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rebeccazh's review
short, feminist and creative retelling of scheherazade. the bit at the end where king explains her influences and thought processes really enriched this story. zahra was a lovely character and her motives really make a lot of sense. (so glad that the sultan isn't 'redeemed') the decision to make dunya into the main character (her original role is the faithful younger sister in the background) is really clever too.
missbookiverse's review
4.0
My favourite from The Book Smuggler's fairytale collection, probably because it's a retelling of One Thousand and One Nights. Eerie and smart.
rebeccazh's review against another edition
short, feminist and creative retelling of scheherazade. the bit at the end where king explains her influences and thought processes really enriched this story. zahra was a lovely character and her motives really make a lot of sense. (so glad that the sultan isn't 'redeemed') the decision to make dunya into the main character (her original role is the faithful younger sister in the background) is really clever too.
starryjoy's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
crtsjffrsn's review against another edition
4.0
Dunya is in a bit of a predicament. The fifteen-year-old has been given to the Sultan as a bride by her father. Ninety-eight Sultanas have come before her, all suffering the same fate: execution at dawn. But when a mysterious woman shows up while Dunya is waiting for the Sultan, there's a chance that everything could be different this time around.
I'm all about well-written retellings of popular stories, especially when they're different enough to have a new layer of meaning or a different message. That's exactly what Catherine F. King has done here. There are some great messages in here about family and gender and empowerment and human existence in general. The characters have real dimension to them and I absolutely enjoyed the journey King took me on as a reader. I look forward to reading more of her work.
I'm all about well-written retellings of popular stories, especially when they're different enough to have a new layer of meaning or a different message. That's exactly what Catherine F. King has done here. There are some great messages in here about family and gender and empowerment and human existence in general. The characters have real dimension to them and I absolutely enjoyed the journey King took me on as a reader. I look forward to reading more of her work.
misssusan's review against another edition
4.0
the funny thing is at the end i saw one of the tags on this is 'subversive fairytales' and i was like ...but this is what 1001 nights has always been about, women saving each other and a kingdom through stories, this retells and fleshes out in clear keeping with the inherent theme of the story
(the tag is still fair conceptually, my brain just easily goes on tangents)
anyways this focuses on fleshing out dunya (dinarzad) and zahra (scherhazade) and features some truly great and imaginative twists with the two of them. the kinda quality i like to see in my 1001 nights retellings :D
4.5 stars
(the tag is still fair conceptually, my brain just easily goes on tangents)
anyways this focuses on fleshing out dunya (dinarzad) and zahra (scherhazade) and features some truly great and imaginative twists with the two of them. the kinda quality i like to see in my 1001 nights retellings :D
4.5 stars
coolcurrybooks's review
4.0
Imagine a retelling of the frame story of One Thousand and One Nights, where Scheherazade tells stories each night to avoid death. I’ve seen retellings of this tale before, but Catherine Faris King may have written my favorite. The Ninety-Ninth Bride is a young adult fantasy novel that reads like a cross between The City of Brass and the work of Diana Wynne Jones: in other words, it’s a tremendous delight!
When Dunya is fifteen, the Sultan goes mad, killing his bride and then marrying and killing other women, one after another each night. After ninety-eight women have been executed, Dunya is given to the Sultan by her father, the Grand Vizier, to become his ninety-ninth bride. With Dunya’s death looming, salvation arrives from an unexpected source: a mysterious woman named Zahra.
I ended up spending a lazy Saturday morning reading The Ninety-Ninth Bride in one leisurely sitting. It’s not that the story’s particularly fast-paced or full of action, but it is compelling. There are mysteries, of course, (who is Zahra? Or what…), but the most compelling aspect is Dunya’s own personal growth. She’s spent most of her life alone and isolated with no idea of her own capabilities. While her life now hangs in balance every night, it’s also given her a degree of independence and power. She’s started to investigate the world around her and take initiative to solve the problems she sees.
