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A review by scribesprite
The Storyteller's Daughter: A Retelling of the Arabian Nights by Cameron Dokey
4.0
This is definitely one of the top 5 in the series-so far. It has rejuvenated my faith in the series. Although I couldn't give it 5 stars it was pretty close.
I was relieved when Shahrazad (I think that’s her name) marries the King before the first quarter of the book ended, since it usually takes longer for Dokey to let the adventure start. So I got to see more of the guy-the-girl-is-supposed-to-fall-in-love-with. I've only read one other book with this retelling so it was a fresher retelling to me.
Dokey writes the book as if she were a storyteller with an audience present, which was the point. Shahrazad is the one who is supposed to be telling the story, so of course she would tell it like a storyteller. When Shahrazad started to tell the story to the King and her sister I was preparing myself to read right on through until she was done, because usually when there is a story within a story I can't help thinking, alright alright I get it, lets just get back to the real story already. I shouldn't have worried, it turned out that I enjoyed the story within the story too.
The only thing that irked me was the ending. I couldn't quite make out whether or not I liked it. It's not that it was bad, Shahrazad and the King get their happily ever after, but it seemed a bit...extended. That is the only word I can think of. It's not like the end went on forever, and I do like knowing all the answers by the end of books, but I think Dokey gave more information then she needed to. It kind of let the feeling of the book fade.
I was relieved when Shahrazad (I think that’s her name) marries the King before the first quarter of the book ended, since it usually takes longer for Dokey to let the adventure start. So I got to see more of the guy-the-girl-is-supposed-to-fall-in-love-with. I've only read one other book with this retelling so it was a fresher retelling to me.
Dokey writes the book as if she were a storyteller with an audience present, which was the point. Shahrazad is the one who is supposed to be telling the story, so of course she would tell it like a storyteller. When Shahrazad started to tell the story to the King and her sister I was preparing myself to read right on through until she was done, because usually when there is a story within a story I can't help thinking, alright alright I get it, lets just get back to the real story already. I shouldn't have worried, it turned out that I enjoyed the story within the story too.
The only thing that irked me was the ending. I couldn't quite make out whether or not I liked it. It's not that it was bad, Shahrazad and the King get their happily ever after, but it seemed a bit...extended. That is the only word I can think of. It's not like the end went on forever, and I do like knowing all the answers by the end of books, but I think Dokey gave more information then she needed to. It kind of let the feeling of the book fade.