Twue Wuv did win the day, but not the romantic kind. The kind that is a secret shared and retold. The kind people seek, but never find where they think they will.

This wasn't a romance nor was this a book about how a girl overcame a tyrant. This was about two sisters who believed in the bond they shared and how that bond showed the world a different way. ( )

I received an e-arc of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book in any way.

This book was an incredible disappointment for me. I was uber-excited about A Thousand Nights when it first came out, because HELLO FABULOUS RETELLING! Then the first reviews started coming in, and I realised I may just have set my expectations a tad too high.. and just like that my interest in the book fizzled away and I ended up putting off reading it for so long. Then, recently I read The Wrath and the Dawn and boy, did I L O V E that!! So I thought to myself, well, let's attempt A Thousand Nights too and maybe I'll enjoy it as well. I didn't.

Now, don't get me wrong, it's not a bad book per se. The writing itself is actually pretty cool, and the author has a fabulous way of weaving words together to give life to the scene. At times, it felt like I was reading a work of poetry, not a novel and that is most certainly something I loved about this book.

Still, it wasn't enough. The biggest problem with it, for me, is that most of the time I was just so incredibly bored. I was seriously tempted to give up, but I find DNFing a book seriously challenging, so I pressed on until the end even though I found it increasingly difficult. I just couldn't help but feeling like nothing was really happening, and then everything happened in the last 10% of the book... and it was just too little, too late.

Also, the characters. For starters, no one (except for Lo-Melkhiin) had names. I don't really get why this is, though I'm sure the author had a perfectly valid reason for this. I grant it, it's a very bold choice, but I found it immensely annoying. I want to get attached to characters, and not having a name to put to them just made me feel seriously detached. Also, it felt like they had no personality at all. Aside from the main character, who at times displayed something that vaguely resembled an individuality, the other characters were just spots on the background, doing things for no real reason. And to top it all off, I was definitely not a fan of the romance: it felt forced and at times nonsensical, and that makes it a definite no-no for me.

Overall, this book was a real disappointment for me. It had a lot of potential, both in relation to the subject matter and the author's abilities, and it just wasted it all with a mediocre rendering. I really don't think I'll read the second book in the series, even though I would gladly give the author a second chance. ( )

The book started out promising though I felt the writing was a bit stilted, like it was written by a non-English speaker or a translation. It read like an old folk tale which I assume was the intention. I started drifting half way through, though. I just didn't care about any of the characters and reading about her daily life was monotonous and boring. The battle also seemed forced, like the writer had to prove one more time that the protagonist was a Strong Female Character but I was rooting for the weird mist demon things if only to finally end the book. ( )

This YA book went over my head. It's a tough read for a YA novel because it's slow and there's only one named character in the book: Lo-Melkhiin

The unnamed narrator is the latest bride to Lo-Melkhiin. Like Katniss Everdeen, she heroically volunteers for the job in her sister's stead knowing she puts herself at risk to be killed. Like in Arabian Nights, her new husband is known to kill his brides.

There's a lot to like in this book. I love this world the author created of smallgods and demons.

Mostly though like the camels in the book, I just trudged along more eager to finish. ( )

Original de: El Extraño Gato del Cuento

El año pasado fue el año de los retelling de Las Mil y una Noches o de al menos novelas inspiradas en Oriente Medio. Pero, una cosa muy curiosa pasó con este libro, A Thousand Nights fue el ejemplo de lo que sucede cuando saturas el mercado con historias parecidas en un periodo de tiempo demasiado corto. El que siga después del primero, será siempre el que reciba las críticas. En este caso el hype uno de los libros por demás conocido, le causó una mala pasada a este libro.

Por eso, decidí leer este primero.

A THOUSAND NIGHTS

Soy amante de las historias sobre historias, cuando leí EREN quedé encantada. No leí Las Mil y una Noches, aunque siempre ha sido un libro que me ha tenido curiosa, mi problema es que es larguísimo jajaja Por lo que un retelling para mí era perfecto.

Lamentablemente A Thousand Nights no llego a impactarme tanto como esperaba. Su lectura para mí fue extremadamente tediosa, siendo la lectora vaga que soy, amante de los diálogos, leer párrafo tras párrafo largo, fue agotador.

Es triste porque es una historia interesante, solo que la manera estructurada en la que esta, me dejo insatisfecha.

Tengo la idea que si el libro hubiera sido narrado más por Lo-Melkiin, habría resultado más interesante. Porque nuestra narradora, de la cual nunca conocemos el nombre, no despertó gran curiosidad en mí.

Y, sí, nunca se llega a saber el nombre de la narradora. Y tampoco de casi ningún otro personaje, lo cual es sumamente confuso, se refería a algunos como "La Madre de Madre" o algo así. Si eres fácil de confundir como yo, te será difícil diferenciar quien es quien.

FANTASIA

Sin intentar ser cruel, lo mejor fue el twist del final. Me dejo con la boca abierta, literalmente. No voy a arruinarte el final, obviamente.

A Thousand Nights es un libro complicado de cogerle ritmo, no leí todavía el otro libro con el que comparan intensamente a este, así que no puedo decirte cual prefiero de los dos, pero no creo que sea el tipo de libro que salte a recomendar a todos.

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