I am sorry for the inconvenience but I don’t have the time to read this anymore and have lost interest in the concept. I believe that it would benefit your book more if I did not skim your book and write a rushed review. Again, I am sorry for the inconvenience. Please disregard my star rating below.

Emel was such a strong character, so fearless and brave, in spite not being chosen by any of the suitors and still dreaming of a better life. Her encounter with Saalim and the way they interacted was fun to read. This was a great story and I loved the writing style. It was also nice not to have an all powerful Jinni that solves everyone's problems with a wave of a hand. I enjoyed reading this.

Daughter of the Salt King is one of those books that I find both fascinating and repulsive. How a father could essentially pimp his daughters out for his own benefit is abhorrent, no matter the reason, but the way Emel--the king's favorite daughter--manages to best him tmie and again feels well-deserved.

This is ultimately a love story, but a very different kind of love story, with sacrifice at its core. I appreciated the way Thornton builds this magical realm, with its nods to historical contexts of the importance of the salt trade and allusions to the tales of the djinn.

The story has some steamy parts, probably too steamy for my liking, but I know that many enjoy that element. They will not be disappointed. But that steaminess actually becomes tenderness at a certain point, which is much more palatable. And at some points, I wasn't sure I was going to finish the book, but I'm exceedingly glad I did. It was worth the minor discomfort I experienced.

I strongly recommend Daughter of the Salt King for those who enjoy fantasy, stories of women's survival and triumph, sacrificial love. I can't want to get my hands on the next in the series.

I wasn't exactly sure what I was getting myself into with this book but I loved it. I loved the characters, writing, flow, and story.

Although the story seemed interesting, I failed to connect with Emel. There was something in her and the author's style that felt mechanical to me, not as natural as I expected. I celebrate the author's decision to write about something different to cliché European settings and mythologies, but it didn't do it to me.

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* I could tell from the name of this book it would be long, which is why i have put off starting it for so long... overall it was a pretty good, just long lol. Knew where the love story was going from the start too lol not sure if i would keep reading this series

This novel sounded really interesting. However, there were many disturbing scenes that made me uncomfortable. Thus, this book was not for me.

Emel is one of the Salt King's many daughters, with one job: seduce and marry a man with political clout but Emel has constantly failed at this task. Saalim is a magic jinni under the Salt King's command. When things change and their paths cross their lives become intertwined for better or for worse.

"Daughter of the Salt King" is an adult fantasy: book one of a duology. The start of this novel was very strong and very atmospheric, I loved the desert vibes and the mythology. I also found the ending to be strong (& I appreciated the ending) however, the middle parts slowed down there were some plot holes moments of (unrealistic) character stupidity/ignorance which I allowed to pass by, but there were also surface level character development and story movement at times.

It was a mostly a page turner and didn't feel like 500+ pages while reading it. Overall, I enjoyed the story but I will probably not continue the duology.

Thank you to Netgalley and Camcat for the arc.

After some thought on this book I did really enjoy it. Was it a bit predictable yeah but it was also kind of wild like most book have the father covenant their daughters virginity with an iron fist this one is you get 3 night test before you buy. Don't like her? Try her sister, about however far I was I was like wait..... How have none of these been pregnant what happens to them. Well, you indeed find out, and while the main character can be annoying it was nice to see her grow a back bone

I was immediately drawn to this book because in my opinion there just are not enough books written about the Djinn or Jinni as referred to here. If you expect a palace filled with riches you will be sorely disappointed because the Salt King and his harem, children and army live in a tent city that is to my mind far from luxurious.
Emel is desperate to escape her life which is far from pleasant. She sneaks out whenever possible escaping the debauchery and twisted coercion that lies within. Whilst playing host to a would be royal suitor the King is attacked which leads Emel to discover his greatest secret, a Jinni who protects him but can this trickster Jinni also help Emel ?

I feel this book will be divisive although I personally enjoyed it. The Princesses have to be married before they hit twenty three or face being banished which whilst harsh means they can be quite competitive. The King is vile and offers whichever daughter is chosen by the possible future alliance as a plaything for three nights . Yes that is prostitution by modern standards which hits hard particularly as the story progressed. Emel and Saalim slowly begin a secret relationship of sorts as time ticks away and the secret rebellion against the King gather pace as old legends become reality leaving Emel reeling as reality changes beyond all reason.

Not a fan of this one, there were a few stereotypes I wasn't comfortable with and some non consensual sex moments that, yeah I get with the plot, but honestly the whole 'try before you marry' was a bit grim.

The premise of this reminded me of The Bridge Kingdom, but with jinns. I loved the relationship betweent the main character and the love interest, but I wish his past was a bit detailed and that some things about him didn't feel so forced. The writing style suited the story really well and it was easy to read. However, even thought the book is well-rounded, the ending seemed to rushed and it felt like it was only a set-up for the next book.

I wish this book had come with trigger or content warnings because some of the scenes of violence were fairly explicit and for me, unprecedented. This wasn't the book for me, thus I DNFed it at about 20%

DNF -30% I’m not sure if it was the book or me, but this book and I didn’t gel. I tried to read this for several months and I just could not get invested in the characters and the world.

