Najwa is a jinni, training to be a spy in the war against the humans. Zayele is a human on her way to marry a prince of Baghdad—which she’ll do anything to avoid. So she captures Najwa and makes a wish. With a rush of smoke and fire, they fall apart and re-form—as each other. A jinni and a human, trading lives. Both girls must play their parts among enemies who would kill them if the deception were ever discovered—enemies including the young men Najwa and Zayele are just discovering they might love.

MY THOUGHTS:

I received this book in exchange for my honest review.

Love Amber Lough’s writing style.  She’s very good at leaving you wanting more at the end of each chapter.  Her book is full of intrigue, suspense, action, and magic!  I love her magic concept. This particular book is about genies and wish granting, war and espionage. There are other more subtle elements to the story but those are the main ones.  She ventures throughout historical Bagdad and its lore, and tells her story through the eyes of two girls, Najwa and Zeyele.

There is a young romantic element to the story which is okay.  The war element is rather interesting, having humans and Jinni at war has the potential to open so many doors for building a story.  And it does when the girls switch places and have to survive surrounded by the enemy in places they’re unaccustomed to.

I really liked the setting as I’ve not read much about Bagdad.  The author has a knack for writing settings and world-building.  I was impressed with the many different settings she described in the book.  Plot develops steadily and character development is done well too.

Not the best fantasy book I’ve read lately, but it was enjoyable enough for me to finish.  The cover is gorgeous! Absolutely love it!

The book starts off slow but eventually picks up and continues at a great pace from there.  I would recommend the book.

I gave this book: