Review : A Thousand Nights by E.K Johnston

Summary (from Goodreads)

Title : A Thousand Nights
Author : E.K Johnston
Publication Date : October 6th 2015
Publisher : Disney Hyperion
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Lo-Melkhiin killed three hundred girls before he came to her village, looking for a wife. When she sees the dust cloud on the horizon, she knows he has arrived. She knows he will want the loveliest girl: her sister. She vows she will not let her be next.

And so she is taken in her sister's place, and she believes death will soon follow. Lo-Melkhiin's court is a dangerous palace filled with pretty things: intricate statues with wretched eyes, exquisite threads to weave the most beautiful garments. She sees everything as if for the last time.But the first sun rises and sets, and she is not dead. Night after night, Lo-Melkhiin comes to her and listens to the stories she tells, and day after day she is awoken by the sunrise. Exploring the palace, she begins to unlock years of fear that have tormented and silenced a kingdom. Lo-Melkhiin was not always a cruel ruler. Something went wrong.

Far away, in their village, her sister is mourning. Through her pain, she calls upon the desert winds, conjuring a subtle unseen magic, and something besides death stirs the air.

Back at the palace, the words she speaks to Lo-Melkhiin every night are given a strange life of their own. Little things, at first: a dress from home, a vision of her sister. With each tale she spins, her power grows. Soon she dreams of bigger, more terrible magic: power enough to save a king, if she can put an end to the rule of a monster.  

Personal Thoughts

A Thousand Nights was quite possibly one of my most anticipated reads of the year. I took one glance at that cover and the synopsis, I knew I needed this gorgeous book in my hands. I'm unfamiliar with the full original story that A Thousand Nights is based on, but I did have a vague understanding of the plot. And I knew that in the right hands, this story could be perfect.

Here's what you have to know upfront: A Thousand Nights is not going to be the book for every reader. More so, if you're a reader who is expecting it to be like the previous One Thousand and One Nights retelling of the year, The Wrath and the Dawn, change your expectations ASAP. The latter is romance novel. A Thousand Nights is not. So if you're going in expecting A Thousand Nights to be a forbidden romance, stop right there because you're not getting it. I feel like it was a huge disadvantage to have both books release so close to each other, because from what I've read around Goodreads, people are expecting similar stories.

Anyways, I digress. A Thousand Nights is unlike any other book I've read before. You see, besides the King, Lo-Melkhiin, we are not privy to any character's name. It certainly made for an interesting experience and while I initially thought it was strange, I got why the author did that. Even though we never know our protagonist's name, she's a perfectly three-dimensional character who we thoroughly get to become acquainted with throughout the book. From the get go, I knew I'd like her as a main character quite a bit. She was selfless - I mean, she did purposely make herself stand out so her sister wouldn't be taken as Lo-Melkhiin's wife. Besides that, she was also strong, fearless and so very brave. You can't help but admire and root for her character's success and you keep hoping that at the end of the day, she'll emerge alive.

Besides the main character though, I can't say I cared much for the other characters. I think they needed to be a little better fleshed out to have any kind of impact on me. I personally thought Lo-Melkhiin himself was a compelling character and so was the demon who possessed him. His story was rather sad, but at the same time I wanted to know about his personality that we didn't get to really see through the story.

One of the highlights of A Thousand Nights was the luscious writing. I know some people thought it was wordy, but it actually worked for me. E.K Johnston took her time to really describe the setting and transport you to the kingdom. That being said, the book was also very slow. Nothing exciting really happens until closer to the end. I felt like had that last part started earlier and had extended a little bit longer, this book could have been completely enticing.

While A Thousand Nights wasn't the unputdownable book that I was hoping it would be, I still enjoyed aspects of it like the writing and the protagonist. This might not be the book for every reader, but if you like strong characters, beautiful writing and books that don't focus on the romance, you might want to try this one out.

Rating 

Cover : 3/5
Plot : 4/5
Characters : 3/5
Writing : 4/5

**Overall rating : 3.5/5**

 Thank you to NetGalley and Disney Hyperion for the e-ARC of A Thousand Nights.