The Ninety-Ninth Bride is centered around the female characters. Dunya is the heroine of the story, but she’s surrounded by other women too. In the days before her marriage to the Sultan, she became friends with two other women who were later married and murdered by the same Sultan. She also befriends a djinn, who’s broken-hearted after her girlfriend breaks up with her. And finally, there’s Zahra herself, who seems to have sorcerous powers — how else would she convince everyone that she’s the Sultan’s bride, not Dunya, and that she’s Dunya’s sister besides?
Romance in The Ninety-Ninth Bride is minimal. There’s a young man who Dunya has some romantic feelings for, but he’s not the focus of the story. That’s Dunya’s own character growth.
Retellings of One Thousand and One Nights always run into the problem of the Sultan. In the original story, he’s completely forgiven for killing all his previous wives and lives happily ever after with Scheherazade. Obviously, this is a problem for modern day YA retellings. Another one, A Thousand Nights by E.K. Johnston, deals with it by having the Sultan be possessed. The Ninety-Ninth Bride uses no such devices — the Sultan who kills his wives is not under any outside influences, so the questions remain: how many chances does one man get? Is he redeemable? I’m not going to go into spoiler territory, but I was very satisfied with the conclusion. Also, there’s a twist I didn’t predict at all!
The Ninety-Ninth Bride is one of the better YA fairy tale retellings I’ve encountered, and this may be my favorite retelling of One Thousand and One Nights. If you’re looking for a young adult novel with significant female characters and a heroine growing into her own agency, look no further than The Ninety-Ninth Bride.
Review from The Illustrated Page.
When Dunya is fifteen, the Sultan goes mad, killing his bride and then marrying and killing other women, one after another each night. After ninety-eight women have been executed, Dunya is given to the Sultan by her father, the Grand Vizier, to become his ninety-ninth bride. With Dunya’s death looming, salvation arrives from an unexpected source: a mysterious woman named Zahra.
I ended up spending a lazy Saturday morning reading The Ninety-Ninth Bride in one leisurely sitting. It’s not that the story’s particularly fast-paced or full of action, but it is compelling. There are mysteries, of course, (who is Zahra? Or what…), but the most compelling aspect is Dunya’s own personal growth. She’s spent most of her life alone and isolated with no idea of her own capabilities. While her life now hangs in balance every night, it’s also given her a degree of independence and power. She’s started to investigate the world around her and take initiative to solve the problems she sees.
The Ninety-Ninth Bride is centered around the female characters. Dunya is the heroine of the story, but she’s surrounded by other women too. In the days before her marriage to the Sultan, she became friends with two other women who were later married and murdered by the same Sultan. She also befriends a djinn, who’s broken-hearted after her girlfriend breaks up with her. And finally, there’s Zahra herself, who seems to have sorcerous powers — how else would she convince everyone that she’s the Sultan’s bride, not Dunya, and that she’s Dunya’s sister besides?
Romance in The Ninety-Ninth Bride is minimal. There’s a young man who Dunya has some romantic feelings for, but he’s not the focus of the story. That’s Dunya’s own character growth.
Retellings of One Thousand and One Nights always run into the problem of the Sultan. In the original story, he’s completely forgiven for killing all his previous wives and lives happily ever after with Scheherazade. Obviously, this is a problem for modern day YA retellings. Another one, A Thousand Nights by E.K. Johnston, deals with it by having the Sultan be possessed. The Ninety-Ninth Bride uses no such devices — the Sultan who kills his wives is not under any outside influences, so the questions remain: how many chances does one man get? Is he redeemable? I’m not going to go into spoiler territory, but I was very satisfied with the conclusion. Also, there’s a twist I didn’t predict at all!
The Ninety-Ninth Bride is one of the better YA fairy tale retellings I’ve encountered, and this may be my favorite retelling of One Thousand and One Nights. If you’re looking for a young adult novel with significant female characters and a heroine growing into her own agency, look no further than The Ninety-Ninth Bride.
