Until the Sand Claims Us follows two leads, Yildiz, a bodyguard for the princess of the south, her cousin, and Dayyan, the prince of the north, also known as the prince of death. The pair cross paths when Yildiz is offered up in her cousin's place for marriage to a northern prince in the hopes of stopping the war that has been raging for years. Yildiz has been given a task by the sultan, kill the princes or face certain death. But her betrothed, Dayyan, is not the villain she thinks he is and he has been forced to follow the shah's every order so that he can keep his family safe. As the two come together, Dayyan starts to realize that he has feelings for his new wife, making her a new target to be used against him and to control him while Yildiz has to wonder if killing the prince would even be the revenge it was meant to be. Their marriage was supposed to be the start of a new peace but various factors are working against them and the pair will have to choose between what they are meant to do or their newfound love in an effort at changing their destinies and the furure of their homelands.
First of all, the world-building here is exquisitely done. There are so many interesting aspects to the world itself, from the the reason for why the North wants to conquer the South and how the people live to how that in turn affects everything that lives in the Khatatian Desert. Azizi provided so many answers to questions I had about the people and stories about how and why the war started. There was also an interesting addition to the start of every chapter and the discovery of what these lines turned out to be just left me feeling a little awed at how Azizi provided this interesting bit to fill in the world just that much more. I loved the development and the way Azizi gave each part of the story the information as it was needed. Enemies to lovers as a trope usually doesn't work for me but it was done to perfection in this novel because I believed everything about the developing relationship between the leads. Their story as a driving force for the novel kept my attention riveted because believe me when I say that I had to finish this book in a day, I couldn't put it down.
The characters in this book were perfection. Yildiz was a gjrl after my own heart with her fiery spirit and her fighting ability. I knew that Dayyan would be tragic somehow but the way Azizi developed his character into something so strong while sympathetic at the same time made me eager to see how this newly married couple would finally be on the same page together. Thanks to Azizi's writing, I was just as invested in the rest of the cast of charactets, including Dayyan's closest friend Zeki, and Bazmara, Omid and Delara, the siblings Dayyan would do anything for. Every character gets their chance to make an impact on the story and I loved them all by the end of the book.
As for the plot, I found the struggle of choosing between duty and love to be a particularly good driving force for this story. Trying to find a way for two people who have grown up being used as tools by the family that was supposed to protect them to finally accept a true and everlasting love made this just a beautiful story in the end. I wanted these two to grow together and find an understanding and their journey to find a way to be together and help their people made for such a fun adventure to go on. All in all, a very satisfying novel about taking chances and finding somewhere to belong for who you truly are.
In the end, this book was the perfect story that I was looking to read and I'm so grateful to have gotten the chance to meet Yildiz and Dayyan and have a chance to spend some time in this world.
Rating on my Scale: 10 Stars. I might have shed or two at a particular reveal so bear that in mind because it's good to know when an author has the talent to make you care that much about the people they have created.
My thanks to Behind the Pages and Israh Szizi for the eARC of this book in exchange for a honest review. All opinions are my own.
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