A Thousand Nights by E.K. Johnston
Friday, October 09, 2015
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Publication Date: October 6, 2015
Pages: 336
Source: from publisher in exchange for honest review
Buy It: Amazon | Book Depository | Barnes & Noble
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. --Goodreads
E.K. Johnston created something profound, yet so simple.
Readers will be hooked from the start with its quick plot. Every night,
when Lo-Melkhiin joined her—even knowing the original story—I worried for her
safety in surviving the night. Each
morning, I would be holding my breath, wondering if she made it.
Though intentional, the absence
of names irked me. Yes, readers are
blessed with Lo-Melkhiin’s name but we are not given a name for our
protagonist, nor anyone else. Johnston’s
intent can vary between readers: an emphasis on the villain, leaving creative
thinking to the readers.
The supernatural
element was a surprise but interesting.
A Thousand Nights circles
around her, our protagonist, but I wish Johnston had told us more of
Lo-Melkhiin and his daily thoughts.
There was some change in perspective between chapters but not enough to
quench my questions about this demon inside of him.
The plot moved
quickly, enchanting readers with original and unpredictable twists and turns.
It surely kept me on the edge of my seat. However, the writing, most specifically the
dialogue, was disappointing. The story
read like a winded monologue, as if someone was telling a tale which was both, distracting and fascinating. When there was dialogue, the monologue continued
but—since there was a lack of names—the characters, instead, addressed their
titles. For example, calling your sister
“sister” is fine and realistic once but a bit annoying after the third or
fourth consecutive sentence of “Yes, sister. I will do that, sister. You’re
right, sister.”
Despite the writing, Johnston excelled in bringing the classic to life in a fresh way. A
Thousand Nights forces readers to want another thousand nights, wondering
what happens after the end.
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