Book Review: The Forbidden Wish by Jessica Khoury

The Forbidden Wish
by Jessica Khoury
Paperback, 352 pages
Release Date: February 23, 2016
Publisher: Razorbill
Genre: YA Fantasy, Retelling
Buy a Copy:
       Amazon | B&N | Book Depository

Goodreads Summary: She is the most powerful Jinni of all. He is a boy from the streets. Their love will shake the world...

When Aladdin discovers Zahra's jinni lamp, Zahra is thrust back into a world she hasn't seen in hundreds of years -- a world where magic is forbidden and Zahra's very existence is illegal. She must disguise herself to stay alive, using ancient shape-shifting magic, until her new master has selected his three wishes.

But when the King of the Jinn offers Zahra a chance to be free of her lamp forever, she seizes the opportunity—only to discover she is falling in love with Aladdin. When saving herself means betraying him, Zahra must decide once and for all: is winning her freedom worth losing her heart?

As time unravels and her enemies close in, Zahra finds herself suspended between danger and desire in this dazzling retelling of Aladdin from acclaimed author Jessica Khoury.

Cindy's Review: ** I won The Forbidden Wish from a Goodreads giveaway, which did not influence my opinion of this novel. **

The Forbidden Wish by Jessica Khoury is a retelling of A Thousand and One Nights, focusing on a prohibited relationship between Aladdin and his jinni (genie), Zahra. Taking the place of Aladdin’s well-known, blue and mischievous Genie, Zahra has a backstory of her own. Zahra narrates the tale as if she is talking to her beloved Queen Roshana. The Wise Queen once ruled the omnipotent city of Neruby — a vast land that was destroyed 500 years ago by a devastating war. The war is rumoured to be single-handedly started by Zahra who had used Roshana’s trust to bring down Neruby. After the conflict, the descendants of Roshana banned the jinnis and created wards to prevent their entrance. 

 The novel begins when Zahra meets Aladdin. A magic ring that Aladdin stole leads him into the ruins of Neruby, where he finds and rescues Zahra from her 500 year imprisonment in the lamp. Zahra is glad that she is finally free from her dungeon of darkness, but decides not to become attached to Aladdin due to her past experiences with Queen Roshana. Zahra was forced by the King of Jinnis — a Shaitan, one of the most powerful of the Jinn — to kill Roshana because of their forbidden human-jinni relationship. She does not want the same fate for Aladdin. Zahra’s hope for Aladdin to quickly choose his wishes soon changes when the Shaitan appears once more and assigns Zahra to save his son, Zhian, who was captured and trapped in a bottle inside the castle. In return for saving the Shaitan’s son, she is promised freedom.

Zahra’s only hope to release Zhian before the month ends is to manipulate Aladdin and use his wishes for her benefit. In an attempt to enter the castle, she urges Aladdin to wish to become a Prince so he can get revenge on Darian, whose father murdered his parents. Aladdin has the chance to make Princess Caspida fall in love with him so he may inherit the throne with her in place of Darian, the betrothed of Caspida.

As this plan is put into action, Zahra learns how to understand Aladdin and helps him fall into the character of his disguise. Facing many threats from inside and out of the castle, Zahra is racing against time to achieve her freedom, without betraying Aladdin. Aladdin and Zahra’s adventure leads readers through a magical and enchanting adventure filled with finger-curling danger and unexpected surprises. 

I highly recommend The Forbidden Wish to readers who would enjoy a desert fantasy with an extraordinary twist.

Rating (1-10): 9~

Happy Reading~ 

Book Review: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Thorns and Roses (A Court of Thorns and Roses #1)

by Sarah J. Maas

Hardcover, 416 pages

Release Date: May 5th, 2015

Publisher: Bloomsbury Children's

Genre: YA Fantasy

Get the book:

      Amazon | B&N | Book Depository

Goodreads Summary: When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin—one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world.

As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow grows over the faerie lands, and Feyre must find a way to stop it . . . or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.

Perfect for fans of Kristin Cashore and George R. R. Martin, this first book in a sexy and action-packed new series is impossible to put down!

Cindy's Review: 

"Faeries are not my thing," I once said. And I mean it; they aren't. They are not my type and therefore I wouldn't fall for them ever again. But there's always that one exception. And I'm going to make A Court of Thorns and Roses mine. 

First off, I can't resist a fairy tale retelling. It's ironic how I'm tired of faeries, but I'm in love with fairy tales. They both seem to lead to the same genre, but they don't. Fairy tales doesn't have to be supernatural. Anyways, back to this 'Beauty and the Beast' retelling. Am I the only one who doesn't feel like this is Beauty and the Beast at all? I think it's more like the Cupid retelling. Very much more like 'East of the Sun, West of the Moon.' 

In A Court of Thorns and Roses, Feyre and Tamlin comes to life. Their relationship and chemistry is gorgeous; my drool is creating a small pond beneath me. Well, that's disgusting, but you know what I mean. They are the definition of love. They are the definition of OTP. People will make fanfictions out of this, I am sure about this. Both Tamlin and his world are so mysterious, you'd feel like you're peering through mist. But the mist is the charm. The suspense keeps me at the edge of the seat. Then the twists and turns come into view and that's when I know for sure I'm doomed to fall in love of Maas' new series. 

In this Beauty and the Beast retelling, a girl named Feyre is taken to the land of the Faeries as a punishment for killing a faerie while she was hunting. At the Spring Court, she learns that her captor is called Tamlin, a high Fae. Soon, Feyre learns that not everything is as peaceful as it seems at the land behind the wall. There is a villain, whose name shall not be said, whom is trying to rule all the lands, including Feyre's precious human world. 

