"Something taller than me, bigger than me, was watching us. Watching me. Throughout years of constant risk and peril, I’d known varying levels of dread and desperation. This was the first time I knew what primal, bone -deep fear was."

This book was lush and engrossing. Ada is our MC and throughout the book we get to watch her grow and learn. She is courageous and moral. That morality comes into conflict with what she's being forced to do. I love the slow build of romance with Cyrus and look forward to the next one!

One of my favorite things to read is fairytale retellings. It may not look like it since I've only reviewed one other retelling on this blog, (The Lady and the Wish by J. M. Stengl) but it's true. And as Aladdin is one of my favorites, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to read this one!

The first thing that stood out to me was the modern/fantasy twist. While the world at first seems to be the classic Medieval fantasy, that assumption is quickly thrown out the window when one of the characters, Ella, comes riding up the road on a bicycle. Little modern elements are sprinkled throughout the story to give it just enough of a somewhat steampunk feel to make it different.

The second thing that stood out to me was the main character Adelaide's longing to belong and be part of a family. For a fierce, feisty heroine, this was a nice twist that made her seem more human. And her rough-around-the-edged exterior hid a kind, loving heart underneath. Adelaide is definitely a character I would call well-built.

At first, I was confused by the changes made to the classic tale, as nothing seemed familiar, but once the pace started picking up, and key characters were introduced, all the pieces fell into place as they should have. Having the Jasmine character as the thief and the Aladdin character as the prince instead of the other way around was a brilliant twist, especially when Adelaide is dressed up like a high-born lady and thrown into a contest to win the prince's heart. In a way, the roles were moved back to their original positions while remaining switched.

Thief of Cahraman is a fun, unique twist on the Aladdin fairytale and was one of the only books I have read recently that I actually sped through in only a couple of days.


NOTE: I received a complimentary copy from the author through NetGalley for review purposes only. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A retelling of aladdin. Sadly, I didn't enjoyed the book as much as the other readers. I'm not sure if it's the world building or the background behind it.

Thief of Cahraman was a great book!
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Now, it really was amazing! I loved every second of this! This book promised Aladdin retelling meets the selection series and it delivered exactly this!
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In the beginning it was a bit weird, because somehow I missed the real Aladdin feeling and I got more Cinderella vibes (and as this is an entire series of multiple retellings, I guess there will be a Cinderella retelling at some point), but then Adelaide was abducted and brought to this magical desert kingdom and that's when the fun part started. I loved how Adelaide and Cyrus met and had these little adventures and planned their mischief together and how they slowly got closer. (BY THE WAY: This book includes a slow burning romance, which is honestly perfect!!) There were some things that were quite obvious and I, as a reader, immediately knew who Cyrus is etc. Adelaide did not. Obviously. But I didn't even mind. Some things were very predictable and yet, it was such a fun read and I enjoyed this setting so much, I didn't even think Adelaide was stupid for not knowing. She may have been a little naive, but oh well. :D
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I ordered a physical copy of this book now and I also already ordered the second instalment in the trilogy. I am SO excited to see how Adelaide's story will continue! ❤

When this said it was Aladdin meets The Selection I had to jump on it!! I love both those stories and now I love this one as well. The characters were amazing and I need more now!! The story had pretty good pacing and I really didn't have any issues with. Although it didn't feel as polished as some stories it was still worth the read. I loved that the characters were strong and well formed. I can not wait to get my hands on the next book in the series. The cover isn't just another pretty face! This story was wonderful!

Adelaide is an orphan thief. She meets a witch who holds her friend and her friend’s father hostage in order to blackmail Adelaide into stealing the lamp for her. The lamp is at the palace where a competition is taking place for ladies to marry the prince. Adelaide pretends to be a lady and competes for the prince’s hand.

The first chapter pulled me in. I was excited about the main character, Adelaide, and her thievery, but then the story turned to where she wasn't brave or gutsy but was scared and unwilling to leave home. I wanted the main character excited and curious to find out what the eyes in the woods were. I wanted her to be the one that wanted to go on the adventure, not Bonnie.

It would've worked better if the character was pushed toward wanting this adventure in a few small ways in the chapters before the reveal about the lamp.

When Adelaide is asked to steal the lamp, I felt like the story got back on track. That was the kind of adventure I was hoping for.

I listened to the audio version and in the book, Adelaide’s friend, Cherine talks fast. The audio version also talked fast when this character’s dialogue came up. It was really jarring.

