Thief of Cahraman was a great book!
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Now, it really was amazing! I loved every second of this! This book promised Aladdin retelling meets the selection series and it delivered exactly this!
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In the beginning it was a bit weird, because somehow I missed the real Aladdin feeling and I got more Cinderella vibes (and as this is an entire series of multiple retellings, I guess there will be a Cinderella retelling at some point), but then Adelaide was abducted and brought to this magical desert kingdom and that's when the fun part started. I loved how Adelaide and Cyrus met and had these little adventures and planned their mischief together and how they slowly got closer. (BY THE WAY: This book includes a slow burning romance, which is honestly perfect!!) There were some things that were quite obvious and I, as a reader, immediately knew who Cyrus is etc. Adelaide did not. Obviously. But I didn't even mind. Some things were very predictable and yet, it was such a fun read and I enjoyed this setting so much, I didn't even think Adelaide was stupid for not knowing. She may have been a little naive, but oh well. :D
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I ordered a physical copy of this book now and I also already ordered the second instalment in the trilogy. I am SO excited to see how Adelaide's story will continue! ❤

When this said it was Aladdin meets The Selection I had to jump on it!! I love both those stories and now I love this one as well. The characters were amazing and I need more now!! The story had pretty good pacing and I really didn't have any issues with. Although it didn't feel as polished as some stories it was still worth the read. I loved that the characters were strong and well formed. I can not wait to get my hands on the next book in the series. The cover isn't just another pretty face! This story was wonderful!

I really enjoyed this one. This book kept me on my toes with the plot twists and it was easy to connect with the main character. Looking forward to reading the next installment when it comes!

This is supposed to be a gender-swapped reimagining of Aladdin. That was why I requested it from NetGalley. There was so little of Aladdin in this work I would feel guilty claiming it was in any way related to that story if I was the author. Instead, it reads like the author wanted to write some vaguely Middle Eastern Kiera Cass fanfiction. The fact that Ada, our heroine, was tricked into looking for a lamp by a sorceress is pretty much where the Aladdin resemblance stops and ends. Far more time is devoted to the absurd competition to find a bride for a prince than to any sort of thievery, and Ada is, of course, triumphant because she has an in with one of the judges: the unusually self-confident servant is so obviously the prince it is painful to read and a little insulting to think that the big reveal with be a surprise to anyone.

To begin with, the prose reads too much like a first draft, with generally tepid writing punctuated by awkward, anachronistic expressions that remove a reader from the setting, such as having an anxious character say "like" a lot. The modern expressions like "gift bags" and "hopped to it," make it impossible to stay immersed in the story. There are also ill-thought out little gems like "bags of broken shards of gold," which do the storytelling no favors, forcing a reader to stop and wonder what in the world a shard of gold would look like in the first place, and then what it would look like if it was broken and bagged. (A Google search turned up an Amazon listing for gold glitter that is large enough to be considered flakes. Maybe that is what Tempest was trying to describe.)

The story itself adheres rigidly to the trope of a normal nobody with a criminal but altruistic past being unexpectedly thrust into a competition to marry a prince: she finds all the frivolity ridiculous; she makes friends with a loud and vapid explainer and a quiet and sensible girl who's just there until she can return to her sensible country; there is a nearly-perfect but bitchy contestant; and the person they're supposed to be marrying disguises himself as a servant to get to know the contestants better. I swear I'm not spoiling anything by writing that because if you've ever read a book of this nature you know who the smug servant is from the very beginning.

The book ends on what I guess was intended to be a cliff-hanger, with Ada being forced to stay longer as one of the final five contestants, but it's hard to see it as a cliff-hanger when we already know that the prince is on her side. True, she hasn't yet accomplished the thievery she was sent there for, but that storyline was treated as an excuse for her to spend time with the prince, with the actual urgency of it more or less forgotten within a few chapters of her magical arrival, so as a reader I felt no compulsion to read on and find out what happens next.

I would not recommend this book, nor seek out its sequels, but it's not a bad book. It's just unremarkable.

I have tried again and again to get into this book. The cover looks amazing and the story interesting. But...I just couldn’t find enough that grabbed me. Sadly, I only made it to 29% on about my fifth try. I really wanted to like it, but I just finally gave up.

It seems like you’ll either love this one or not feel much for it at all. Sadly, I was in the latter camp this time.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ebook review copy.

I am surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. I really liked the characters, and the character growth, seen not only in Adelaide, but the other characters as well. I found the world building to be fantastic without beating you over the head with it.
Though it does end on a cliffhanger, I'm glad the other books are out so I can jump right in to the next to see what happens.


I would describe this as The Bachelor meets Aladdin.

