A retelling of Aladdin, gender swap, portal fantasy, fairytale word with all the characters that got us dreaming during our childhood. Do I need to tell more? A competition to become the new Queen and a missing lamp.
I really think this book is a brilliant idea, I loved reading it wondering which character was who! The writing style is quick and simple, with a little bit of wit from the main character that never gets old. I think that a double pov would have work better, but this didn't disappoint.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my review in any way, and the thoughts expressed are my own.
A new telling of Aladdin sees our street-rat thief a girl while the princess is now a prince. Ada, an orphan, has run from one town to the next, never getting attached until she discovers she has family at the small village at the edge of the known continent. Now living with her cousins, Bonnie and her father, Mr Fairborn, Ada has finally found somewhere she can settle down. If only she could stop her thieving ways.
But a strange, beautiful woman appears and kidnaps Ada, Bonnie and Mr Fairborn. Ada wakes up alone, in a foreign land full of magic and odd creatures. The woman has dumped Bonnie and her father in the lair of a fearsome beast and threatens to stop her magic that is keeping it at bay, unless Ada retrieves a golden oil lamp from the King’s castle, Sunstone. Little did she know the only way to get into the castle is to enter the contest to be the princes’ bride.
Now forced to take part in a competition full of young noblewoman and tests from everything from table manners to social etiquette to displays of talent. With the heightened security Ada has no chance at sneaking out and searching the castle until she meets two new friends. Cyrus is a handsome servant boy with a talent for thieving, while his friend Ayman manages to help sneak him into every room. While during the day she tries her hardest to pretend to fit in, at night Ada searches for the lamp with the help of her new friends.
Luckily for Ada, she befriends two of her fellow contestants; Cora and Cherine. Cherine is a high-bred noblewoman, a cousin to the royal family. Her high rank amongst the other nobles – with only two girls higher than her – makes her arrogant, entitled and very confident. She looks down her nose at everyone, especially those from the lesser families and lower classes. Add to this the fact that she is extremely chatty, and she becomes someone few people can stand. On the other end of the spectrum is Cora, a practical girl from a farming region who is more than happy to get her hands dirty doing chores or wrestling a wolf away from her flock. These two couldn’t have been more different and though they snipe and argue they end up becoming Ada’s two closest friends in the competition.
On her first night in the castle, Ada convinces one of the judges to show her the vault so she can place her jewels somewhere safe. But the vault is already open, and two figures dash out, a handsome boy and a frightening white figure. Ada knows that these two, no matter how strange looking, are her only chance of getting around the heightened security.
Ada and Cyrus are both sarcastic and quick to steal, making them an ideal pair. From their first moment, it’s clear they are drawn to each other, their smirks and quips helping to fuel their flirting. Throughout the book the two grow closer, and we get to see how much Ada longs to have someone to open her heart to. After everything she’s been through it’s nice to see her have someone. She hopes that after the competition, after she rescues Bonnie and Mr Fairborn, Cyrus will run away with her. And it can be just the two of them.
Ayman is an albino with supernatural agility and strength. But his strange appearance has cursed him to be treated as a monster, meaning he must hide to survive, Cyrus his only friend. In the beginning, Cherine wakes up screaming, claiming she saw a ghoul, the description the exact same as the odd man Ada saw coming out of the vault. Later, after Ada has befriended Ayman, she discovers that nearly every night he comes to look in on Cherine and it’s clear he is drawn to her. He was an interesting character, cursed with a life full of hardship and only longs to have a friend.
Fairuza, the competition’s resident mean-girl is truly arrogant and horrible, looking down at everyone even her fellow high-ranking nobles like Cherine. A common character trope but to be realistically expected when you take into consideration her background.
I’d hope due to the early chapters we’d see more of Ada’s daring robberies, but apart from that a few scenes, this book was focused on the romance between Ada and Cyrus. I don’t mind romance as an element to enhance the main story - after all, love is such a massive part of the world - but this book was a complete romance with a few other elements. Though the twist was clear from the beginning, I feel it worked well for the story. I was disappointed that there wasn’t a risky robbery in the climax like I had anticipated and that the main point of the competition wasn’t finished in this book. This story seemed like it could have been wrapped in one book, maybe two if you pushed it, but not the three that it is set to be. It comes off as one of those time where everyone is trying to do trilogies.
I didn’t enjoy this book since it was mostly romance, but that also makes me not the right audience. Additionally, I have found that I don’t enjoy retellings much – maybe because you already know what will happen or you can at least make an incredibly accurate guess when you have become familiar with the characters and plot. I give it 3/5.

