__lizzi__'s profile picture

__lizzi__ 's review for:

Thief of Cahraman by Lucy Tempest
3.75
adventurous emotional lighthearted mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

The premise of this book is fun - a gender swapped take on Aladdin mixed with The Bachelor, as Ada is forced to compete in a bride-finding competition for the Prince in order to find a gold lamp. 

The beginning takes a while to get going. There were a few plot holes and there was a lot of info dump... but once the story moved to the castle and the competition started, the narrative picked up pace. The ending was really abrupt though. I suppose it was aiming to be a cliffhanger, but it felt like there needed to be another chapter to at least give a little more resolution.

The romantic relationship is sweet and very slow moving - great to see a YA romantasy that doesn't dive right into spicy scenes. 

I enjoyed the characters, but was a little disappointed that we didn't see more of Ada's street smarts. The only surprising thing about the "twist" was that Ada hadn't worked it out earlier.