I was not expecting characters to be half demon, half witch, or half beast. That threw me off a bit.

I got reinvested in the story again when Adelaide started the tests and met Cyrus, another thief in the palace. The relationship between Cyrus and Adelaide was lovely, especially at the shrine of the love goddess. This is what kept me interested and engaged.

The storyline weakened a bit with Cherine not knowing whether real events were a dream or not. This felt unbelievable.

Overall, the romance kept me intrigued. The writing about the romance was well done and gave the book a solid finish. I felt like the writing in the second half of the book was much improved compared to the first few chapters. It made up for the flaws and made it so I wanted to read book two.

I really enjoyed this one. This book kept me on my toes with the plot twists and it was easy to connect with the main character. Looking forward to reading the next installment when it comes!

This is supposed to be a gender-swapped reimagining of Aladdin. That was why I requested it from NetGalley. There was so little of Aladdin in this work I would feel guilty claiming it was in any way related to that story if I was the author. Instead, it reads like the author wanted to write some vaguely Middle Eastern Kiera Cass fanfiction. The fact that Ada, our heroine, was tricked into looking for a lamp by a sorceress is pretty much where the Aladdin resemblance stops and ends. Far more time is devoted to the absurd competition to find a bride for a prince than to any sort of thievery, and Ada is, of course, triumphant because she has an in with one of the judges: the unusually self-confident servant is so obviously the prince it is painful to read and a little insulting to think that the big reveal with be a surprise to anyone.

To begin with, the prose reads too much like a first draft, with generally tepid writing punctuated by awkward, anachronistic expressions that remove a reader from the setting, such as having an anxious character say "like" a lot. The modern expressions like "gift bags" and "hopped to it," make it impossible to stay immersed in the story. There are also ill-thought out little gems like "bags of broken shards of gold," which do the storytelling no favors, forcing a reader to stop and wonder what in the world a shard of gold would look like in the first place, and then what it would look like if it was broken and bagged. (A Google search turned up an Amazon listing for gold glitter that is large enough to be considered flakes. Maybe that is what Tempest was trying to describe.)

The story itself adheres rigidly to the trope of a normal nobody with a criminal but altruistic past being unexpectedly thrust into a competition to marry a prince: she finds all the frivolity ridiculous; she makes friends with a loud and vapid explainer and a quiet and sensible girl who's just there until she can return to her sensible country; there is a nearly-perfect but bitchy contestant; and the person they're supposed to be marrying disguises himself as a servant to get to know the contestants better. I swear I'm not spoiling anything by writing that because if you've ever read a book of this nature you know who the smug servant is from the very beginning.

The book ends on what I guess was intended to be a cliff-hanger, with Ada being forced to stay longer as one of the final five contestants, but it's hard to see it as a cliff-hanger when we already know that the prince is on her side. True, she hasn't yet accomplished the thievery she was sent there for, but that storyline was treated as an excuse for her to spend time with the prince, with the actual urgency of it more or less forgotten within a few chapters of her magical arrival, so as a reader I felt no compulsion to read on and find out what happens next.

I would not recommend this book, nor seek out its sequels, but it's not a bad book. It's just unremarkable.

I have tried again and again to get into this book. The cover looks amazing and the story interesting. But...I just couldn’t find enough that grabbed me. Sadly, I only made it to 29% on about my fifth try. I really wanted to like it, but I just finally gave up.

It seems like you’ll either love this one or not feel much for it at all. Sadly, I was in the latter camp this time.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ebook review copy.

I am surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. I really liked the characters, and the character growth, seen not only in Adelaide, but the other characters as well. I found the world building to be fantastic without beating you over the head with it.
Though it does end on a cliffhanger, I'm glad the other books are out so I can jump right in to the next to see what happens.


I would describe this as The Bachelor meets Aladdin.

I really loved this book. The story is very good and the characters are in depth. Adelaide is a strong female lead. I read in 2 nights then immediately read the second two in the series. I have now moved on the beauty and the beast spinoff with Ada's friend Bonnie, which im sure will be great too.

At around 25% I started skimming, at around 50% I gave up and DNFed, which was disappointing as I'd had this book on my To-read shelf for awhile. The story wasn't bad, exactly, but the writing was not to my taste. It struck me as juvenile: too simplistic, but also too wordy. It rubbed me the wrong way and I couldn't stand to pick the story out of the text. Which is a shame, because with an editing overhaul I think it could be a good story.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an e-ARC

One of the best Aladdin retellings I Have read in a really long time. I would so read this again, and this is something I'm definitely going to keep in my book collection on my kindle!

