I took a few days to think on this book before writing this review. It is a retelling of the classic 1001 Arabian Nights. Lo-Melkhiin is a prince in a desert place. He is not a good man. He is on his 300th wife. Most do not last one night. Until our “heroine” takes the place of her beautiful sister to become the new Queen. There is no jealousy, as this was a sacrifice; the queen did not want to see her sister die. Her beautiful sister deserved more. She deserved a husband and kids, and a life ever after. The Queen was the worker bee sister who became the sacrificial lamb.

The Queen does tell stories, which is partially what keeps her alive night after night. The other part, her lack of fear, or her ability to find something more fearsome than her husband.

This book was incredibly slow. It’s paced dragged on worse than a camel going through the desert. And then when it finally got exciting, it wrapped up way too quickly. The reader is left thinking, I spent all this time for that? In general I liked the story, but I didn’t love it. But over the last few days, I have come to see a concern in the story. This is an abuse story. There is no better way to put it. This is domestic abuse that is allowed because he is the King. Yet our “heroine” keeps coming back for more. She is doing it for her family, and so no other girl dies. However, this is not a message I want to read, or I would want my students or other teens to read. Some might say that the Queen finds her power in the end and makes everything better, but at what cost? There is a companion novel that I will eventually read, but for me this is not a novel I shall ever crack the cover of again.

#ReadHarder - book set 5000 miles from my location
#beatthebacklist #basilisk - a book with a fierce monster
#LitsyAtoZ
#MountTBR