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ceredonia's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Animal death, Sexism, Suicide, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury
geminisoul's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I loved this story. It was so beautifully written and I loved to see the growth in the two main characters. The author did a great job of world building and giving the main characters depth. I can't wait to read the next book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death and Violence
Moderate: Death, Miscarriage, Suicide, Blood, and Grief
1quillb's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
The thing that authors really need to get right when writing enemies-to-lovers is the transition from enemy to lover—it needs to be made clear to the reader why, exactly, they fall in love with each other. But here, the author fails completely. There is no transition, there’s just Shazi hating Khalid to her saying she wants to kiss him and is in love with him (I’m not tagging a spoiler here because it’s the whole premise of the book). There’s literally zero explanation as to why she has suddenly become enamoured with Khalid. I really like the general idea of the book, especially as a 1001 Nights rewrite, but the relationship aspect falls flat without the journey of actually falling in love with someone who is supposedly evil. Had the author included a more transitionary period with their relationship I probably would have rated this much higher, but I couldn’t stand Shazi constantly waxing poetic about a man she hardly knew anything about.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Violence, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Child death, Death, Misogyny, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Infidelity, Sexual content, Suicide, Grief, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury
notsobinaryart's review
challenging
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Blood, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Miscarriage and Slavery
eelizard's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Murder
emsavors's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
dlsmk's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Miscarriage, Self harm, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury
emeryboyd's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Murder
Minor: Suicide
beckyyreadss's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I’ve wanted to read this book in forever. This book was gifted to me by my friends for my birthday and I was excited to read it. It took me a while to get into, but once I got into it, I really enjoyed it.
This book has multiple POVs from this love triangle. There is Khalid, who is an eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, takes a new bride each night only to have her executed at sunrise. There is Shahrzad, she is sixteen and she has volunteered to marry Khalid. But she does have a clever plan to stay and exact revenge on Khalid for the murder of her best friend and the countless other girls that Khalid has executed. Shazi’s wit and will does get her through to the dawn that no others have seen, but with a catch . . . she’s falling in love with the very boy who killed her friend. She discovers that the murderous boy-king is not all that he seems, and neither are the death of so many girls. Shazi is determined to uncover the reason for the murders and to break the cycle once and for all. The third POV is Shazi’s best friend named Tariq and he has been in love with Shazi since they were children. He has found out what Shazi is doing and is determined to rescue her and take her home and to kill the king once and for all.
I struggled with this book at first and I think it’s because of the lack of world-building at the beginning or a storyline, it jumped in straight to the action that I sort of had to read ahead to then get what the hell was going on. I didn’t know this was a retelling of Thousand and One Nights and I've never read that book, so I went in completely blind. The world-building did get there eventually but for a fantasy I look for the world-building and how immersed I can get in the world, and it just didn’t happen here.
The thing that saved this book were the characters and the romance that was budding between Khalid and Shazi. It was 1000% enemies-to-lovers, and I was down for it. The tension, the mystery, the conflicting emotions they were both feeling and how they slowly opened to each other. I liked the mystery aspect of it and how you didn’t know who was trying to poison Shazi. I loved how bad-ass Shazi is, like everyone around her is trying to protect her and then she’s like no I can’t protect my damn self. I loved the side characters such as the guards and the maidens and would have loved to have seen more of them.
The storyline managed to keep me hooked but overall felt like it was just missing that extra sparkle that would have made it five stars. But I am looking forward to the next book of the duet.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Animal death, Emotional abuse, and Suicide
Minor: Miscarriage, Rape, and Pregnancy
imaginationindex's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
“Every dawn brings horror to a different family in a land ruled by a killer. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, takes a new bride each night only to have her executed at sunrise.
So it is a suspicious surprise when sixteen-year-old Shahrzad volunteers to marry Khalid. But she does so with a clever plan to stay alive and exact revenge on the Caliph for the murder of her best friend and countless other girls. Shazi’s wit and will, indeed, get her through to the dawn that no others have seen, but with a catch . . . she’s falling in love with the very boy who killed her dearest friend.
She discovers that the murderous boy-king is not all that he seems and neither are the deaths of so many girls. Shazi is determined to uncover the reason for the murders and to break the cycle once and for all.”
This was a reread, though I hadn’t officially rated it the first time, I do remember enjoying it enough to buy my own copy.
What I loved
- Retelling of A Thousand and One Nights. It was clever and doesn’t often get a retelling, I loved it
- Also the storytelling by Shahrzad. It was a story within a story, descriptive and captivating… it worked.
- Despina and Jalal acted as a great foils for Shahrzad and Khalid
yet are too prideful for their own relationship - I bookmarked every single romantic and affectionate moment. Out of context some quotes may come across as cheesy, but they made me melt as I read further
- Few action scenes I forgot about but carried the story forward. Shahrzad wasn’t always the DID (damsel-in-distress), and is an experienced archer in her own right
What I did not love:
- How indecisive Shazi was (look, I’m not one to talk but… girl, are you going to kill him or not)
- Tariq. I get she’s your childhood best friend however he always thinks she needs saving. His own agenda irritated me and also….
- Honestly still a little on the fence about the pace of the love story. With Tariq’s POV, it spaced it out however it was still a matter of days that she caught feelings and things escalated.
- TW: I’ve included this last, not because it is least important, but if the things above haven’t turned you away, this one might. Their marriage is consummated very early on and while it’s a fade to black scene, it’s clear Shahrzad is just going through with it and not willing to say no. It’s awkward when she’s at least happy he didn’t try to kiss her.
And especially when you find out later on that Shahrzad is the only girl who Khalid has done this to… yikes.
Though this was a reread, I haven’t read the 2nd book and it’s next on my list.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Suicide, Violence, and Blood
Minor: Miscarriage