Every Rising Sun by Jamila Ahmed is a re-imagining of the stories of the Arabian Nights. This debut novel envisions this tale through the eyes of Shaherazade, the storyteller of the Arabian Nights. I love seeing some of stories of my childhood brought to a new envisioning and perhaps to an audience that may not be as familiar with these tales. However, the book introduces some inconsistencies in the characters and an ending that leaves me unsatisfied for I do not see why or how.

Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2024/01/every-rising-sun.html

Reviewed for NetGalley. ( )

She was not safe. No woman was ever safe, anywhere in this world.
from Every Rising Sun by Jamila Ahmed

This richly imagined novel inspired by One Thousand and One Nights offers a vibrant Shaherazade, a flawed woman discovering the limitations of love and the power of words. She controls her husband’s rage and advises him in military and political decisions; Shahyar tells her, “You should have been born Malik.”

As an idealistic thirteen-year-old at the Malik Shahyar’s wedding, she imagined the handsome couple madly in love. Witnessing his wife’s infidelity, she writes a letter of warning to the Malik, who discovering his wife in the act has her murdered. In his anger, he marries and murders two more wives before Shaherazade offers herself, sure her pure love and gift of storytelling will win the Malik’s heart. The tale she spins for the Malik is of a young woman disguised as a man whose adventures offers Shahyar respite from his worldly cares.

Shaherazade follows Shahyar as he travels to join Saladin fighting the Frankish Crusades. Unable to break through to Shahyar’s heart and ignite his love, Shaherazade can’t stop thinking about the Emir who has proclaimed his love for her.

I was engrossed by Shaherazade’s story and her exotic world. But, I became too eager to follow the frame of her story to really truly appreciate the tale embedded within. With the book over 400 pages long, I wanted to learn what happens to her and began to speed read through her tale.

Viewing the Crusades through the eyes of those defending their homeland may be eye-opening to some readers.

I was enchanted by Shaherazade’s exotic world: the descriptions of the spiced food that made my mouth water, the gorgeous fabrics and colorful carpets I could see in my mind’s eye, the cool gardens and the scorching desert sun. But we are also taken into the horrors of war, with the Franks and with vying tribes, with all its death and destruction.

Inspired by one of the world’s most influential collection of folk stories, Every Rising Sun is sure to enchant.

Thanks to the publisher for a free book. ( )