This was one of those books that I wasn't too sure about going into - retellings can either been done really well or go really wrong after all but Aladdin isn't THAT common a retelling so I'm glad I got to read it.
It was a little slow to get going but once it did, I loved it.
I loved the characters, the vivid setting and of course the plot.
Cannot wait to get the next book (I don't know what I didn't register it was the first of trilogy when I first went in, now I have to wait) but cannot wait to see where it goes next!

This was a bad idea. Terrible.
And since it was, I, of course, crawled in after him.

Thief of Cahraman.

I'm going to be honest with you, I didn't expect much of Thief of Cahraman. I've read a bunch of YA fairy tale retellings and most have been mediocre at best. I've watched countless of times how "strong" and "focused" heroines got reduced to lovesick damsels in distress as soon as the love interest is introduced. I've watched how thiefs and orphans and poor girls were thrown into high society and excelling at everything they did.

Now imagine how surprised I was when Adelaide was nothing of that. Yes, she excelled at all trials, but not because she was good at pretending to be a royal, but because she knew how to do useful things. And even though she eventually met her love interest, she was never deterred from her goal. She daydreamt about her future with him, but always thought about getting that lamp first. Very impressed, I must say.

What threw me off a little was, that seemingly every character had blue, grey or green eyes? Everyone important at least. I accepted it in that country I dubbed Eureca in my head because I misread it like 50 times, since it was a northern country.
But we later go to a desert country, and still, so many people were described with light eyes? I call bullshit.

Nonetheless, I was very positively surprised by Thief of Cahraman. And if I weren't vehemently avoiding buying stuff off of amazon, I'd definitely buy, like, everything Tempest wrote or will write in the future that is set in this universe.
Definitely recommending this to everyone asking me about retellings tho.


Thanks to Netgalley and the author for providing this ARC!

I had super high hopes for this. I love fairytale retellings and I loved THE SELECTION. But this book got off to such a slow start that I almost bailed. By the 60% mark, I started to get really into it and began racing to the end. I would have preferred some more consistent pacing and the nods to other fairytales to come in this series felt a bit forced. Some of the writing felt a bit weak and I will still recommend THE SELECTION over this, but I might seek out the other two books in this Aladdin series, so it’s a solid 3.5 stars for me.

Thief of Cahraman is the first book in the Fairtytales of Folkshore series. Its was the first book by Lucy Tempest that I was reading and I wasn't dissapointed. I really love fairy tales retelling.

This one is based on Aladdin genderswap retelling and is mixed with The selection. Its was a bit slow at the beginning but was dragged in the story once the competions start. Tough it was a bit obvious who the prince was I really enjoyed this book and will sure be reading the rest of this serie.

Wow! Really enjoyed this YA novel, didn’t want it to end & of course it ended on a cliffhanger.
Very much a female Aladdin, fairytale type of book.
The main character, Adelaide, is street smart, loyal, has a sense of justice & feisty. I love that she’s not whiny & not like a lot of other female character protagonists. It’s a breath of fresh air that Adelaide isn’t annoying & is like-able.

Lucy Tempest’s writing is easy to read, engaging & spellbinding.

I look forward to reading the other books in this series. I believe that young adults & adults will really enjoy reading this series.

This was a fun easy read I enjoyed its. I do like a good fantasy book. I received this book from netgallery in exchange for a honest review.

