A review by yviie_reads
The Forbidden Wish by Jessica Khoury

4.0

The Forbidden Wish is a retelling of Aladdin, which happens to be one of my alltime favorite Disney movies ever. You can imagine how excited I was to find out about this book, right? I was super excited and am happy to say that it lived up to my expectations even though I was still a bit disappointed - if that makes sense?

So, TFW is unlike the Disney version of Aladdin - for example, the jinni is a female called Zhara - but that really didn't disturb me. Quite the opposite! I loved the change and found it very refreshing and interesting.

"Nothing is worth betraying someone you love."

Aladdin still had his spirit and a personality I enjoyed a lot. Zhara on the other hand was more reversed and serious - probably due to her age and what she's been through already - but together they just fit. It made sense, you know? They complemented each other and made me fangirl SO MUCH. I adored them right from the beginning and was anticipating certain scenes throughout the whole book ... I even became a little bit frustrated when it took too long, haha. Either way, I loved their relationship a lot - it's slow-burn and definitely not insta-love (not really), which is great and that they're so different made this whole adventure even more enjoyable. Aladdin said and did so many great things throughtout this book which made me love him even more. Seriously, I wouldn't mind finding a thief like him in real life - he was so sweet and caring and had a way with words that just made you fall for him. I LOVED HIM!

"He is the sun and I am the moon. We must stay apart or the world will be thrown out of balance."

As of the plot, I don't want to go into too much detail - we all know how the story goes and therefore some things were predictable while others weren't. I'm generally not as disturbed by predictable scenes as other people might be ... so long as there are great characters involved and it's still interestingly written. That was definitely the case in The Forbidden Wish.

However, at times it felt a bit dragging. The beginning was action-packed but towards the middle things seemed to slow - I wouldn't have minded a few more exciting scenes but overall it was still a great retelling of Aladdin.

"All the world is in your shadow, Zahra. I cannot help but see you when I close my eyes."

So, would I recommend this? Definitely, if you're a fan of retellings and specifically Aladdin. It features strong female characters - seriously, Caspida, her Watchmaidens and Zhara are brilliant characters! -, an intriguing plot that, yes, sometimes is a little bit predictable but never boring and managed to keep me interested this whole time. It's a great book and I enjoyed it immensely!

www.aworldbetweenfoldedpages.blogspot.com
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May 7th:
Enjoyed this a lot! Aladdin is one of my favorite Disney movies and I'm so, so glad that this book lived up to my expectations - even though it still disappointed me a teeny tiny little bit.

Great characters, an intriguing plot, beautiful writing and a great love story - LOVED IT!