Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Razorbill
Series: Standalone (but there is a 0.5 novella)
Release Date: 23 February 2016
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.
I really enjoy interesting retellings, and since Aladdin is one of my favourite childhood movies, I was insanely excited to read this!
If you’ve seen Aladdin, you’ll know the main jist of the story. Basically, there’s a genie who grants wishes, and poor boy wants to marry a princess so he gets help from the genie. The same premise is in this story, with a few differences. Mainly, Zahra is the jinni (genie), and there is more of a backstory with the Jinni world and how the rest of the world fare with it.
I actually loved the changes of the original story, Jessica Khoury kind of matured it a bit for the young adult readers. I learned a lot, and wanted to learn more about this world of the Jinni, but still felt the familiarities (like Aladdin and the princess). The story progresses about the same way too.
Zahra, the Jinni, is an ancient, powerful creature who you really sympathise with with all her past and present struggles. You read from her perspective, so you read her feelings and thoughts of her actions. I grew to her quite quickly, as she struggled to forgive herself for past actions, hide her feelings for Aladdin, and prevent being the deceitful person she was made to be. I wanted the best for her!
Aladdin, a poor boy from the streets, is the same charming kid with attitude that you remember. He had all good intentions for his actions and wishes, strategically planning his wishes and doing it for the good of all.
There is a love interest between these two, and it definitely wasn’t insta love (YES!). They grew to care for each other over time and it was so cute reading their times together. I definitely shipped them ❤
There are a few antagonists in the story, more than the original. It gave more depth to the overall world and made it so much more exciting.
I totally recommend this book if you like retellings, love stories, and magic. It was a pretty quick read and you get into it quickly as well 🙂
I gave this book a 5/5 stars on Goodreads – check out what other people think!
Where to buy:
Amazon
Book Depository
Booktopia
QBD
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I’m glad to hear that you enjoyed this book! I actually picked it up ages ago but never really ended up finishing it – Zahra struck me as too… powerful, and I kind of lost interest in it. I do like the sound of a slower-burn romance, though, so perhaps I’ll give it another try sometime down the road. I think this is about the only Aladdin retelling there is in the YA market at the moment. 😛
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I hope you read it again soon! Zahra was my favourite to read 🙂 and yeah I think it is the only one at the moment! So unique 🙂
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