4.5🌟
Aladdin meets Selection series meets the first book of Throne of Glass series.
As a fan of both Aladdin and Selection series, I was really excited to find out how this book would play out and I was not disappointed a bit. From starting to the end, this book was enthralling. I loved the concept of a gender flipped version of Aladdin. Adelaide, the main protagonist, is a common thief, who is kidnapped by a witch and forced to find a golden lamp to save the people she loves from cruel fate. To find the lamp, Ada has to enter the palace under the disguise of one of the fifty participants of the tournament for winning Crown Prince's hand in marriage. Ada allies with a stunningly handsome young thief in the palace to find the lamp while grudgingly participating in the tournament. She wants nothing but to find the lamp as soon as possible and escape the palace forever, but all her plans changes the moment the prince reveals himself.
Was this book extremely predictable? Yes! But did it stop me from enjoying every bit of it? No!! Dare I say this book was better than the selection series? It was a perfect balance of everything. The starting was a bit slow but it gets better. I enjoyed all the trials in the tournament. The plot is compelling and I am very intrigued by the world. Ada is a smart and interesting character. I am very curious to know about her past. I finished this book in one sitting and felt so satisfied after I was done. I am really looking forward to read the next installment and finding out more about Ada's journey.

Thief of Cahraman has a great description from the publishers, but in order to get to that part of the story, I had to skim through a very irritating Cinderella character that made me quit reading this book on every other page. I skimmed ahead and tried to figure out what I hated about this book. I hated the voice of the character. I did not feel any kind of sympathy, empathy or even curiosity, and I always like to read girl power books. I also read on Goodreads that the author, Ms. Tempest has 8-10 of these retellings planned. Ugh. Not interested. What female authors know how to write a female character that grabs readers immediately? This is a short list, some of the books coming from Net Galley: How to build a female character that young girls need to read:

Celaena/Aelin from Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas

Shahrzad from The Wrath and the Dawn, The Rose & the Dagger by Renee Ahdieh

Rasmira Warrior of the Wild by Tricia Levenseller

Binti from Binti series, Nnedi Okorofor
Emika Chen Warcross series by Marie Lu
Mari Empress of All Seasons by Emiko Jean

I did not purposefully choose only female authors, but I did go through some of my past blog posts this year and grabbed these characters that stayed with me. There are others, but a little research and writer modeling from these authors may help the characters in Tempest's books.

(4 stars) - Aladdin meets "Mean Girls"

An amalgam of fairytale influences in a fun YA story. While this is aimed at teens and young adults, the young at heart & those of us resisting growing up will appreciate it, too.

For those of us who enjoy fairytales & retellings, this is sure to please. This actually seems to incorporate characters from several, but the tale of Aladdin is the obvious main influence.

Ada is a likeable heroine - strong & determined yet intuitive & compassionate. At times she seems more naive than you would expect for one with her upbringing, but nothing too glaring. Cyrus is all that is charming, lol.

The story was quite entertaining, but it did end with a to-be-continued sort of ending which I always find frustrating, though at least the next books are already out, so I don't have to wait to find out how it ends - or have to reacquaint myself with the 1st story before reading the next.

I will definitely be reading the next in the series!

[I'm always surprised when authors use cliffhangers; I know of few things that upset a substantial number of readers more. There is a way of giving a story the ending of a stage, with the next book covering the next stage of progress in the plot. This allows the author the freedom to leave the main plot still open-ended without leaving readers hanging and thereby ticking them off]

Clean romance level: sweet kisses, about a half dozen uses of the word "d@mn"

I am a sucker for a good fairytale retelling. Especially a gender swap Aladdin story.

For me, this book comes in around 3.5 stars. I rounded up my rating because I just genuinely enjoyed reading this and finished it in two sittings. That being said it was not without its issues.

Basically, we have Adelaide our main character (aka Aladdin) she’s had a bit of a rough start to life, which led her to steal, pickpocket, and move around. She ends up getting blackmailed into infiltrating the Palace of Cahraman to find a golden lamp (sounding familiar?). The only catch is that her cover is as a noble girl competing amongst fifty other girls for the chance to marry the prince and become Queen of Cahraman.

