For She Is Wrath by Emily Varga is a Pakistani romantasy reimagining of The Count of Monte Cristo that follows a swordswoman named Dania who is on a blazing quest of revenge after she was framed and imprisoned for a crime she didn't commit, and betrayed by the boy she used to love. The key to exacting her vengeance? A stolen djinn treasure. Now in possession of dark magic and a new identity, her path to revenge becomes a complicated game of cat and mouse, and as she delves deeper into her web of traps and lies she'll have to make the choice of risking losing her humanity to her fight for vengeance or making peace with her losses and the wrongs enacted upon her, and starting anew.

On the wide spectrum encompassing all the shades of female rage in literature, For She Is Wrath stands tall and apart at the very end. The level of betrayal, pain and grief (and not only for the dead) that Dania experienced was such that it became endless fuel for her wrath and her need for revenge. Dania's rage is the kind that blinds, that makes it difficult to breathe and brings with it hot, angry tears. I felt it. So, so deeply. It was palpable and raw, it made my chest ache, and I couldn't help but understand and root for Dania's quest for vengeance, even seeing how it was affecting her, changing her. Even knowing that it was leading to her own destruction.

My favorite aspect of this novel is the beautiful friendship that we got to see blossom between Dania and Noor, whose dynamic brought to mind that of Frodo and Samwise. We got to see these two girls who were wrongfully imprisoned find solace and companionship in each other, going from wildly different strangers with a similar past, to friends with a common goal, to family, anchoring each other during their darkest times, carrying each other when they felt they lacked the strength to go on. There is such strength and beauty to be found in female friendships, and Dania and Noor are a stark reminder of that.

Safiyya Ingar's performance was absolutely STELLAR! The raspiness and timbre of their voice was perfectly suited to Dania's character and served to amplify the feelings that Emily Varga was already coaxing out of me. I'll 100% be seeking out other audiobooks narrated by them!

With a strong, resilient female main character, lots of cultural elements, ancient djinn magic, dual-timelines, an abundance of action-packed scenes, a lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers romance with an "I would recognize you by touch alone, I would know you blind" dynamic, a blazing quest for revenge and a fierce female friendship at the center of it all, For She is Wrath is an absolute feast of a book and I can't recommend it enough!

Thank you Wednesday Books for the absolute gift that was being able to read this book prior to its release!

Do you love strong female characters? Do you love well-done retellings of the classics? Because this was amazing!


Safiyya Ingar does an amazing job bringing Emily Varga's "For She is Wrath" alive. The audio narration for this story adds a rich depth to the story telling and creates an immersive experience. I didn't want to stop listening!


Things I loved about this!
- Strong female characters
- Strong female friendships
- Revenge
- Friends to enemies to lovers


I loved this story and the characters. I absolutely recommend it!

Thank you to MacMillan audio and Netgalley for an ALC to review.

firstly, thank you to the publisher for an arc and an alc!

unfortunately dnf’d @ 28% — i think a few things contributed to my disinterest, the main factor being i have never read the count of monte cristo… and i didn’t realize this was a retelling of a classic

the narrator was fine, but didn’t really bring any energy to the listening experience

I spent a lovely 12 hours listening to the narrator, Safiyya Ingar, blissfully weave the story about these two women exacting revenge on the people who wronged them. And I recommend you check out the audio if you can.

For She is Wrath started with a bang and slowed down shortly after. We got the introduction of Dania, who is hell-bent on breaking out of prison just so she can reconnect with her father and kill every rat bastard who put her in jail in the first place, including her first love. There, she meets Noor, who later becomes her best friend and her moral support whenever Dania feels herself going left with power. These two characters worked great as a team, and I only wished Noor was more at the forefront of her revenge plan.

FSIW is not as magical as I projected it to be, but it still holds its own with the action sequence and bloodlust throughout the text. The world-building and character creation were well written, and there is also romance. I'm still not a fan of the whole "Romantasy" genre, but this one was palatable. Oh, and the reveal at the end! Oh! Oh!

Do you like fantasy novels that are also retellings of popular classics with strong female main characters?? Of course you do! This is a Count of Monte Cristo retelling and while I totally saw the similarities, I got so caught up in this story, I forgot it was a retelling. 😆

Imagine being betrayed by the one you know and love the best in your life. You are imprisoned for a crime you didn't commit and tortured by ruthless prison guards. Starving and beaten, you vow to escape and avenge your betrayer.

When you hear scraping in your cell and see another prisoner has accidentally tunneled into your cell instead of of to freedom, you come up with a plan to work together to escape.

Fast paced and full of dark magic, this tale is a quick read you won't want to put down.

Thank you to MacMillan audio and netgalley for an ALC to review.

When both of my YA Book Boxes choose a story to be in their November boxes, I expect great things. So I was very excited to be able to listen early to For She Is Wrath because I do give precedence to my book box books and, to completed one that is in both boxes, all the better!