Loved this! Loved the setting (beautifully described), loved the story, loved Emel as the heroine, loved the myth/folklore parts - it all worked and was a really unique story.

I’ll be honest, I requested this book way back in February the month it was coming out. I remember being intrigued by the description (I’m always in for a good jinni story) and happy to find an adult fantasy novel featuring a leading lady (something that I had been struggling to find at the time). But…then it just sat on my Kindle. And the reason I never looked at it to remind myself? The cover! Yes, I was one of those people who definitely started judging it on the cover and what my judgement was saying was: wow, that looks dull. And that’s too bad, because this book is way more exciting than the rather lackluster cover suggests.

As one of the more beautiful daughters of the Salt King, Emel has never understood why she can’t fulfill the only purpose her father allows her and her sisters: to seduce potential suitors whose connections wouldn’t benefit the Salt King. With a harrowing deadline growing steadily closer, Emel dreams of escape. As cracks begin to crumble around her seemingly all-powerful father, Emel stumbles on the secret to his success: a captive jinni who must fulfill his every wish. Soon Emel and Saalim form a strong attachment, but even with Saalim’s power at their fingertips, it’s a volatile thing, more like to harm them than help them. However, other forces are moving and soon their hands will be forced.

This book was such a pleasant surprise! Sometimes it seems that I know from the very first few sentences that a book will be for me. It’s something in the writing: longer, detailed sentences with expert use of a large vocabulary to begin drawing in the reader right away. This was definitely one of those stories. I felt immediately drawn to Emel, even when first meeting her in very tough circumstances when her choices are very much of the practical, if difficult, sort and not those that we often see from the “strong, feisty” heroines at the heart of these stories. Instead, half of Emel’s story is her growing to dream of more for herself and to slowly take control of the limited choices she has before her to direct that future into existence. She still made some puzzling choices, but they felt natural to this type of growth from a character’s whose life has been completely directed by an outside force for the entirety of her existence.

I also loved the romance. While this is a fantasy story first, the romance is a strong, driving element in the overall plot, so readers have to be onboard with that from the get go to enjoy the novel as a whole. I love a romantic fantasy, and both Emel and Saalim were compelling individually and even better together. It wasn’t exactly a slow-burn romance, but it also wasn’t instalove, with enough suspicion and miscommunication to ensure it read as realistic. The foibles that are set up before them also felt earned and also significant. I had a few ideas for how to get out of one snag or another, but most of the time the author quickly stomped out these plots, slowly twisting the screws on our tragic couple.

The world and magic were also interesting. There wasn’t anything incredibly unique to it all, being at times a fairly standard desert fantasy featuring a jinni with the usual abilities. But there added histories and beliefs tangled up in the magical elements that slowly began layering on top of one another as I read, until, in the end, the tapestry felt appropriately detailed and nuanced. In particular, I liked the brief exploration of the goddess behind the jinni’s power and his own backstory.

I really, really liked this book. It was simply solid in every way. It’s only lacking that 10 rating for having a few inexplicable character beats and having pacing that was a bit disjointed early on in the story. But those are real nitpicks on my part. There was also a fairly decent cliffhanger at the end. So, in this way, I was rewarded for dragging my feet about getting to this one as now my wait should be shorter before the second book comes out. Fans of jinnis and romance-heavy fantasies should definitely check this one out!

Rating 9: A wonderful surprise with two main characters you can’t help but love.

The titular Salt King is what it says on the tin, the king of a desert kingdom/village who has accumulated the most salt. His riches enabled him to stock his harem with lots of wives, which gave him lots of children.

His male offspring is carted off to the army. The girls are hidden in tents that may not even been opened for some ventilation in order to keep them secluded form the eyes of possible suitors. They are being wed off to form fortuitous alliances.

For shock value – and possibly to alleviate this novel above YA – the girls aren’t just wed to a suitor. Possible future sons-in-law may take the girl they’ve cast their eye on and spend three nights with them. If she performs to his satisfaction, he might marry her. Or test drive one of her sisters/half-sisters.

The MC, whose name I’ve already forgot, has been hoping to leave her father’s compound for some time. She dreams of being set free by being wed and joining her husband’s harem ever since her first night pleasing a man at age fourteen. Time’s pressing, she has to snag a hubby, especially, since she’s twenty-two already and unwed daughters will be cast/thrown out of the compound at age twenty-three.

I managed to read the first three chapters. There might be a rather good fantasy story about a young woman rebelling against her father, saving her people and falling for a jinni, but I just couldn’t do with the non-consensual sex with minors; the father pimping out his daughters.

This book reeks of a person not of this culture writing a story. There are many instances where people not of a culture write representation well, EK Johnston, is a good example and this just didn't cut it. The author fell into portraying background characters as caricatures. Now the book itself is good, well paces and a solid bit of storytelling with the descriptions but it just felt off throughout for this reason. I caught myself stopping and thinking if some things were done were okay like to concept of working to be a chosen bride and all.. In short I think with more research or maybe focusing on a culture the author is familiar with they can have a banger of a novel cause this was in general a solid read

The eARC I was gifted expired before I could read it, but I was able to download pick up a copy. I will post a full review soon!

This book took me a while to get into. But once I finally got into it it picked up and was more fun to read