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The Dream of a Thousand Nights
Neriah, the crown prince of Tazier, escapes his father’s deadly wrath with the help of a Jinn named Tamir. Knowing that the other Jinn would find and punish him for falling in love with a human, Tamir takes Neriah’s memories of their brief time together and leaves him with only a jade pendant as a token of his love. Tamir is then stripped of his powers and imprisoned for his crime. Ten years later, Neriah is still on the run from the King’s assassins, but each night he dreams of a lover whose face he cannot see and whose name he does not know, but who fills his heart with peace. Tamir, freed at last from his prison cell, poses as a pleasure slave and offers to serve the prince. Although Neriah does not recognize Tamir, he falls in love with the powerless Jinn. But just when Tamir has earned Neriah’s trust, he is forced to betray it. There may be no hope of mending their broken relationship, but Tamir is determined to see Neriah on his rightful throne—even if it costs the Jinn his life.
206 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 30, 2011
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About the author
Shira Anthony
41 books427 followersShira Anthony is a complete sucker for a happily-ever-after, and rarely reads or writes a story without one. Never a fan of instalove, Shira likes to write stories about real men with real issues making real relationships work.
In her last incarnation, Shira was a professional opera singer, performing roles in such operas as “Tosca,” “Pagliacci,” and “La Traviata,” among others. Her Blue Notes Series is loosely based upon her own experiences as a professional musician.
Shira is married with two children and two insane dogs and when she’s not writing, she is usually in a courtroom trying to make the world safer for children. When she’s not working, she can be found aboard a 36’ catamaran at the Carolina coast with her favorite sexy captain at the wheel. She’s given up TV for evenings spent with her laptop, and she never goes anywhere without a pile of unread M/M romance on her Kindle.
Interested in hearing Shira sing? Here's a link to a live performance of Shira singing an aria from Puccini's "Tosca": http://www.shiraanthony.com/wp-conten...
You can subscribe to Shira's monthly newsletter for updates, free fiction, and subscriber-only contests here: http://www.shiraanthony.com/newsletter/
In her last incarnation, Shira was a professional opera singer, performing roles in such operas as “Tosca,” “Pagliacci,” and “La Traviata,” among others. Her Blue Notes Series is loosely based upon her own experiences as a professional musician.
Shira is married with two children and two insane dogs and when she’s not writing, she is usually in a courtroom trying to make the world safer for children. When she’s not working, she can be found aboard a 36’ catamaran at the Carolina coast with her favorite sexy captain at the wheel. She’s given up TV for evenings spent with her laptop, and she never goes anywhere without a pile of unread M/M romance on her Kindle.
Interested in hearing Shira sing? Here's a link to a live performance of Shira singing an aria from Puccini's "Tosca": http://www.shiraanthony.com/wp-conten...
You can subscribe to Shira's monthly newsletter for updates, free fiction, and subscriber-only contests here: http://www.shiraanthony.com/newsletter/
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
September 24, 2014
This book was hard to rate for me, since I really, really wanted to like it and still ended up being unable to. Might’ve been only me, but I stumbled upon some of my pet peeves here which ultimately left me underwhelmed by this book.
On the one hand, it had many elements I’m usually very fond of. The setting alone – I adore the Arabian Night fairytales, which was one of the reasons I grabbed this book as soon as I had the chance. Then the premise – I like angst, and I like forced separations of lovers and romantic and/or passionate reunions – which, as I can say without getting ahead of myself, this book both has in spades. I also found it fairly well-written, consistent in its language – the narrative smooth and rather modern, while the dialogue sounds slightly oldfashioned, in tune with the setting. There were parts I liked well enough, for example the dreams Neriah had, or the jinn world and philosophy, or later in the book, the matureness with which Neriah came to terms with Tamir’s decision. And I loved Kuri, she was one tough-as-nails lady and the best “big sister” Tamir could have wished for.
But.
Unfortunately, there was a big but, several actually. For one, there were a number of “huh?” moments that threw me out of the story, the biggest of which occured right at the beginning and sat in the back of my mind like a nagging little burr.