That being said, I enjoyed For She Is Wrath and I won’t be holding either box. I’m sure the special editions will be spectacular.

For She Is Wrath is a Pakistani-inspired retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo. The writing is well-paced with surprising twists, Found Family, swoony romance, and an excellent ending. Plus, it’s a standalone, which always makes me and my wallet happy!

The narration of the audiobook is excellent and I would highly recommend it as well.

I rate this book 4 stars. It is an emotional, well-written story with a strong, dynamic FMC but I just don’t feel that it will be a memorable book for me. It falls into the “like it but don’t love it” category for me.

I wish I could give out more than 5 stars for this book!

YESSSSSSSSS. This was the retelling of the Count of Monte Cristo we ALL needed. I absolutely loved the characters, the djinn (my apologies for the spelling- I did listen to it rather than read it haha) magic, the twists, the morally grey character traits, the ROMANCE, the setting, the ENDING!

I will be gushing over this book for a long long while. While it was a tad violent, I felt like it was tastefully done and didn't bother me as other books with fighting have.

This made a fantastic audiobook and I absolutely loved the narration. It was absolutely well done!

My review on instagram will be linked here when shared closer to the publishing date.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan audio for an ARC audiobook of this!

Thank you for the ARC and the opportunity to listen to this book.

I absolutely loved this narrator. Her emotion in the narration, the way she gave each character a unique voice was perfection. It really brought me into the story. It was really the best thing of this book and what made me enjoy it as much as I did.

I did appreciate that this book was a standalone, a clear end that tied up everything. I did feel the ending was rushed, however. For me it felt like it should have been a little longer but it was still an ending. I did think it was too predictable to me and hard to enjoy the plot overall. It was a story about vengeance but… all I could think about was that Oprah meme with everyone getting a revenge plot. I think it was average at best, definitely a great performance from the narrator that pulled my interest into the story the entire way through.

A retelling of “The Count of Monte Cristo” with a splash of magic mixed in and made YA.
Revenge, betrayal, love, and djinn magic. That familiar classic we all know, made new.
Very quick read with likable characters and an interesting take.
Wish it packed more of a punch when it came down to it, but still a book I thoroughly enjoyed.

A very strong addition to fantasy. Dania is a strong character, with a strong mission. I enjoyed the Pakistani representation mixed in, but not glaringly, just in there. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to more from Emily Varga

[edit]

I was so intrigued by this description as it sounded like everything I wanted so I signed up for the audiobook on netgalley.
I struggled with this book, there were aspects that I enjoyed but a lot that fell flat.
Good Points:
The narrator is AMAZING and does such a great job with character voices and giving the story feeling.
The magic system was actually super well laid out and interesting.
I loved the Pakistani culture and the intricate use of blades/clothing/lore throughout the story.
There are some things that I didn't see coming so that was fun.

Bad Points:
The characters are FLAT. The main character is always angry. The side character is always the voice of reason but we literally know NOTHING about her and she is used as a way to keep the main character in check. It felt very revolving door by the end of the book because of this.
The rage/revenge aspect was not what I expected and for all the build it up....the ending was not up to snuff.
The romance was mid at best, its basically the main character saying she cant love him, but wants to love him the entire time and he is a wet blanket, he has little to no personality or a backbone. I was left very disappointed by the romance, which is such a bummer.

Overall this book was entertaining, the narrator was great, but I would only recommend this to certain readers, maybe of a younger age and comparing it to the masterpiece that is the Count of Monte Cristo is a dis-service to the book.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for the advanced audiobook of For She is Wrath in exchange for my honest review.

A retelling revenge story with none of the viciousness that I truly wanted with some of the weirdest pacing I’ve read in a book. This had an amazing narrator, great world building and I really loved the magic system, but the meat of the book with the characters and their motivations fell flat. The story was extremely repetitive. There wasn’t enough “Wrath” as the title suggests.

Noor was a waste of a character and that makes me so sad. I thought the found family aspect would have been way better for Dania than the romance.

SPOILERS AHEAD

It was very clear that we weren’t going to get revenge on Mazin, even though he was literally at fault for the inciting story. He was weak and didn’t put forth the effort to save her. I wanted Dania to have her revenge and I think this story would have been better had she actually succeeded. But, unfortunately, she chose him over the revenge she deserved.

Audio review: Safiyya Ingar did an amazing job! This was a very pleasant audiobook to listen to, the narration had me hooked from the beginning! I did hear a couple noticeable swallow sounds, but otherwise it was really great.

The book itself, I had some issues with plot holes and things that just seemed unrealistic to me, that took away from the story, so it wasn't that great to me, but I won't go too far into it as I'm reviewing the audiobook itself here.

5 stars for the audio!

