Thank you for the arc, unfortunately I did not finish it, I just wasn't the right audience for this book.

This book reminded me of other books, authors, and writing styles — Shannon Hale’s Bayern books, Vessel by Sarah Beth Durst, Melina Marchetta’s Lumatere Chronicles, Tanith Lee’s Claidi Journals, The Girl of Fire and Thorns trilogy by Rae Carson, Tamora Pierce’s various fantasy series, Malinda Lo’s Ash, Keturah and Lord Death by Martine Leavitt... Just so many voices that have already spoken when it comes to women in fantasy books, especially those aimed at young women. But this book just doesn’t have enough spark of its own to stand out as anything particularly remarkable, at least in my opinion. I struggled, reading about so many nameless women who were more paper and ink than flesh and blood, and I so wanted to love this story, this world, and the women within these pages. Sadly, I did not connect the way I wanted, and after finishing I was already thinking of rereading one of the aforementioned books/series rather than ruminating over this novel and its companion novel.

I received this free eARC novel from NetGalley. This is my honest review.

This has been on my TBR pile for so long, and I'm glad I finally got around to it. I really enjoyed the storyline and seeing the characters change throughout the story was a great character development. The plot was great and kept my attention. I'm glad I got the chance to read this and will be on the lookout for more in the future!

This was an intriguing take on the well known story One Thousand and One Nights. I enjoyed the YA twist on the old tale, however it didn't wow me which was a shame. It had so much promise but it fell a little flat for me.
I did enjoy the writing in this. It's beautifully written, so vivid and intricate in its descriptions of the desert. It really brought the setting to life through its lyrical, detailed descriptions. Always a winner for me.
I liked the contrast in our main characters. One innocent, strong willed and determined, the other a demonic and evil being. I wish we could have got to know the other characters in the story but not knowing their names made me feel more disconnected than anything. I enjoyed the emphasis on storytelling but felt that this story lacked just that - stories.
All in all I enjoyed certain aspects of this story but felt it was lacking in other areas. Beautiful written though.

This was really slow and I couldn't get into it. That being said, the package alone was beautiful and enough to make me consider. (Pink hardback with stencilled edges.)

I requested this one back in the day as I had every intention of reading it. However, its been years and I still haven't gotten around to it and while I feel guilty at not reviewing a book I think that I need to admit to myself that I won't be reading this one anytime soon....if at all.

I recently bought a new kindle after my old one broke. For some reason I was unable to download this title from the cloud onto my kindle, therefore I will be unable to review this title. I am sorry for any inconvenience caused

I requested this years ago and wasn’t able to download at the time. I’ve since read it and enjoyed it!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It really drew me into the storyline and took me on an adventure.
It was really nice to see a female protagonist to make a huge impact on the story!

This was a basically forgettable retelling of Scheherazade's tale. If this had been one of the stories told to keep king Shahrayr (or Lo-Melkhiin, as he's named in this version), the bride would be dead. It was slow-paced and unremarkable. Not Johnston's best.

The book was described as beautifully written and really interesting. It was also compared to the latest fairytale retellings that had been published in 2015, such as The Wrath & the Dawn, A Court Of Thorns & Roses, and Legacy of Kings, two of which I have read and loved. I was really excited to read this book, not just because it's a retelling, but it's a retelling of A Thousand & One Nights just like The Wrath & the Dawn. Anyway, here's my review!

There are so many things that I love about this book: the characters, the magic, the setting, the plot, the language, and how original it is. The original tale describes a king who marries women, but within a few days ends up killing her; and a young girl who sacrifices herself and ends up marrying the king, but saves herself by creating fantastical tales. A Thousand Nights is the same in those respects, but it's actually really really different compared to the original. The magic aspects to this story are really interesting, and nothing like I've read before. The characters were very diverse and very beautifully written, the one weird thing about this book was that none of the characters had actual names. That one thing kind of caused me to feel as if I couldn't connect with the characters as much as I had wished to. I also wished that there was one other perspective that I could have read in the book. I wish there was more of Lo-Melkhiin's perspective...people who have read the book will understand. One of the main reasons that I loved this book was because of the main themes. The "love" and "family" themes were so very important in this book, and every action and decision that the heroine makes is based of what she thinks will keep not only herself safe, but her family in the desert as well.

This book really does feel like a story that you would hear around a camp fire, or reading a huge book of fairy tales. This story was just so beautiful, so diverse, so original, and so wonderfully written. I hope that E.K. Johnston writes more fantasy and/or more fairy tale retellings. She has fantastic writing style, and I really cannot wait to see what she releases next into the YA world.

A beautiful retelling of the Arabian nights, with a great twist on the reason for the princes cruelness. Truly magical.

I was very excited about this book, but it's just not for me or my library. I will not be reviewing any further.

Unique take on a classic tale. The king has been marrying, and promptly killing, a girl from each village in the kingdom. Our heroine (name never revealed) agrees to marry him to stop him from taking her sister, and ends up gaining enough power to right the imbalance in the land.

The setting was vibrant and the story compelling. I enjoyed the heroine and her relationship with "small gods" and local magic. I also like that her name was never revealed -- added a unique twist to this story.

I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I apologize for the delay - I thought that I had submitted feedback regarding this book, but it appears that I did not. I read it a long time ago and I am sorry that I do not recall the specifics of the book. Thank you for the opportunity to read this book and I apologize for any confusion.

Kind of redundant of Aladdin, but without the adventure and action. Did not connect with any of the characters.

I loved this story and the characters, the writing was beautiful and is definitely worthy for reader's advisory.

Very beautiful, I loved it immensely. The characters made me fall in love. I really liked this and will be recommending it.

I absolutely loved this story. Despite its potential for an uncomfortable, forced relationship, Johnston pushes this story away from just being a temporary bride into a young woman understanding her own power and ability to stand against forces of evil.

I really loved this book! It was exciting and full of adventure.