When we first meet Neriah, he’s a sixteen year old boy on the run from his father’s guards who have just murdered his mother, the king’s favorite. He literally escaped with the clothes on his back, jumped to his near-death from the palace walls, only saved by a pair of young jinns, Tamir and Kuri, who took him in and healed him. (btw, Neriah is unawares of Tamir being a jinn, but when Tamir tells him “your body has been mended”, Neriah doesn’t so much as bat an eyelash, but takes the news just like that…)
Next thing we see is Neriah marching on his father’s town with an army of his own some ten years later. Not a word about how Neriah managed to gather an army, how he came by his followers at all, and most of all, how he came by the wealth that is mentioned several times in the further course of the story. Even though it’s supposed to be a fairytale, this unanswered mystery bothered me to no end throughout the story.
Next, there’s Neriah’s and Tamir’s first reunion. I beg to keep in mind that, as it says in the blurb, Neriah has no memories of Tamir left. So all Neriah can see is a slave his men freed from an enemy camp, a man who could just as well be a spy or a mortal enemy for all he knows. And what does he do, this able warlord and leader of men? He sends his men away and, within minutes after “first” meeting him, requires a blow job from the “slave”. (I couldn’t help but cringe at the thought of bringing something as tender as a dick near the teeth of a possible enemy…)
Neriah seems unable to decide if he can trust Tamir or not. While the warlord finds himself unable to resist the sexual attraction (which is understandable since Tamir used to be a jinn, and humans are supposed to be unable to resist a jinn’s sexual lure), he keeps Tamir bound, even makes him ride with bound hands. It seemed to me as if this element was only there to add a little bondage to their sex, since Tamir can otherwise move freely among Nariah’s men, even train swordplay with them. To me, this didn’t make much sense. Furthermore, even though Neriah expresses his distrust toward Tamir more than once, he keeps the presumptive slave in his inner circle, asks and heeds his advice, as do his men. And while I could relate well enough to Tamir’s motives for following Neriah and loving him (which were perfectly appropriate for a fairytale), the way Neriah took a one-eighty with Tamir took me by surprise.
Anyway, Neriah. During the first third to first half of the book, I found he acted quite different from what we’re told all around he’s supposed to be like: wise, independent, self-confident – instead, he acts mostly arrogant,haughty and quite whimsical so I couldn’t help wondering how he could inspire loyalty in his followers. He redeemed himself later, but I found him so annoying that I would’ve stopped reading by then if I hadn’t read this for a review.
My next but was the sheer amount of drama in here. As I said above, I like angst, but not for its own sake. Forced separation, self-sacrifice, having to watch one’s lover experience sexual pleasure with someone else, guilt, remorse, an oath of celibacy after presumably losing the love of one’s life forever, a number of dramatic reunions – those two have to go through a lot, not to mention watching one’s mother murdered by one’s own father, exile, several mortal wounds that can only be healed by supernatural powers (which, conveniently, are always just handy, as this is a fairytale, after all …), incarceration, torture… it was a bit much.
So, no, this book was not for me, even though I enjoyed parts of it. I beg to keep in mind that mine is only one opinion; others may very well be able to lose themselves in the colorful magic of the setting and not be bothered at all by the things that bothered me. Guess you’ll have to find out for yourself.
Originally reviewed on reviewsbyjessewave.com
On the one hand, it had many elements I’m usually very fond of. The setting alone – I adore the Arabian Night fairytales, which was one of the reasons I grabbed this book as soon as I had the chance. Then the premise – I like angst, and I like forced separations of lovers and romantic and/or passionate reunions – which, as I can say without getting ahead of myself, this book both has in spades. I also found it fairly well-written, consistent in its language – the narrative smooth and rather modern, while the dialogue sounds slightly oldfashioned, in tune with the setting. There were parts I liked well enough, for example the dreams Neriah had, or the jinn world and philosophy, or later in the book, the matureness with which Neriah came to terms with Tamir’s decision. And I loved Kuri, she was one tough-as-nails lady and the best “big sister” Tamir could have wished for.