The book was a real delight. It was predictable but I mean you are reading a retelling so you know some of the basics from the start.

Things I loved:
The Aladdin retelling. Too often retellings of fairy tales feature stories like Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, or Sleeping Beauty. I mean... I still read them, but they tend to be overdone.
On the topic of retellings…she took the original story but put her own unique twist on it and I loved the idea and the direction she took the plot.
The gender twist. I loved that the story featured a female “Aladdin” Plus I’m always in for a female protagonist, especially when they are badasses
I also was a real sucker for the Adelaide & Cyrus relationship it was cute I was cheering for them. I still am.

It didn’t work for me:
Not a huge fan of the dating competition trope. I do not particularly love the Selection Series or books that feature this kind of competition for love. That being said this story did have an interesting take on the competition aspect.
That ending was not my favorite. It just felt abrupt and unfinished. Clearly, it is unfinished since it’s a trilogy, but it felt like they just chopped it off.
The writing was okay. It wasn’t overly atmospheric, but that being said the character development was great, and it was a quick fun read, so I can completely overlook this.

Basically, if you love Aladdin or retellings, rad female protagonists, or the Selection series. Pick this book up. It’s entertaining and I’m going to immediately go read the next one.

**Disclaimer: I received an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.**

Title Thief of Cahraman

Author Lucy Tempest

Description from Amazon

The Selection meets Aladdin
ONE MONTH. FIFTY CONTESTANTS. ONE PRINCE. AN IMPOSSIBLE HEIST.
You have been summoned to Sunstone Palace to compete in our search for the future Queen of Cahraman.
After years on the run, Adelaide thinks her lonely and dangerous life as a thief is finally over. But her world is upended when a witch steals her away to a faraway kingdom, to perform an impossible heist. If Adelaide fails, her newfound family would be sacrificed to a beast.
To complete her mission, she’s forced to assume the role of a noblewoman and enter a royal competition. The prize is the hand of the elusive Crown Prince. Elimination means certain death.
As the witch’s literal deadline approaches, Adelaide has one last gamble to save the day, and to escape to a new life with Cyrus, the handsome and mysterious fellow thief who stole her heart.
But everything falls apart when the prince finally reveals himself…
Initial Thoughts

The first line of that description. The Selection meets Aladdin. As some of you may know, I love Aladdin. When I was younger, I could literally watch that movie all day long. I used to have it on VHS and I would watch it, rewind it, and watch it again. I also haven’t written about it, but I really enjoyed The Selection Series by Kiera Cass. I read it about 5 years ago but I still remember how much I loved it. So basically, this book sounded like a combo of two things that I already adored. Therefore, I had to read it.

Favorite Character

Cherine – I seem to have a tendency to gravitate toward sassy characters (please see Iltani from Gravemaidens). Cherine was perfect. She was mean most of the time, kind of an air head, and she became a better person for knowing Adelaide. I love to see a main character who is a good person and it rubs off on other characters.

Cover Art

There are things I like and dislike about this cover:

Likes:

The color scheme
The border
The Aladdin-esque architecture in the background
Dislikes:

The girl on the cover – I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I don’t like to be told what to imagine. If I wanted someone to show me what a character looked like, I’d watch TV. When I read, I like to use my imagination. When a cover has a photo of a character, It’s hard to not picture that the whole time I’m reading.
Her pose – not only do I not like the photo, I think it’s a very odd pose. Adelaide is strong, fearless, and smart, so why is she standing like that?
How could I have made it better? Take the girl out and make the building in the background more prominent.

Series Value

Semi-spoiler alert: this book ends on a cliffhanger. That’s the best way to get me hooked, leave me with an unfinished ending. I will definitely be reading the next book in the series.

Also, I think it’s great that Lucy Tempest has left a lot of open space for other fairy tale retellings to develop in this world.

One Thing I Wasn’t Crazy About

How obvious the plot twists were. I found they were a bit predictable. Not predictable enough to deter me but enough that I was a little disappointed that Adelaide’s character didn’t see through them.

