A Thousand Nights

A Thousand Nights by E.K Johnston

Where did I get it? I bought it

Summary: Lo-Melkhiin killed three hundred girls before he came to her village, looking for a wife. When she sees the dust cloud on the horizon, she knows he has arrived. She knows he will want the loveliest girl: her sister. She vows she will not let her be next.

And so she is taken in her sister’s place, and she believes death will soon follow. Lo-Melkhiin’s court is a dangerous palace filled with pretty things: intricate statues with wretched eyes, exquisite threads to weave the most beautiful garments. She sees everything as if for the last time. But the first sun rises and sets, and she is not dead. Night after night, Lo-Melkhiin comes to her and listens to the stories she tells, and day after day she is awoken by the sunrise. Exploring the palace, she begins to unlock years of fear that have tormented and silenced a kingdom. Lo-Melkhiin was not always a cruel ruler. Something went wrong.

Far away, in their village, her sister is mourning. Through her pain, she calls upon the desert winds, conjuring a subtle unseen magic, and something besides death stirs the air.

Back at the palace, the words she speaks to Lo-Melkhiin every night are given a strange life of their own. Little things, at first: a dress from home, a vision of her sister. With each tale she spins, her power grows. Soon she dreams of bigger, more terrible magic: power enough to save a king, if she can put an end to the rule of a monster.

My Thoughts:

*This review contains a few spoilers*

This is one of the most disappointing books that I have read this year. I started A Thousand Nights with high expectations especially after reading The Wrath and The Dawn (another A Thousand and One Nights re-telling) which I adored, but I ended up putting this book down and then forcing myself to pick it back up again because I just couldn’t get into the story.

The characters. I found reading about them and their individual problems extremely boring. there was an original twist to this book concerning Lo-Melkhiin  ( Clue-it has something to do with aliens) that was different but still not enough to grab my attention and keep it.

The writing. There was just something about the style of the writing that did not appeal to me at all and the story just dragged on because of it, with me trying hard to keep wanting to reading on.

The romance.  I wasn’t really invested in Lo-Melkhiin and Schehrazade’s relationship and and for me it didn’t seem plausible especially since Lo-Melkhiin spent pretty much the book inhabited by and evil creature of sorts and it was only really the last two pages that he could fully be himself and yet he still wanted to re-marry Schehrazade.

Overall, I didn’t enjoy this book and probably wouldn’t recommend reading this novel. However…. all moaning aside, can we please take a minute to appreciate the beauty of this cover.

Rating: 1/5