The Forbidden Wish by Jessica Khoury
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
What a wonderful story. I have always been fascinated with stories in the style of “One thousand and one nights” and to have it told from the jinni’s point-of-view was a refreshing change.
The characters were all the reader could hope and wish for in a retelling of this lovely and timeless tale. Spunky and independent, Zahra is a delight to follow through her adventure with Aladdin. Perfect enough to make one wish for her happy ending, yet with enough humanity to make her relatable and realistic. The secondary characters are well created and offer enough tension and conflict to keep the dynamic between protagonist and everyone else interesting and the reader engaged.
The plot is obvious yet provides enough differing details to make this story stand out from the original.
The writing is easy flowing and without any unnecessary and elaborate details and descriptions that would have a reader fall asleep or hope this would end soon.
Overall, this was a very good story with enough intrigue, adventure, fantasy and romance to make a reader feel glad to have picked up this book. I was so engrossed in this story that I read it by the Habourfront until I got a sunburn, but it was so worth it. I would recommend it to anyone, who enjoys great retellings with equally great creativity to make it worth a reader’s time.
