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A review by nicolenovelsnooks
Kingdom of Thieves by Susanne Valenti, Caroline Peckham
1.0
This book was an interesting twist on both the Aladdin and Rapunzel fairytales. It follows the story of Aladdin, who finds the genie's lamp and enters himself in a pageant so he can win the honor of becoming Rapunzel's husband. Another POV we see is Rapunzel's as she copes with the fact her stepmother, Gothel, is trying to force her son's way to Rapunzel's heart - whether she likes it or not. We also see the prospective of Cassian, an ex member of the king's guard who is determined to show the kingdom that Gothel is a sorceress who is manipulating the king. And lastly, we see the genie, Kyra, who struggles with everyday life after being trapped in the lamp for a very very long period of time.
The characters were unique. I really enjoyed Rapunzel's chapters and a few of Kyra's, as I could relate to their characters even if it were only vaguely. As for the Aladdin and Cassian chapters, I couldn't get invested in those chapters as much as I wished I could. I found the language they used in both their dialogue and monologue to be a little bit too vulgar for my taste. Don't get me wrong, I'm not bothered by the occasional swear, but I found that it was a little over done as it was almost included in every sentence, so it just felt like a forced harshness that didn't necessarily need to be there.
Overall, the concept of the novel was neat, and really original considering it is a retelling of two popular fairytales that otherwise aren't related. I thought it was really cool how all the POV's were done so well, they went together fairly seamlessly.
The characters were unique. I really enjoyed Rapunzel's chapters and a few of Kyra's, as I could relate to their characters even if it were only vaguely. As for the Aladdin and Cassian chapters, I couldn't get invested in those chapters as much as I wished I could. I found the language they used in both their dialogue and monologue to be a little bit too vulgar for my taste. Don't get me wrong, I'm not bothered by the occasional swear, but I found that it was a little over done as it was almost included in every sentence, so it just felt like a forced harshness that didn't necessarily need to be there.
Overall, the concept of the novel was neat, and really original considering it is a retelling of two popular fairytales that otherwise aren't related. I thought it was really cool how all the POV's were done so well, they went together fairly seamlessly.