🇵🇰 ARC REVIEW🇵🇰

For She Is Wrath by Emily Vargas
Pub Date 🇺🇸: Oct 29th
4/5 ⭐

This was such a a cool retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo. I love reading books that feature cultures I'm not familiar with, and a Pakistani Count of Monte Cristo was definitely my cup of tea.

The book starts with our main character, the daughter of the emperor's sword maker, wrongfully imprisoned and trying to escape. It follows her quest for vengeance and asks the question 'what would you sacrifice for revenge?'

Please read if you like the following:

⚔️ Angry women bent of revenge
⚔️ Calculated schemes to infiltrate the emperor's court
⚔️ Badass fight scenes
⚔️ Love steeped in betrayal

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for the ARC!

I absolutely loved this book! Right from the beginning I was drawn into the character of Dania. She has been falsely imprisoned after being betrayed by her ex-lover and she goes on a quest for revenge. Armed with dark magic, she and her friend set out to get back at those who did her wrong. This book is so much more than just her revenge plot though. There’s much more depth to the characters. This book is going to stick with me for a long time and has earned a well deserved spot in my favourite books of this year.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC of this book.

This started off as something I normally am iffy about: I am not a revenge plot kind of person. It is not something I appreciate or think is necessary. However, this book took revenge and wrapped it in a way that morphs identity and takes over after grief. I truly appreciated the way the author spun this concept to make it unique and also a growing point for the FMC. The character arc is definitely one that is worth reading — it is done so well. THAT ENDING!!

I will say there were some things that made this read like a debut, specifically at the start. However, I found that it really picked up and captured me so I didn’t really mind or notice after a while. The storytelling is so great and the world was straightforward too. I do feel like the characters sometimes had more responsibility than their ages — it really felt more like a New Adult book than a Young Adult, so I think even adults will enjoy this!

I love the other concepts this explored well: coming of age, family, grief, identity, misogyny, etc. These were handled with care and had great messages for young people.

This audiobook actor was incredible! Safiyya Ingar deserves a slow clap for that ending — I felt and heard every quiver of her voice during those intense scenes! She really made this book come alive and I’m so glad to have listened to this one. I truly hope she continues to be a narrator for future books I come across because she’s immensely talented!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance listener copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

Wow, folks – the audiobook of For She is Wrath is phenomenal! This is an action-packed YA fantasy retelling and the narration is FLAWLESS. There’s something about the reader’s raspy depth and vaguely British accent that made Dania come alive so vividly. And when she reads the other characters, I always knew exactly who was speaking. Just so well done!

This YA fantasy by Emily Varga is a gender-swapped retelling of The Count of Monte Christo. It follows a young woman who is betrayed by those she trusted and wrongfully accused of treason then sent off to prison to rot. She manages to escape and finds hidden djinn treasure along the way. She uses her newfound wealth and magic to go undercover to mastermind revenge on those who have wronged her.

Dania was a fantastic YA heroine – if you like the badass, stabby variety (which I do). There was also a swoony romance with Mazin, the boy who betrayed her, told in dual timelines before the betrayal and in the present when she’s exacting her revenge.

Overall, a fast-paced compelling YA fantasy that’s sure to please!

Thank you to macmillan audio for the free audio arc of the book.

It's the Count of Monte Cristo but quicker, cleaner and with a fantastic female lead! I am a huge fan of The Count MC and stories from other cultures so this reimagining was a win for me. Dania is wonderfully human character and following the twists and turns of her plot for revenge was highly entertaining.

Safiyya Ingar was a joy to listen to!

This book was truly incredible! It explores the lengths one will go for revenge, and Dania is a compelling, morally gray character who is both feisty and captivating. Her quest for vengeance is gripping and heart-wrenching. I appreciated that it was YA without the added spice, allowing for a strong focus on the story itself. The flashbacks were perfectly timed, enhancing the narrative beautifully.

The writing style was exceptional, making it a joy to read. I also loved the narrator; she did an amazing job bringing all the characters to life, and her tone and pitch made it easy to follow along.

Thank you to NetGalley, Emily Varga, and Macmillan Audio for the fantastic ALC!

I loved this one! A perfect witchy read for you fantasy lovers TBR, For She Is Wrath is a gender bending reimagining of the classic Count of Monte Cristo. From the opening action, to her daring prison escape, and through Dania’s attempt to execute her revenge, I was captivated! The Pakistani setting, unique djinn magic, and rich descriptive prose led to an immersive reading experience. My experience was enhanced by listening to the audiobook, narrated by Safiyya Ingar, who did a fantastic job capturing the determination, pain, angst, and passion of Dania. And the love story! I had to pause my audiobook on multiple occasions to find my copy to make a highlight of some heart stopping lines delivered by Mazin, Dania’s childhood best friend, lover, and then betrayer. This book has found family, pulse pounding danger, sword fighting, and a heroine with character growth. I will absolutely be purchasing a shelf trophy of this great book!