Final Thoughts

I really liked this story. I am so glad I received a copy on NetGalley. For being an Aladding retelling, I thought it was very well done. I like to think of myself as an Aladdin expert (having seen it literally hundreds of times allows me this status) and this story really captured the feeling of the original.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Recommendations for Further Reading

Bloodleaf by Crystal Smith – I haven’t actually read this one yet but it gives me all kinds of Aladdin vibes.
We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal – another bonus post because I haven’t read this one either! But all the promo material I have seen gives me all kinds of Aladdin feels.
If you just like retellings – check out this post for other classic fairy tales: Fairy Tales – Original vs Retelling?

YES, GOOD. FINALLY. Thief of Cahraman is a suburb fairytale retelling that allows itself to work within the confines of the original without adhering to it so blatantly that it's completely predictable. I very much enjoyed this book.

Adelaide and Cyrus are wonderful characters and I loved their interactions with each other. They spend time together and they talk, so their relationship has development and a basis for happening. In this book we're still in the "infatuation/attraction/could be more" stage and I hope as book #2 progresses that we're not suddenly hit with love declarations (I've been burned before; sometimes what feels like a realistic approach suddenly full spreed ahead love early on in book #2, rather than continuing the properly gradual growth towards love).

I like the way the author's changed around the Aladdin tale and how this story offers different stakes for our heroine without revealing everything in this installment or having a too fast of a pace. I like the balance the author struck between letting scenes that were necessary play out but not completely overlooking the less important ones that were needed to connect things.

One complaint would have to be that this didn't always stick to making me feel the historical nature of things; there are trains and flushing toilets and pink eyeglasses. Altering small details like that would've given it a more timeless feel even if the author wasn't trying to capture a specific historic element.

There are some various elements of Middle Eastern myth worked in that I had to look up, which was pretty cool, but so far the immersive element hasn't been too extensive. I think we could have benefited from a bit more descriptive writing about the palace and people and what not just to really drive home that this isn't a western fairytale, but perhaps book #2 will have more time to expand on everything. I'm not begrudging its lack of description--there are a lot of YA books that spend way too much time explaining outfits and room decor and not enough time storytelling--because it does have enough plot and character focus to be a complete story, but just a little more floweriness to set the atmosphere wouldn't be unwelcome.

Overall, a good read! I'm looking forward to the rest of the series.

I received a free copy of this title from NetGalley and I also borrowed it from Amazon via KU, but none of it affects my opinion for better or worse! My opinions are open and honest.

In this gender switch retelling of Aladdin, we soon meet other prominent fairytale characters, like Bonnie (who is Belle of Beauty and the Beast) and Ella (Cinderella, naturally) who are or will become characters in future novels of this series. But the focus of this book is Adelaide, a thief who is soon threatened by a witch who wants her to pull off a heist. If Adelaide fails to comply, the witch will harm people she has come to see as family. To be able to pull off this heist, she must participate as a noblewoman in a contest for the prince of the land.

This story is enchantingly written; I love retellings and recastings of myths and fairy tales, so I can be a soft touch where they're concerned. Adelaide is the narrator, and the writing is in the first person. Adelaide has lived a life of struggle, and even though she is a thief, she has an inherently honorable nature and does care about the few who have become a part of her life after years of being on the run. She is only drawn to do what the witch asks because of this concern for those she cares about. She proves again and again the lengths she will go to. It was interesting to watch her play-act in order to be able to attempt the heist. She is a strong lead who also evokes sympathy in the reader because of her painful past and her simple desires for home, peace, and family.

This book does end on a cliffhanger… so be warned… and ready to buy the next book in the series.

