You know, I really enjoyed this when I first read it. I loved the setting. I loved the romance. I loved the magic. I loved the cliffhanger ending. Initially, it had all the stars. 
 Then I started reading other reviews, because that's what I do after every book I read, all of which made very valid points about problematic aspects of the novel. I knocked it down a star because I agreed with those problems in retrospect. 
 It's been six months since I finished the book, and a huge aspect of the beginning narrative has been bugging me ever since I put it down in August: 
 Their entire relationship is built on rape. 
 (Now, I haven't read the original text, but I know the premise, and I'm going to argue that this is worse). 
 There are quite a few reviews that point this out, and I'm a little ashamed to admit that this didn't occur to me immediately upon reading this scene. However, it does happen. Does Shahrzad want to have sex with him? No. She's incredibly nervous and anxious about it. Volunteering to be his bride does not equal consent for sex. She doesn't have an opportunity to say no because Khalid is king, and the threat of consequences is very real. Her life is always on the line this first night. 
 Later, Khalid even reveals to Shahrzad that he had never done that to any of his other brides. WOW. What a fucking honor. Do you know what that says to me? Khalid saw Shahrzad and wanted her. He knew she wouldn't say no because he's the fucking king. She doesn't have a choice. So he raped her. And that's the beginning of their entire relationship, a moment that is never discussed again other than that one moment when he admits she is the only one he ever forced into sex. 
 I understand why this book is so loved. Hell, I loved it in the beginning too. Aside from that scene, I was all over this story. But now their relationship doesn't sit well with me. It makes pisses me off. At least in the original narrative, Shahrzad had a 1,000 nights to save herself and her country. That king had a history of raping virgins, and Shahrzad puts a stop to it by sacrificing herself. That king wasn't glorified, and his actions weren't justified. 
 This narrative though. 
 If you're going to have a heroine go through this, make it fucking count for something. Khalid rapes Shahrzad. He didn't do that to any of the other women he took and executed, but he does it to our MC, and it means nothing in the narrative from that point on. The big reveal is a half-assed attempt to humanize Khalid, and it doesn't work because he's already shown how little he regards the women around him. 
 At this point, I really haven't decided if I'm going to read the next one or not. I'm definitely not buying it. As if my anger over this plot device wasn't enough, there's also a love triangle. Are we ever going to stop with the love triangles? YOU CAN HAVE SEXUAL TENSION WITHOUT ANOTHER PERSON INVOLVED. 
 /end rant.