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A review by claudiacantread
The Forbidden Wish by Jessica Khoury
4.0
This is Aladdin fanfiction and it worked for me.
So this book poses the question that I know we have all just been secretly dying to ask: what if the genie was a hot lady instead of Robin Williams? Turns out it’s a kind of cute and fun romance! And ok there are actually quite a bit of changes other than the hot genie lady thing.
‘Zara’ is the aforementioned genie who is found in her lamp after hundreds of years by the thief Aladdin. Aladdin uses his wishes to set up a plot to avenge the death of his parents at the hands of Not-Jafar (but really Jafar). We get plenty of call backs to the movie and general myths and stories of Aladdin but with new added flair for most characters.
I think the book heavily relies on the likability of Zara, who I found very enjoyable. Her inner voice is strong and well written with a mixture of naïve feelings and older wisdom. A character that has lived a long time but without actually connecting to anything for most of it. Zara and Aladdin are cute and their chemistry works. The side characters are fun and good shout outs.
My only real complaints are that it had a weaker second half, the build up was much more fun than the actual conclusion. It was definitely cheesy but like…it is what is.
Conversation Question: do you have a favorite retelling?
Spoiler for the ending:
I do hate stories where women lose their powers at the end to be with men. This wasn’t nearly as egregious as the WORST example of this ever (*glares at Leigh Bardugo*) but it was still kind of disappointing. Aladdin, at least, wouldn’t have cared either way and was never scared/jealous of her powers which makes it a little better.
So this book poses the question that I know we have all just been secretly dying to ask: what if the genie was a hot lady instead of Robin Williams? Turns out it’s a kind of cute and fun romance! And ok there are actually quite a bit of changes other than the hot genie lady thing.
‘Zara’ is the aforementioned genie who is found in her lamp after hundreds of years by the thief Aladdin. Aladdin uses his wishes to set up a plot to avenge the death of his parents at the hands of Not-Jafar (but really Jafar). We get plenty of call backs to the movie and general myths and stories of Aladdin but with new added flair for most characters.
I think the book heavily relies on the likability of Zara, who I found very enjoyable. Her inner voice is strong and well written with a mixture of naïve feelings and older wisdom. A character that has lived a long time but without actually connecting to anything for most of it. Zara and Aladdin are cute and their chemistry works. The side characters are fun and good shout outs.
My only real complaints are that it had a weaker second half, the build up was much more fun than the actual conclusion. It was definitely cheesy but like…it is what is.
Conversation Question: do you have a favorite retelling?
Spoiler for the ending:
I do hate stories where women lose their powers at the end to be with men. This wasn’t nearly as egregious as the WORST example of this ever (*glares at Leigh Bardugo*) but it was still kind of disappointing. Aladdin, at least, wouldn’t have cared either way and was never scared/jealous of her powers which makes it a little better.