I really enjoyed this story! The characters were believable, engaging, and relatable. I loved figuring out his motivations and seeing what made him the way he was. I also really liked her. She was logical, but still emotional. It was really interesting to see what was going on behind the scenes of the 1001 Arabian Nights stories. You never think about what happens during the days after the stories have been told all night long. I loved the way she would string his interest along so that he would put off her execution. I had a hard time putting this down and couldn't wait to read more.

I really wish this would become a series because I would love to know what happens to her sister and maybe their children. I would love to read more of the stories.

This was an interesting retelling of the Arabia nights! These characters were very fascinating! The world-building was intricate! I especially felt like the story came alive! I recommend this for fans of A Thousand Nights!

One Thousand and One Days by Renee Frey was an engaging novel. Even though I have read Arabian Nights many times, this is the first book that I found that focuses on the relationship between the King and the Queen. The author adds several layers to the known story to keep you at the edge of your seat. The Queen who was never meant to be alive more than a day has remarkable courage, creativity, and kindness, that keeps her alive. This book is a must-read for historical fantasy fiction lovers.

One Thousand and One Days is a novella very faithfully based on the framing narrative of One Thousand and One Nights. Readers familiar with that premise will not find much that is new in this retelling, but might appreciate the love story nevertheless.

If, like me, your knowledge of the original doesn't extend beyond Disney's Aladdin and Starkid's Twisted, there are plenty of reveals and turns in the story to keep intrigue levels high, and you may recognise the Vizier Ja'far.

The main character Sutaita (our Scheherazade) agrees to marry the murderous Sultan out of a mix of protecting her sister, devotion to Allah, and the compulsion to solve the mystery of why the Sultan executes his wives. Strangely, it's this third motivation that gets most page time, possibly to move the plot along handily!
The writing is at best unnoticeable, with a few forays into cliche, and manages to fit in both "letting out a breath I didn't know I was holding" and a new variant "The thension I didn't even know I had slid out of me" within a few pages of each other.

Putting these minor objections aside, this is a well plotted narrative that exploits the original story with finesse, providing a way for readers to experience the love story between the Sultan and Sutaita without the inclusion of the stories she tells.

I particularly enjoyed the slow burn of the story and the gradual deepening of the characters' relationship through shared prayer times and meals. This is a short and sweet romance that is only slightly marred by some leaps in logic.

I rated One Thousand and One Days 3.5 stars and would recommend it to anyone looking for a quick romance with a few twists and turns. Content warnings for (Major) Infidelity, (Moderate) Sexual content, Death, Infertility, Toxic relationship, and Murder, suitable for 15+. I'm grateful to the author, Authors 4 Authors Publishing, and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy in exchange for a review.

The Prologue is the 1001st day since the wedding and Sutaita, the daughter of the Chief Vizier to Sultan Shahryar, expects to be killed as she has run out of stories.

The story begins on the day when Ja’far, Chief Vizier, runs out of maidens. Only his two daughters, Sutaita and Dunyazaade remain. He must either offer them in marriage to the Sultan, or be executed himself.

Every night Sutaita begins to spin a yarn, and every morning she ends the story with the ultimate cliffhanger, one that allows her one more day of life so she can take the story to its conclusion. It seems like a great solution but it can’t last forever. Before long, lack of sleep begins to take a toll on the Sultan and he figures out his wife’s tactics.

Sutaita does not know that it is the infidelity of the Sultan’s first wife that has doomed all his wives to death the morning after the wedding. But she is determined to find the truth behind the edict that every wife of the Sultan be executed the morning after the wedding. With the sword hanging over her head, she lives from day to day, never sure which day will be her last.

As time goes, Shahryar feels compelled to tell Sutaita stories of his own. True stories, but told like fiction, to heighten certain facts and withhold others.





The story is written in the first person POV of Sutaita and the Sultan on different days after the wedding. With each account, we move ahead in time until the 1001st day. The descriptions are beautiful; the local colour and culture evident.

Sutaita is drawn to learning and wisdom and subjects like philosophy and mathematics. She goes to her wedding-funeral, armed with stories.

With all the restrictions, one imagines of the time and the culture, it is heartening to read about the affection and love in Sutaita’s family.



The book reiterates the power of stories to heal, to entrance, to teach. The most succulent fruit I know of… the ending of a story. At one point, Shahryar says, No one in their right mind would try to change someone by telling stories. but that’s exactly what literature sets out to do. Sutaita’s experience proves a truth that every book lover knows, that stories can save you.