At around 25% I started skimming, at around 50% I gave up and DNFed, which was disappointing as I'd had this book on my To-read shelf for awhile. The story wasn't bad, exactly, but the writing was not to my taste. It struck me as juvenile: too simplistic, but also too wordy. It rubbed me the wrong way and I couldn't stand to pick the story out of the text. Which is a shame, because with an editing overhaul I think it could be a good story.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an e-ARC

A fun gender swapped retelling of Aladdin , this is the first in a series of books giving new versions of familiar tales. Our heroine is Ada, a girl with sticky fingers and a strong sense of justice. When her best friend is captured by a mysterious witch like woman with magical skills, Ada agrees to find a mysterious golden lamp hidden in the palace, but she has no idea what she is getting herself into. Once inside the palace walls she finds herself in a competition with the most eligible young women of the country and it's neighbours, the objective being to find a wife for the Prince. Only Ada's skill, smarts and cunning will keep her in the competition long enough to find the hidden treasure she seeks.
This was a really fun book once Ada made it to the castle, though I wish the build up to that point was not quite so drawn out. It seems like the author was setting up a future book based on Cinderella which bogged down the pace and was irrelevant to the rest of the book. Ada is a fantastic character, I loved her interactions with the other girls and her practical and logical way of thinking, and I really enjoyed her story, or at least as much of it as we got, which brings me to my other problem with this book, it's only half the story. I really dislike it when authors use this tactic and it puts me off buying their books. A book should be able to stand on its own merits, and if the author had skipped the unnecessary intro and finished the story I would be excited to read more, but unfortunately I'm left unfulfilled by this unfinished tale.
I read a copy supplied by NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

If there was a way for me to give this book to everyone I know, I would do it in a heartbeat!

I can’t say how many Aladdin retellings I’ve read. 100? 1,000? A million? It’s my favorite fairytale (and Disney movie!) so it can be hard for a retelling to really stand out to me.

I LOVED THIS BOOKKKK!

Okay. When I saw the description, I barely finished reading it before I got it! The Selection? (Which I love) Aladdin? (Which I love) Together? Loveeeeee

It must be noted to those who tend to get agitated at ‘repetitive plots’ that there are a few predictable elements. But with so many retellings out there it’s almost impossible not to use one or two things that have been used before. But Tempest holds her on wonderfully!

I loved the world building, the characters (ahhh I can’t wait to see what happens!) and the overall concept !

Read read read it!

This is a retelling of Aladdin with a heavy peppering of The Princess and the Pea. A delightful mashup. We have a plucky heroine trying to save herself and her friend. All while accidentally falling for a palace servant. This book also helps to set up this world and future stories to come.

I give this 3.5 stars. There were a few cliche elements that were a bit trying, but overall a solid and enjoyable read.

I am a Disney FREAK so when I saw this on the list of books I might enjoy I scrambled to find it. I adore retellings of any Disney classic in any way shape or form. Do I love the book itself? Maybe not. Do I love the writing? Maybe not. But I will always choose to read a Disney retelling. With Thief of Cahraman, I enjoyed the writing of it. I believe the author did an excellent job of creating the world and characters that we love and know.


The book began a little bit slower than I would have expected with an Aladdin re-telling but it did a great job of entrapping me into the book. I do wish that the beginning of the book was a bit more exciting and a bit more feisty to match with the story it is telling but that’s okay. I found it quite similar in a way to The Selection series and I am glad it did because I thoroughly enjoyed that series as well (read from beginning to end).


I will happily read anything else in this series once I can fit it into my schedule as it is something I will enjoy reading whenever I get the chance. My students eat up Disney re-tellings because it brings some more teen-ness to the idea of Disney. Disney isn’t always “cool” when in middle school so this is a great way to get the students into the genre and love for Disney without making them seem “weird” for liking Disney (it’s a thing!).

Absolutely fantastic retelling of Aladdin, with a badass female in the role.
I can't wait to get my hands on the next ones!
This was seriously hands down too hard to put down, and i were wow'ed ALOT.
I love both Cyrus and Ada, crossing my fingers for them!

I received this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This is book one in a new series by Lucy Tempest. I usually don’t read about characters that are this young she was barely 18. This is a retelling of Aladdin with a girl as the thief. It was an interesting take on the story. I just was disappointed in the ending. I felt the author could have ended the story and then go on to Bonnie’s story. I just was disappointed.

It seemed a bit haphazard and disorganized, and I honestly couldn't get into it, which is a shame because a female Alladdin sounded pretty amazing

Although being initially confused by this book (it seemed like a Cinderella retelling in the beginning), I really loved this story. Although this review is really of just the first book, it is worth noting that the mark of a good book makes you desperate to read the next book, and I have read the first three books in this broader world/series.

What I liked:
--The world-building. The author has a fairly complex fairy tale world full of different kingdoms and people. We are exposed to many of these peoples and worlds in the first book, with other people and worlds being introduced in subsequent books (and likely subsequent spin off tales).
--The people. Once I reread the intro and realized that the author is going to retell several tales, I started trying to imagine how each of the characters introduced in the first book will fit into other tales. Some are pretty easy to peg, others aren't.
--The story. I don't think that the Aladdin story is common for retellings, so that was fun and fresh. And, throughout the series, the author brings in some fun twists, some that are tied up in this series and some that I suspect will be tied up later.
--The end. No spoilers, but by the end of the third book I was satisfied. I thought it was really well done.