A fun gender swapped retelling of Aladdin , this is the first in a series of books giving new versions of familiar tales. Our heroine is Ada, a girl with sticky fingers and a strong sense of justice. When her best friend is captured by a mysterious witch like woman with magical skills, Ada agrees to find a mysterious golden lamp hidden in the palace, but she has no idea what she is getting herself into. Once inside the palace walls she finds herself in a competition with the most eligible young women of the country and it's neighbours, the objective being to find a wife for the Prince. Only Ada's skill, smarts and cunning will keep her in the competition long enough to find the hidden treasure she seeks.
This was a really fun book once Ada made it to the castle, though I wish the build up to that point was not quite so drawn out. It seems like the author was setting up a future book based on Cinderella which bogged down the pace and was irrelevant to the rest of the book. Ada is a fantastic character, I loved her interactions with the other girls and her practical and logical way of thinking, and I really enjoyed her story, or at least as much of it as we got, which brings me to my other problem with this book, it's only half the story. I really dislike it when authors use this tactic and it puts me off buying their books. A book should be able to stand on its own merits, and if the author had skipped the unnecessary intro and finished the story I would be excited to read more, but unfortunately I'm left unfulfilled by this unfinished tale.
I read a copy supplied by NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

If there was a way for me to give this book to everyone I know, I would do it in a heartbeat!

I can’t say how many Aladdin retellings I’ve read. 100? 1,000? A million? It’s my favorite fairytale (and Disney movie!) so it can be hard for a retelling to really stand out to me.

I LOVED THIS BOOKKKK!

Okay. When I saw the description, I barely finished reading it before I got it! The Selection? (Which I love) Aladdin? (Which I love) Together? Loveeeeee

It must be noted to those who tend to get agitated at ‘repetitive plots’ that there are a few predictable elements. But with so many retellings out there it’s almost impossible not to use one or two things that have been used before. But Tempest holds her on wonderfully!

I loved the world building, the characters (ahhh I can’t wait to see what happens!) and the overall concept !

Read read read it!

This is a retelling of Aladdin with a heavy peppering of The Princess and the Pea. A delightful mashup. We have a plucky heroine trying to save herself and her friend. All while accidentally falling for a palace servant. This book also helps to set up this world and future stories to come.

I give this 3.5 stars. There were a few cliche elements that were a bit trying, but overall a solid and enjoyable read.

I am a Disney FREAK so when I saw this on the list of books I might enjoy I scrambled to find it. I adore retellings of any Disney classic in any way shape or form. Do I love the book itself? Maybe not. Do I love the writing? Maybe not. But I will always choose to read a Disney retelling. With Thief of Cahraman, I enjoyed the writing of it. I believe the author did an excellent job of creating the world and characters that we love and know.


The book began a little bit slower than I would have expected with an Aladdin re-telling but it did a great job of entrapping me into the book. I do wish that the beginning of the book was a bit more exciting and a bit more feisty to match with the story it is telling but that’s okay. I found it quite similar in a way to The Selection series and I am glad it did because I thoroughly enjoyed that series as well (read from beginning to end).


I will happily read anything else in this series once I can fit it into my schedule as it is something I will enjoy reading whenever I get the chance. My students eat up Disney re-tellings because it brings some more teen-ness to the idea of Disney. Disney isn’t always “cool” when in middle school so this is a great way to get the students into the genre and love for Disney without making them seem “weird” for liking Disney (it’s a thing!).

Absolutely fantastic retelling of Aladdin, with a badass female in the role.
I can't wait to get my hands on the next ones!
This was seriously hands down too hard to put down, and i were wow'ed ALOT.
I love both Cyrus and Ada, crossing my fingers for them!

I received this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This is book one in a new series by Lucy Tempest. I usually don’t read about characters that are this young she was barely 18. This is a retelling of Aladdin with a girl as the thief. It was an interesting take on the story. I just was disappointed in the ending. I felt the author could have ended the story and then go on to Bonnie’s story. I just was disappointed.

It seemed a bit haphazard and disorganized, and I honestly couldn't get into it, which is a shame because a female Alladdin sounded pretty amazing