Although Feyre isn't a kickass heroine, like Celaena from Throne of Glass, but she proved to be dauntless and was able to stand up for her beliefs. The plot was thrilling and fast paced. Maas was able to take the skeleton of Beauty and the Beast and shape it into an extraordinary novel off of her own imagination.

A Court of Thorns and Roses is highly recommended to anyone who has any interest in fairy tales, faeries, YA fantasy, or romance. 

The Rating: (1-10): 10~

Happy Reading~

Book Review: Beautiful Curse by Jen McConnel

Beautiful Curse
by Jen McConnel
Release Date: December, 2014
Publisher: Swoon Romance
Genre: YA Fantasy, Retellings
Get a Copy: 
       Amazon

Goodreads Summary: Sixteen-year-old Mya Jones is cursed.

She is, hands down, the most beautiful creature on earth. But beauty can wound, and Mya finds herself reviled and shunned by her peers. If there is even a chance that she could start over, Mya longs to take it, no matter the risks.

So when the strange Mr. Merk offers her a new life away from home, Mya is hesitant but hopeful. Only she didn't count on the mysterious Ross, or her feelings for him.

Cindy's Review:  
Beautiful Curse started out quite mysteriously. Things happen without any reasons, like the main character suddenly getting so gorgeous, it's scary. So as the suspense continues on, the protagonist gets taken into this mythical, magical world, like an escape route to her problems. 

I didn't read the whole synopsis, which I think is even better, because I was left in suspense who the love interest really was. **I didn't include that part in the synopsis.** When Mya, the main character was brought to a different world by the mysterious Mr. Merk, he told her that his master needed her there. Mya was completely in the dark when it comes to Ross. Not only that she doesn't know anything about him, but she can only be with him if she can't see him. She also can't see some invisible servants and butlers. 

As I started to read on, this plot really reminded me of Jessica Day George's Sun and Moon,Ice and Snow, which turned out that they both were retellings of the same myth. 

We start to see the trust begin to form between Mya and Ross, Mya does something that ends up breaking apart this mythical world and returning Mya to her old, terrible life. Soon, all our questions are answered and Mya does anything she could to save Ross. 

It's really hard for me to explain this without mentioning the real myth, so I apologize for sounding all choppy and not thorough. 

Overall, I thought Beautiful Curse was a really fun read. I enjoyed the suspense immensely and was really glad I got kept in the dark. It's really exciting to find out who those mysterious characters really were. :)

The Rating: 8~

Author Bio:
Jen McConnel first began writing poetry as a child. Since then, her words have appeared in a variety of magazines and journals, including Sagewoman, PanGaia, and The Storyteller (where she won the people’s choice 3rd place award for her poem, “Luna”).

She is also a former reviewer for Voices of Youth Advocates (VOYA), and a proud member of SCBWI, NCWN, and SCWW.

A Michigander by birth, she now lives and writes in the beautiful state of North Carolina. She's a graduate of Western Michigan University, and she also earned her MS in Library Science at Clarion University of Pennsylvania.

When she isn't crafting worlds of fiction, she teaches writing composition at a community college. Once upon a time, she was a middle school teacher, a librarian, and a bookseller, but those are stories for another time.

Links: 
Twitter 
Author Website: http://www.jenmcconnel.com/  
 

Book Review: Sleeping Beauty and the Beast by Melissa Lemon

Sleeping Beauty and the Beast 
by Melissa Lemon
Release Date: June 24th, 2014
ebook, 202 pages
Genre: Fantasy, Fairy-tale retelling
Get a Copy: 
      Amazon

Goodreads Summary: Trapped in a cursed sleep, the only experiences Princess Eglantine has are the ones in her dreams. There she meets Prince Henry of Fallund, a neighboring kingdom on the brink of war. 

Meanwhile, Prince Henry's brother Duncan discovers a vicious beast imprisoned for murder. Captivated by her, he works to free her from both the prison bars she's locked behind and the ones surrounding her heart and mind. Sleeping Beauty and the Beast reinvents and seamlessly intertwines the classic fairy tales Sleeping Beauty and Beauty and the Beast. 

Cindy's Review:

At a Glance/The Cover:

I've been reading a lot of fairy tale retellings lately, especially ones about Beauty and Beasts. This one is pretty unique. Both beauty AND the beast is a girl, so this is actually about two couples and follows two person's stories. 

The Characters/My Opinion:

Eglantine - Though there are two main characters and the protagonists' story intertwines, I still insist that Eglantine is the main character. She is the sleeping princess cursed to sleep forever unless her brother releases a beast. The only problem is that she doesn't have a brother. At all. 

Eglantine is a fun character. She gets to visit places in her dreams. And for some reason, she visits Fallund and meets Prince Henry. Say it's fate but Prince Henry is the only one who could see or hear her. 

Olivia - I'm pretty sure that's her name. This is the beast. The daughter of the witch who cursed Eglantine. But Olivia doesn't know it and now she is in the dungeon of Fallund, trialed for murdering someone. 

Olivia interested Prince Duncan, the brother of Prince Henry, and throughout the whole story, Duncan tries to befriend Olivia and get her to talk to him. 

Overall Thoughts: 

I did have an idea of how this book will end, seeing there are only so many possibilities, but I was still interested to see how things played out. :)

I especially adored Henry and Eglantine's story, although they did get married a bit too fast for my taste. But it's in the land of prince and princess's. What did I expect? This happens in Hollywood! With way less divorces. 

Definitely a fun fairy tale read. I enjoyed it immensely. :)

The Rating (1-10): 7.5~

Happy Reading~