Review from The Illustrated Page.
gayancalime's review
5.0
i don't often write reviews for anything i read because i'm way too lazy but hah! it is so rare that i find an adaptation of 1001 nights that is both respectful and innovative, that manages to both stay true to the spirit of schehrezade and her stories AND do something new and amazing with them. to date, i've only found one other adaptation that has managed to do both. the ninety-ninth bride is the second - it tackles the issues that have plagued the original tale honestly, without approaching them from a western point of view, and it never loses sight of the central point - the relationship between women. bonus point: the writer is lebanese! will absolutely be waiting with baited breath to see what king writes next.
mariahaskins's review
5.0
I LOVED this book. Dunya, the main character, is the kind of character you want to spend time with. I loved how her story included danger, magic, drama, family, friendships & romantic elements, but where romance was not the main point.
If you have kids who love fantasy books like A Wrinkle in Time, they'll probably love this, and it's a great read for adults too. If you loved One Thousand and One Nights (I do), then this is a really interesting take on that world as well.
If you have kids who love fantasy books like A Wrinkle in Time, they'll probably love this, and it's a great read for adults too. If you loved One Thousand and One Nights (I do), then this is a really interesting take on that world as well.
sopranopage's review against another edition
4.0
The Ninety-Ninth Bride is set out in the style of a fairytale, which lends the whole thing a sense of nostalgia, even for one such as myself who wasn't originally familiar with the source text of One Thousand and One Nights.
King puts an interesting turn on the female characters in this story, making the Scheherazade-equivalent--Zahra--a mysterious and mystical figure who appears to aid Dunya who, unlike her version in the source text, is the one who is supposed to marry the Sultan rather than Scheherezade/Zahra, who in this version pretends to be the intended bride. The use of the veils they already wore in public helps them fool the Sultan. Whereas the 1001 Nights version of Dunya is Scheherazade's actual younger sister, this version of Dunya simply plays the part of Zahra's sister while Zahra works to protect her from the Sultan's plans to kill her like the previous ninety-eight brides before her. Dunya's role in starting the stories off is much the same, in both the older text and King's version, it is Dunya asking her "older sister" to tell a story that starts the cliffhanger storytelling trick they drag out for those 1001 nights.
What King does to flesh out both Zahra and Dunya's characters was quite fascinating, especially the mystery of who exactly Zahra was and why she had shown up to help Dunya in her hour of need. I must admit the twist near the end of the story almost had me yelling out loud because it was that. freaking. awesome.
The Ninety-Ninth Bride is a fun, quick read that focuses on the concept of sisterhood rather than redemption for a wicked person, which I found quite refreshing. The author's note King included at the end of the Kindle edition I read also had some interesting insights about where she was coming from while writing this story, and, along with some googling on my part, certainly helped me understand the context which I had initially lacked.
King puts an interesting turn on the female characters in this story, making the Scheherazade-equivalent--Zahra--a mysterious and mystical figure who appears to aid Dunya who, unlike her version in the source text, is the one who is supposed to marry the Sultan rather than Scheherezade/Zahra, who in this version pretends to be the intended bride. The use of the veils they already wore in public helps them fool the Sultan. Whereas the 1001 Nights version of Dunya is Scheherazade's actual younger sister, this version of Dunya simply plays the part of Zahra's sister while Zahra works to protect her from the Sultan's plans to kill her like the previous ninety-eight brides before her. Dunya's role in starting the stories off is much the same, in both the older text and King's version, it is Dunya asking her "older sister" to tell a story that starts the cliffhanger storytelling trick they drag out for those 1001 nights.
What King does to flesh out both Zahra and Dunya's characters was quite fascinating, especially the mystery of who exactly Zahra was and why she had shown up to help Dunya in her hour of need. I must admit the twist near the end of the story almost had me yelling out loud because it was that. freaking. awesome.
The Ninety-Ninth Bride is a fun, quick read that focuses on the concept of sisterhood rather than redemption for a wicked person, which I found quite refreshing. The author's note King included at the end of the Kindle edition I read also had some interesting insights about where she was coming from while writing this story, and, along with some googling on my part, certainly helped me understand the context which I had initially lacked.