"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." 
 For a retelling of Aladdin's story, it's refreshingly progressive. The female characters were strong and wonderful to read about. Aladdin himself was pretty fun - although, a tad too comical for me at times. 
 That being said, upon finishing it, I didn't really think it was amazing or anything like that, but I find that I'm still thinking about the story a week after the fact. So that must count for something. It's probably a 3.5 for me - I rounded down because I found that at times, the story lagged. But, it really was refreshing. I enjoyed the twist and turns about the ring that lead Aladdin to find the lamp, and I really enjoyed the way it was written (the love between Zahra and her Habiba felt so palpable and so genuine). 
 It was quite a fun read. So despite my 3.5 star rating, I still would like to urge for people to give it a go. I know that there are many of you out there who will love it.