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From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)

“Lo-Melkhiin killed three hundred girls before he came to my village looking for a wife.” Determined to save her older sister from being ruler Lo-Melkhiin’s next victim, the narrator of this story makes sure she is the one Lo-Melkhiin chooses as his bride. Few have survived more than a short time, but she does, already in possession of magic Lo-Melkhiin cannot understand because it is rooted in love. Because of the young woman’s sacrifice, her sister and other women in her village turn her into a living smallgod, and her power grows. In the qasr where Lo-Melkhiin lives, she bears the title of queen and becomes part of the warp and weft of daily life, forming bonds with other women, whose creativity and forbearance are the foundations of the kingdom, and making a few friends among men. Because she can see Lo-Melkhiin’s past, she knows he wasn’t always evil but returned from one of his trips to the desert possessed by a demon. She can also see the spot in the corner of his mind where she suspects the real Lo-Melkhiin remains. The voice of the demon occasionally speaks in this novel and his cruelty and contempt for the man he possesses, for women, for all humanity is palpable. But his arrogance blinds him to the young woman’s strength and her power to create in E. K. Johnston’s vivid tale set in the Pre-Islamic Middle East. Lush with detail, it is an original, strongly feminist offering. (Age 13 and older)

CCBC Choices 2016 © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2016. Used with permission.

From Booklist

November 1, 2015
Grades 9-12 This fantasy, rich with layers of legend and meaning, will captivate readers ready to embark on an adventure spawned by the deadliest of threats. A girl sacrifices herself to the local evil king, Lo-Melkhiin (known for carrying off brides only to kill them in short order), for she believes that with some strategy, she can keep herself alive and save other girls from this hideous fate. We never learn the name of this Scheherazade, but she is capable of interesting magic and able to see faraway happenings as though she is there. Her biggest challenge, however, is to ensure her own survival, and, by association, the survival of all the girls the king might wed and kill. Johnston's writing is densely lyrical, evoking the legendary tales of One Thousand and One Nights, from which this story derives. While that may deter more casual readers, those that persist will find the nomadic cadence compelling and the texture of the unforgiving desert a fascinating backdrop to a story inspired by some of the most ancient folktales.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

From Publisher's Weekly

October 12, 2015
Inspired by the Scheherazade story, Johnston (Prairie Fire) introduces a nameless 17-year-old heroine who takes her sister's place as wife to a murderous king. Thanks to her sister's prayersâ€Â"channeled through an original magic system by which revered ancestors become "smallgods" through the worship of their descendantsâ€Â"she acquires godlike powers while still living. As she struggles to survive her marriage and adapt to city life, she discovers that the king, Lo-Melkhiin, is possessed by a demon fascinated by her newfound powers. Johnston creates a memorable world populated by craft-obsessed demons who prey on humans by forcing them to create art even as it destroys them. The power of sisterhood, both literal and figurative, gives the protagonist the strength to stand between her people and total destruction. Though the ending is slightly rushed, the focus on female solidarity and worth in a male-dominated world, along with the ethical questions raised as the heroine's magic alters the course of her sister's life, make this a powerful read. Ages 14â€Â"up. Agent: Josh Adams, Adams Literary.

From School Library Journal

October 1, 2015

Gr 9 Up-This work explores the setting and central characters from the classic Arabian Nights: Tales from One Thousand and One Nights, adding a mystical backstory for why the Prince kills his 300 wives but spares the Storyteller. In this retelling, the unnamed heroine sacrifices herself for her sister, the most beautiful girl in her village, when the Prince comes to claim a new bride. When her sister builds a shrine to make her a small god, the protagonist finds that she can weave more than just stories, and as her time in the Prince's court grows longer, she finds her powers growing unexpectedly strong. The protagonist continues to survive thanks to the tales she spins every night and begins to discover the true nature of her husband's "possession." She uses this knowledge and her burgeoning abilities to overthrow the demon and his kin when they converge on her village to stop the growing rebellion led by her family. The author creates a mystical fantasy world set under a hot desert sun using an elegant, traditional storytelling style. However, the characters are not as well drawn as the landscape, and readers may not find themselves invested in their individual story lines. The plot draws to a very abrupt, predictable end. Teens who love the fantasy genre will be drawn into the world created here but may be disappointed by the story that takes place in it. VERDICT Not as strong an offering as Renee Ahdieh's The Wrath and the Dawn (Putnam, 2015).-Sunnie Scarpa, Wallingford Public Library, CT

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

From Kirkus

Starred review from August 15, 2015
A loose retelling of The Arabian Nights frame story from Morris Award- and Kirkus Prize-finalist Johnston takes ideas of power and gender, belief and love, and upends them. Somewhere in the pre-Islamic Middle East, an unnamed girl narrates how, with the intent of saving her beloved sister, she sets herself against a king who has already wed and killed 300 wives before the story begins. Desert spirit Lo-Melkhiin (neither djinn or afrit is used but readers familiar with Arabic tradition will recognize the mythic wellspring) has possessed a king and feeds upon human creativity; he is also the only named character throughout the novel, a bold stylistic choice that shapes the entire tone. This is a story of the unnamed and unnoticed in which women's unrecognized power (from the prayers of the narrator's mother, sister, and sister's mother to the creative genius of women in the qasr, entirely overlooked by Lo-Melkhiin) provides the magic that defeats the demonic presence. Fueled by prayers and love (her family has made her a smallgod, or local deity, something usually done only after death), determined to stop the cycle of pointless deaths, the narrator tells stories that become truths, possibly including her own. Detailed and quiet, beautifully written with a literary rhythm that evokes a sense of oral tale-telling, this unexpected fantasy should not be missed. (Fantasy. 12 & up)

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