️found family
▫️dual timeline
🗡️
Thank you to Wednesday Books, St. Martin’s Press, Macmillan Audio, NetGalley, and Emily Varga for the ARC. I received an advanced copy for free, and am leaving this review voluntarily.

The Count of Monte Cristo remade into a YA Pakistani fantasy romance with a FMC....I couldn't get my hands on this book fast enough.

I happened to have reread The Count of Monte Cristo this past summer with one of my book clubs so the storyline was fresh in my mind. This book captivated me from the very first page. It was easy to see how the author was inspired by Monte Cristo. She took all the best parts of the story and made them her own.

First, I love Dania, a smart, strong FMC that takes pride in her sword fighting skills. I've said it a million times, there is nothing I hate more than a smart FMC who conveniently loses all reason and logic during a critical point in the story. Nothing drops me out of a plot faster. I'm happy to say that doesn't happen in this book. Next, I love her friendship with Noor. I also don't care when women are unnecessarily mean to each other just to further the plot along. Dania and Noor are fast friends who support each other. Finally, this story is told in alternating timelines. You start when she is in prison and the chapters jump back and forth between Dania's current life and her life leading up to when she was imprisoned. Some people don't like this type of storyline which is why I mention it. I happen to love it.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for giving me the opportunity to listen to this fantastic audiobook. Safiyya Ingar is an amazing narrator. I can't believe this is Emily Varga's debut novel. A solid 5 star read!!

ALC Review: Dania is in prison and has been since her best friend and lover betrayed her one year ago. After flubbing her prison break attempt, she might have another chance at escape when a prisoner tunnels into her cell. And if she does, she will make everyone involved in her imprisonment will regret it.

Oh girl, THIS is what I’m looking for when I’m reading YA. An intriguing, well-paced plot with flashbacks that add to the depth of the story and compelling characters. I thoroughly enjoyed how the lovers to enemies was written, and I was rooting for Dania’s bloodthirst even when she was clearly walking down the wrong path. This was a great read that was compelling in a way that made it hard to put down.

It’s not a 5 star for me because I think there could have been some higher highs and lower lows emotionally. I wanted moments that made me come close to tears, and it didn’t really happen even though the potential was there.

All around a great book, especially for a debut author. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ALC!