Jessica Khoury
Penguin Young Readers Group/Razorbill
When a young thief summons Zahra from her lamp, she must grant him three wishes. But the world in which he lives forbids her presence, and her unwilling allegiance to her jinni kin means she may have to betray him at any moment. Nevertheless, she can’t help falling for the charming, fearless boy named Aladdin.
This sneak peek contains the first few chapters of this novel. If you’ve been lurking around The Story Sanctuary long, you’ll already know I’m a total sucker for fairytale retellings. So this was one I couldn’t resist checking out in advance.
I love that the story is told from the jinni’s perspective and that the love angle comes into play between the jinni and Aladdin. Aladdin is a bit of a player—which my little fairytale romance heart wasn’t too crazy about—so it seems all the girls know him and have experienced falling in a dead faint at his feet. He’s still the clever, quick little thief. The streets of his city really came to life in this tale. It felt like something between the underbelly of old London and a Middle Eastern town. Very fantasy, very believably gritty and dirty and dangerous.
This is definitely a book I’ll keep on my watch list to read when it comes out next February.
Language Content (Chapters 1-8)
Mild profanity used infrequently.
Sexual Content (Chapters 1-8)
None.
Spiritual Content (Chapters 1-8)
The story is told from the point-of-view of Aladdin’s genie. Other genies exist, and there is a lot of animosity between them and humans.
Violence (Chapters 1-8)
A boy is beaten by soldiers. A burly man and a young woman face off in a fight (for money.) Brief descriptions of a battle that led to the fall of a kingdom.
Drug Content (Chapters 1-8)
Aladdin goes to a bar to drink wine and gets a bit drunk.