The Forbidden Wish by Jessica Khoury

The only evidence that there ever was a garden of wonders, the only testimony to the great lost city lost beneath the sand, is a single pale coin that lies on the surface, winking at the moon. And, of course, there is me.

I received this arc, totally judged it by the cover, then actually read it.

And ended up enjoying it a lot. I didn't ADORE it, but I actually had a lot of fun reading it.

This book releases Febuary 23rd, 2016

Stats:

Genre:  High fantasy

Feelings: Actually, I totally felt for Zahra and Roshana

Cuteness: I could totally stand by Aladdin and Zahra, but I wasn’t FANATIC about them

Fast pacing: A quick read. There’s always something happening.

Series: Not that I believe.

Read if you like: Arabian Nights, Aladdin, that type of rich sandy setting.

Content: Some kissing, a few gruff men being buttheads, and one kissing scene that got a tad roly poly but other than that there was nothing explicit.

Trigger warning? Idk, potential genocide?

In summary... A jinni, trapped for far too long. A thief wanting something more. One brewing war.

Thoughts: Soft silk, sand under bare feet, and hardened clay.

Messages: Forgiveness.

Overall

Rating: 4/5

This review has LIGHT SPOILERS regarding love plot. In case you couldn’t tell from the synopsis who ends up together.

As I said in the goodreads review, I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would. I was expecting more of a three star, liked it, pretty good rating. Well, now I’ve rounded up to four stars.

The Characters

I love Zahra. I rarely really care about POV characters. I can’t help it. It’s so hard for me. But I love Zahra. She was realistically written, snarky and heartless even when you know she totally cares. She was such a cool character, with her story and voice. Her arc was well done, growth shown from her obsession with freedom, her easily tricking Aladdin to get what she wants, all the way to the end and sacrifices she makes along the way.

Aladdin wasn’t awful. I’ll say that. Didn’t necessarily adore him, but I did love the snark between them. It was entertaining to read.

So really, at its heart, I didn’t care for the romance. Obviously with this story, the Jiinni is going to be with Aladdin. And I liked them together, but really it just got a bit cheesy. There seemed to be this huge change very fast. Granted, there were some time skips. But all of a sudden she was all heartfelt.

That being said, Zahra wasn’t stupid. She knew it was a bad idea, she didn’t go “oh but AllADINnNnnn we cAN’T because the JINNI RULES!!! Justkiddingletsmakeout.”

She regretted it, she tried, she refrained. There was a realistic back and forth. And to be honest, those pages at the end, after it was implied they’d been together for a while were really adorable.

Okay. Moving on.

Plot and Writing

Immediately after starting it, I was surprised at how well written this story is. Khoury has this amazing voice that perfectly captures the setting and Zahra’s own voice. I haven’t read any of her other books for comparison, but this one was really well written. The setting felt so rich and vibrant, which I really think is mainly because of that writing and descriptions.

The story moved along at a steady paces, steady footsteps through the story world.

My one complaint is the ending. It felt quite rushed and mooshy, all packed together. I felt like there was a lot of potential for some epic jinni-human war that wasn’t seize upon. Which was a bit of a downer.

Messages and Other

Not sure what else I have to say. This was a well delivered story. Not quite a story I’m going to go and fling at everyone’s faces, but one I think plenty of people will adore.

So. If you love that type of setting, check it out!