Since the beginning of 2016, I have been reading and reviewing one book a month based on the results of a poll on Patreon. All of these monthly reviews can be viewed here.
The February theme is one of my favorites: retellings! I love retold stories and reimaginings, and it sounded like a fun theme for the month.
The February book selections were as follows:
- Daughter of the Forest (Sevenwaters #1) by Juliet Marillier
- The Girls at the Kingfisher Club by Genevieve Valentine
- The Goose Girl (The Books of Bayern #1) by Shannon Hale
- A Thousand Nights (A Thousand Nights #1) by E. K. Johnston
The February book is…
A Thousand Nights by E. K. Johnston
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.
I don’t know how I missed this book when it was first released in 2015, but I became aware of it toward the end of last year and have wanted to read it ever since!