We are also reminded of the connectedness of stories, when Sutaita admits her familiarity with Greek tragedies, Egyptian myths and Indian epics.

Unlike the original collection of stories known as the One thousand and one nights tales, which brings us the stories but tells us nothing about the emotions of the woman who recounted them, Renee fills in those blanks.

While I was heartened by the story element of the book, at some point, my interest began to wane. The fact that there was no real antagonist made the danger tepid. There is no antagonist here, except the demons that Shahryar carries within his breast.

The constant thrust and parry between what Sutaita felt and believed and what the Sultan did felt exhausting to read. As the Sultan continues to withhold secrets, life between the couple becomes a complicated and intricate dance where we’re both so focused on not stepping on each other’s toes that we’ve stopped seeing each other. A beautiful line but unable to lift the tedium of the narrative.

Also, the use of the word, books, felt out of place. Unless the author meant a bound volume. I was also put off by a conversation in the last chapter when Sutaita, unable to believe what the Sultan has just said, says, “Come again.” This is the kind of colloquialism that stands out for all the wrong reasons, particularly in a book set in ancient Egypt.

As a child, I used to wonder if they had any other conversations at all, or if it was just story after story, night after night for a thousand and one nights. Thank you, Renee. This was a story I'd forgotten I wanted.

A lovely retelling of a classic tale, it felt quite fresh and interesting even though I’ve read a few retelling of this. Great characters and nice writing style, I found myself hooked and didn’t want to put it down. Very enjoyable read

One Thousand and One Days by Renee Frey turned out to be a book I could not put down! I honestly didn't know what to expect when I started out reading this, but WOW!!

It is based around a sultan made a law that he would marry a new bride every night and kill her the next morning because he didn't trust women anymore. Sutaita was the daughter of the sultan's main advisor, she had to marry the sultan to save her sister. Sutalita is a very smart lady and uses her brains to help keep herself alive. But how long would she be able to stay alive in a kingdom where she was doomed to die.

The story was extremely well written and very easy to get "lost" in the book. I could not put this book down. I literally read it in one day. It is a page turned and now one of my favourite books!

ARC Provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

this was a great fairy tale retelling, it had the magic of the original thousand and one Arabian nights and improved on it. I enjoyed reading this

Thank you to Netgalley for my eARC of One Thousand and One Days.

II absolutely loved this book.

The characters are all so vivid that I could not help feel as though I were walking within Sultan Shahryar al’Mamun's Persian Palace.

The concept of the story appears initially to be one that is simple, the survival of a girl against all odds when married to the blood-thirsty Sultan. It was wonderful that the way she sets out to survive is a simple one and that she uses her education- a non female orientated pastime historically.

The author's gradual way of showing that there is something to explain the Sultan's jaded way of viewing women is excellently done and I was often up reading late (just one more chapter - hello three in the morning!) eager to see if our heroine, Sutaita, had succeeded in breaking down thr Sultan's well-placed walls.

One Thousand and One Days is a suggested read for seventeen and above and I can promise it's a book that both teenagers and adults will thoroughly enjoy.

I have to also say that I thought that the cover art of the Sultan and Sultana is beautiful and drew me in.

This was a beautiful story, but I feel the artwork gives a different impression of what the story will be like so it was nothing like I was expecting. I imagined it would include some of the Arabian Nights stories as you listened to the main character tell them, but you didn't get any of it, it was purely about how she was fighting to survive against a guy itching to kill her and her trying to work out why he was the way he was. It was a good story but I'd change the artwork before release to make it a bit darker and less storybook like. I did enjoy reading the book and feel it was well told

Thanks to the publisher for providing an eARC of One Thousand and One Days in exchange for an honest review.

One Thousand and One Days is (if you couldn't guess) a retelling of the fairytale One Thousand and One Nights. "Retelling" has shifted to mean something closer to "reimagining" in the literary world, but this is truly a retelling. Set in the same time period & country as the original fairy tale, One Thousand and One Days expands upon and fleshes out the original narrative to create a much deeper story.

One Thousand and One Days seeks to humanize that villainous Sultan from the fairytale so that the reader roots not only for our heroine to survive, but perhaps even for her to find love.

It's a well written, immersive retelling.