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dani_bugz 's review for:
A Thousand Nights
by E.K. Johnston
Actual rating 4.5
First up, this cover is gorgeous. But not as gorgeous as the Australian hardcover which (without the dust jacket) is covered in beautiful pink and gold designs! I know we shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, but I totally did, and it totally lives up to the story within the pages!
This has been compared to the Wrath and the Dawn, but in my opinion, A Thousand Nights far, FAR eclipses it. I don't know why the ratings are so much lower! I think it may have to do with the lack of names which may annoy certain people, the lack of romance, and the fairly slow moving plot. But I thought that these things really lent themselves to making A Thousand Nights the wonder that it is!
The lack of names allows us to see the power of the nameless, of the powerless, of the 'less'. The lack of romance means we can focus on the MC as her own person, making her own choices, and growing because of it. And the slow pacing was clearly deliberate, allowing Johnston to weave magic with her words, allowing these gorgeously detailed scenes to play out in my mind!And that is really saying something considering I am usually one of those readers who loves a quick pace with lots of action.
Okay, so I have to talk about the names, or really the lack of names, in this book. I have to say, when I first read about the namelessness of the characters in the book, I was put off. I couldn't see how it could possibly work and didn't even want to give it a go. Fortunately, the beautiful cover reeled me back in when I was in store, and on impulse I bought it anyway. OH MY GOODNESS was it worth it!
We only have 3 names given to us in the entire book, though the only important one is Lo-Melkhiin, the bad guy of the story (I will get around to the other names later, with vehemence!). As mentioned, it gave a voice to the powerless and the nameless, showing that while they may never feature in the history books, they are their own people and have their own important roles to play in society. In my opinion, this feature gave the story so much depth, with many other reviewers coming up with their own interpretations of it.
Moving on; the family connections were beautiful. It really shows the importance and closeness of family in middle eastern cultures, which (being Egyptian) I can attest to. our MC's relationship with her sister and her sister's mother were fantastic, as was the bond she made with Lo-Melkhiin's mother.
Which brings me to the next point, of the beautiful supporting roles all the women played for one another! This was really a feminist's story; a book about the power that being a woman can hold even in a patriarchal society. The women all bond, join together, and support one another in a display that would be wonderful if it occurred in the real world. Honestly, there's not much more to say about this, other than it was exceptionally well done and I was incredibly impressed.
There were only a few things that annoyed me, and really I'm being nit-picky here. The beginning was a little slow and hard to get into, but once we got to the palace, things really took off! The writing style, while being in first person, wasn't as personal, meaning I didn't feel as invested in the characters as I usually do with that POV. BUT, it did lend that fairy tale-esque vibe which gave A Thousand Nights some of it's uniqueness.
And finally, I hated the fact that there were actually 3 names given. Lo-Melkhiin's makes sense as he is essentially the bad guy, the one the entire book revolves around. Johnston gave a name to the evil while keeping everyone else nameless; a ploy which I though worked incredibly well with this novel. BUT we also had the names of two of his closest guards. Why? One of the was the stone carver, but I feel like he could have been referenced simply as 'the stone carver, one of Lo-Melkhiin's best guards'. The other guard didn't even play a part in the story! I feel like there may have been a larger point to these characters before editing, and through the editing process their story lines were cut. But in that case I am very frustrated with the editors for not having picked up the name thing!!!
While there were these tiny little flaws, I have to say that A Thousand Nights has been one of the best releases of 2016. It was beautifully written, beautifully covered, beautifully plotted, and just all around beautiful!!! I would recommend it to pretty much everyone; but be mindful that it is slow paced, there is little romance in the book and there are only 3 names mentioned in the entire 328 pages.
First up, this cover is gorgeous. But not as gorgeous as the Australian hardcover which (without the dust jacket) is covered in beautiful pink and gold designs! I know we shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, but I totally did, and it totally lives up to the story within the pages!
This has been compared to the Wrath and the Dawn, but in my opinion, A Thousand Nights far, FAR eclipses it. I don't know why the ratings are so much lower! I think it may have to do with the lack of names which may annoy certain people, the lack of romance, and the fairly slow moving plot. But I thought that these things really lent themselves to making A Thousand Nights the wonder that it is!
The lack of names allows us to see the power of the nameless, of the powerless, of the 'less'. The lack of romance means we can focus on the MC as her own person, making her own choices, and growing because of it. And the slow pacing was clearly deliberate, allowing Johnston to weave magic with her words, allowing these gorgeously detailed scenes to play out in my mind!And that is really saying something considering I am usually one of those readers who loves a quick pace with lots of action.
Okay, so I have to talk about the names, or really the lack of names, in this book. I have to say, when I first read about the namelessness of the characters in the book, I was put off. I couldn't see how it could possibly work and didn't even want to give it a go. Fortunately, the beautiful cover reeled me back in when I was in store, and on impulse I bought it anyway. OH MY GOODNESS was it worth it!
We only have 3 names given to us in the entire book, though the only important one is Lo-Melkhiin, the bad guy of the story (I will get around to the other names later, with vehemence!). As mentioned, it gave a voice to the powerless and the nameless, showing that while they may never feature in the history books, they are their own people and have their own important roles to play in society. In my opinion, this feature gave the story so much depth, with many other reviewers coming up with their own interpretations of it.
Moving on; the family connections were beautiful. It really shows the importance and closeness of family in middle eastern cultures, which (being Egyptian) I can attest to. our MC's relationship with her sister and her sister's mother were fantastic, as was the bond she made with Lo-Melkhiin's mother.
Which brings me to the next point, of the beautiful supporting roles all the women played for one another! This was really a feminist's story; a book about the power that being a woman can hold even in a patriarchal society. The women all bond, join together, and support one another in a display that would be wonderful if it occurred in the real world. Honestly, there's not much more to say about this, other than it was exceptionally well done and I was incredibly impressed.
There were only a few things that annoyed me, and really I'm being nit-picky here. The beginning was a little slow and hard to get into, but once we got to the palace, things really took off! The writing style, while being in first person, wasn't as personal, meaning I didn't feel as invested in the characters as I usually do with that POV. BUT, it did lend that fairy tale-esque vibe which gave A Thousand Nights some of it's uniqueness.
And finally, I hated the fact that there were actually 3 names given. Lo-Melkhiin's makes sense as he is essentially the bad guy, the one the entire book revolves around. Johnston gave a name to the evil while keeping everyone else nameless; a ploy which I though worked incredibly well with this novel. BUT we also had the names of two of his closest guards. Why? One of the was the stone carver, but I feel like he could have been referenced simply as 'the stone carver, one of Lo-Melkhiin's best guards'. The other guard didn't even play a part in the story! I feel like there may have been a larger point to these characters before editing, and through the editing process their story lines were cut. But in that case I am very frustrated with the editors for not having picked up the name thing!!!
While there were these tiny little flaws, I have to say that A Thousand Nights has been one of the best releases of 2016. It was beautifully written, beautifully covered, beautifully plotted, and just all around beautiful!!! I would recommend it to pretty much everyone; but be mindful that it is slow paced, there is little romance in the book and there are only 3 names mentioned in the entire 328 pages.