I suspect that some people will criticize this book for being too much like The Selection Series, and there were a few times that I felt that as well. But overall, the parts that overlapped weren't that distracting, and the unique worldbuilding and the author's broader vision made her book stand on its own. Well done!

Thanks Netgalley for a free eARC

There were two reason why I selected the “Thief of Cahraman”. The first was the stunning cover and the second being the blurb that captivated me.

I am no stranger to a retelling of a story, and with this I set to read. At first I found it difficult to relate to the story due to:
1. Different names of characters and
2. The roles reversal

However once pushing these thoughts to one side, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It was captivating.

To Lucy Tempest... where has this book been all my life?! I enjoyed the book so much I already got the second and can’t wait for the next in the series (5 in total - 4 published books and 1 on its way). Eep!

With that said, what a lovely book. Not only was the story amazing unto itself, all the characters are unique, have strong personalities and are lovable in their own way.

Adelaide, once a thief, has found a new family, Bonnie and Bonnie’s father, in a town she believed her mother came from.

One evening the three of them are transported to an unknown faraway world by a witch named Nariman. To save her family she must find a golden lamp that is within the Sunstone Palace. Unknowingly she has also been entered as a noble woman in the search for Cahraman’s future queen, and the hand of Prince.

In her search she befriends Cyrus - a servant at the palace and a thief. Before she is able to ask him to run away with her, he reveals that he is in fact the Prince.

** I received a copy of “Thief of Cahraman” the first book in the Fairytales of Folkshore by Lucy Tempest via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

#ThiefOfCahraman #NetGalley

Because I love fairy tales and adaptions of them, I was looking forward to reading "Thief of Cahraman". The description claims that it is a fusion of Aladdin and "Selection" and since I had just read the first book of this series, I was curious to see how the author would bring together both stories. The inspiration is obvious right from the start; the protagonist is a thief who is tasked with stealing a mysterious golden lamp and the Selection of the future wife of the prince is very important as well. But despite these parallels, Tempest has created her own tale and it was very gripping.

The beginning was a bit slow, but as soon as Adelaide’s adventure really started, the book was engrossing and I did not want to put it down. Neither the protagonist nor the reader know what is going on and it was exciting to find it out together alongside the characters - even though this book doesn’t answer every question. I have to say that the big twist seemed to be pretty obvious to me and I guessed it early on, but this only made me enjoy the little hints and allusions to it. The author also did a great job with portraying the characters’ reactions to the twist and discovering how the puzzle pieces fit together was nice. I also liked the last few chapters; they created a few hooks for the next book and because of that, I really wanted to continue reading

The love story between Adelaide and Cyrus was also enjoyable, even though it stayed in the background most of the time. Both characters are very likeable and it was obvious that they had a lot in common. Tempest was able to show that they would make a great couple, but at the same time there are real obstacles for a romance between them and I can’t wait to see what will happen next - the events at the end of the book open up a lot of potential for the next instalment of the series.

In an introduction at the beginning of the book, the author explains that she plans to take inspiration from different fairy tales and this book already contains some clues as to who the protagonists could be which made me excited for the rest of the series. I also can’t wait to finish the adaption of Aladdin. I would give "Thief of Cahraman" itself 4 stars; the book was very engaging and I did not want to put it down. In addition, I liked the characterisation of the different persons and how Tempest took the elements o known stories and created her own plot.

Thief of Cahraman was an engaging read for sure. I loved the gender swap and the various Easter eggs related to other fairy tales in the book ("Fairytales of Folkshore" is a series with interconnected fairytale retellings). As Thief of Cahraman ended with a proper cliffhanger, I'm now very eager to read the next book in this specific trilogy.

“Thief of Cahraman: A Retelling of Aladdin” was recommended to me and I had to see what it was about. I absolutely love retellings. When I read the blurb, it said it was “Selection” meets “Aladdin” and of course my interest was piqued!
I have to admit I wasn’t sure that I was going to love it but I did! I love how the author took this story and made it her own. Of course, there were some things that were predictable. The plot/ synopsis is one that reveals a bit too much. `Even with all this said, this book was a fun read that I enjoyed reading. I will be sure to check out the rest of this series in the future!

I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

First off this is not my usual genre but I chose this book as it's a retelling of a fairytale (Aladdin) and it fit one of my PopSugar Challenge needs.

I thought the book had a bit of a slow start and the development of the worlds needed some more work but the overall story captured my attention. I did find myself enjoying it more about half way through the book. I liked how there seemed to be sort of 2 story lines going at the same time- the Princess Selection, and the heist. I look forward to reading the second and third books. I'd like to know how this all fits together.

I think the modern re-telling of classic fairytales is cute and fun to read.