This place is haunted by ghosts, and I am one of them 
 What beautiful writing! The imagery is glorious. 
 "Love is a path lined with roses." I say bitterly. "But it leads to a cliff's edge and all who follow it tumble to their doom. You will not find your happiness there." 
 "Because happiness itself is a mythical construct, a dream you humans tell yourselves to get through each day. It is the moon, and you, like the sun, pursue it relentlessly, chasing it around and around, getting nowhere." 
 There are so many more shining examples that I foolishly didn't write down. 
 I adored the fact that in the narration, which is in first person by Zahra, she often addresses things to Roshana directly - as if the whole book is a story written to/for Roshana. Hauntingly beautiful, it gave me chills. And it really allowed me to see the bond between them and understand Zahra a lot better. 
 "Do not say such things," said the Queen. "We have today and yesterday, and we will seize tomorrow. We will have all the time in the world if we are clever enough to take it." 
 "Dear Jinni." The Queen smiled. "Time is the strongest magic of all." 
 Quite honestly I am dying to read the story of Roshana and Zahra, the glimpses we got made me so eager to hear their whole story because it sounds like a great one. 
 The writing was my favourite thing about this book and the factor that pushed it from a 3 to a 4 star rating for me. 
 There are similarities between this and the original Aladdin, but it is a far cry from a retelling. I would rather say that it is inspired by Aladdin than a retelling of it. And this is definitely not a criticism, far from it! I couldn't quite predict what would come next and that made for a far more enjoyable read. Although the plot wasn't gripping, it held my attention nonetheless. 
 The premise was great, and I loved the lore of the jinn! I loved how ferocious they were and I adored the shape shifting nature of the jinn and how frequently Zahra takes advantage of this ability. 
 Zahra is an enjoyable main, focused on her task with a good nature. Aladdin is a typical boy thief, down to the flirty nature. It all suited him very well. Both are given pasts that have left the with scars which makes them more real, but I do wish that they had been more fleshed out, given a bit more substance to them so that they could have been more prominent in my mind and crept into my heart. The romance also sort of seemed to come out of nowhere, which I dislike. I want to fall along with the characters! As it stands they probably won't stay with me. 
 The side characters - Caspida and Darian, are real enough and I did enjoy Caspidas ferocity quite a bit. 
 "Even a thief may have honor, and even a jinni may have a heart." 
 "And what do you know of love?" 
 "That it must be a choice." 
 "Oh, my naive thief. " I pause briefly to meet his gaze. "Love is rarely a choice." 
 Overall, a good story. But the reason I would recommend it to someone would be for the luscious writing.