It seems like this is the year for retellings, and I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised by this book. I enjoyed the twist, with the gender swapped roles in the book. The beginning was a bit slow, but it began to pick later on, and by the end I couldn’t put it down. I loved the addition of the competition, which did have vines similar to “The selection”. Ada was such a wonderful protagonist; and I enjoyed reading from her POV. She was smart and wily, but at the same time she felt very realistic. Ada has weaknesses but that isn’t a bad thing and it just made her more interesting to read about. She’s a survivor and she’s thrown into this difficult situation by no choice of her own, and she manages to use her brains and wits to figure out complete this quest. Her friendship with Cora and Cherine was certainly an amusing one. The three girls are completely different, in regards to backgrounds and personalities. Their relationship grows throughout the book and I can’t wait to read more about them in the next book.

Now as for Cyrus, it was obvious from the beginning that he was the prince, especially if you know anything about Aladdin, you would have been aware about that. However, that did not deter me from enjoying to get to know his alternated persona. He’s charming, witty, and intriguing, and he perfectly complements Ada. We got a glimpse of who he is as a prince, and I need that next book on my hands to see how the story continues!

All in all, I enjoyed this book very much. I’m glad that I stuck to it, because once I got engrossed in this book, I was hooked! Can’t wait to read the next book.

I received a e-book from Netgalley for an honest review

Where do I began!!
This book really ended up being so much better than I expected!
I loved this story. I really enjoyed the twist of the selection and Aladdin. I really liked how it started out as her being a normal girl and being pulled in to a different world. I'm not to big on the witchcraft makes her do all of the crazy things.

I would highly recommend this book!

I was given an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a pleasant surprise! I have to admit that I was scared to start this read because I thought it would be a straight ripoff of The Selection but the author manages to put her own spin on the concept.

I've been getting into fairy tale retellings lately and this book was described as The Selection meets Aladdin so I knew I just had to read it. I loved how Adelaide was gender swapped as the thief because it puts an interesting spin on this retelling of Aladdin.

I loved how the story retained enough details from the original Aladdin but how the author still put her own style into it to not make it predictable or boring.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are my own.

(A gender-swap retelling of Aladdin.) Adelaide thinks that her life as a thief, moving from place to place, has finally ended. Now that she’s found somewhere she wants to settle down and make a life for herself. However, this is short lived. A witch steals her away to another land, forcing her to act as a noblewoman in a competition for the prince’s hand while trying to find the witch’s gold lamp. If she does not succeed Adelaide’s newfound family will pay the price and be eaten by a beast.

I found that this book had a bit of a slow start but as soon as the actual competition started I found it difficult to put down. At first I was very tempted to give up on reading but decided to power through, and I am glad that I did. As soon as the story was past the set up of world, and the set up of the competition, I was able to thoroughly enjoy this book.

I have never read a retelling of Aladdin before, and I loved the idea of a gender-swapped Aladdin retelling, which is what made me want to read this book. (I am also a big lover of retellings, so I couldn’t help but want to read Thief of Cahraman once I read the blurb.)

This book was fun, with a good balance of plot, character development, comedy, magic, adventure, theft and romance. I would recommend this book if you love retellings of classic tales. Especially if you want to read one that isn’t just another European fairy tale retold in a European setting like so many tend to be.

(This is a start of a trilogy and larger series; Fairytales of Folkshore by Lucy Tempest.)

I would like to first thank Netgalley for providing this ebook in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this book! It was sweet and entertaining and I can't wait to read the sequel. I did find it pretty predictable, I wasn't surprised by the "plot twist" at all or many of the side events, but I still enjoyed watching Ada's reactions.

There were a few cliches used, like talking about falling "head over heels," and other wording then felt off. Sometimes I found things arbitrary and unnecessary in the sentences. The author started some of the paragraphs with "Anyway," or wordings similar, and I did not think that flowed well in the writing. These are small things, however, that didn't impact the reading experience too much!

One thing I feel that could've been done better is Ada's anxiety. Some passages explained her anxiety well, but I felt like most of the time we were told she was feeling anxious, instead of being showed her symptoms/emotions. That was a large theme throughout the book that I feel like could've been delved into deeper.

Overall I am a fan of this book! It was a quick, easy read, and a fascinating twist on Aladdin - with hints of Cinderella and other fairy-tale themes.