But.
Unfortunately, there was a big but, several actually. For one, there were a number of “huh?” moments that threw me out of the story, the biggest of which occured right at the beginning and sat in the back of my mind like a nagging little burr.
When we first meet Neriah, he’s a sixteen year old boy on the run from his father’s guards who have just murdered his mother, the king’s favorite. He literally escaped with the clothes on his back, jumped to his near-death from the palace walls, only saved by a pair of young jinns, Tamir and Kuri, who took him in and healed him. (btw, Neriah is unawares of Tamir being a jinn, but when Tamir tells him “your body has been mended”, Neriah doesn’t so much as bat an eyelash, but takes the news just like that…)
Next thing we see is Neriah marching on his father’s town with an army of his own some ten years later. Not a word about how Neriah managed to gather an army, how he came by his followers at all, and most of all, how he came by the wealth that is mentioned several times in the further course of the story. Even though it’s supposed to be a fairytale, this unanswered mystery bothered me to no end throughout the story.
Next, there’s Neriah’s and Tamir’s first reunion. I beg to keep in mind that, as it says in the blurb, Neriah has no memories of Tamir left. So all Neriah can see is a slave his men freed from an enemy camp, a man who could just as well be a spy or a mortal enemy for all he knows. And what does he do, this able warlord and leader of men? He sends his men away and, within minutes after “first” meeting him, requires a blow job from the “slave”. (I couldn’t help but cringe at the thought of bringing something as tender as a dick near the teeth of a possible enemy…)
Neriah seems unable to decide if he can trust Tamir or not. While the warlord finds himself unable to resist the sexual attraction (which is understandable since Tamir used to be a jinn, and humans are supposed to be unable to resist a jinn’s sexual lure), he keeps Tamir bound, even makes him ride with bound hands. It seemed to me as if this element was only there to add a little bondage to their sex, since Tamir can otherwise move freely among Nariah’s men, even train swordplay with them. To me, this didn’t make much sense. Furthermore, even though Neriah expresses his distrust toward Tamir more than once, he keeps the presumptive slave in his inner circle, asks and heeds his advice, as do his men. And while I could relate well enough to Tamir’s motives for following Neriah and loving him (which were perfectly appropriate for a fairytale), the way Neriah took a one-eighty with Tamir took me by surprise.
Anyway, Neriah. During the first third to first half of the book, I found he acted quite different from what we’re told all around he’s supposed to be like: wise, independent, self-confident – instead, he acts mostly arrogant,haughty and quite whimsical so I couldn’t help wondering how he could inspire loyalty in his followers. He redeemed himself later, but I found him so annoying that I would’ve stopped reading by then if I hadn’t read this for a review.
My next but was the sheer amount of drama in here. As I said above, I like angst, but not for its own sake. Forced separation, self-sacrifice, having to watch one’s lover experience sexual pleasure with someone else, guilt, remorse, an oath of celibacy after presumably losing the love of one’s life forever, a number of dramatic reunions – those two have to go through a lot, not to mention watching one’s mother murdered by one’s own father, exile, several mortal wounds that can only be healed by supernatural powers (which, conveniently, are always just handy, as this is a fairytale, after all …), incarceration, torture… it was a bit much.
So, no, this book was not for me, even though I enjoyed parts of it. I beg to keep in mind that mine is only one opinion; others may very well be able to lose themselves in the colorful magic of the setting and not be bothered at all by the things that bothered me. Guess you’ll have to find out for yourself.
Originally reviewed on reviewsbyjessewave.com
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 15, 2011
3.5 stars
Neriah, the crown prince of Tazier, is running for his life after witnessing his mother's death at the hands of his father's orders. Tamir, a young Jinn, heals Neriah when Neriah becomes injured and unconscious. Tamir has loved Neriah from afar for years which is forbidden for any Jinn and so after he saves Neriah and lets him go with a cleansed memory of their encounter, Tamir is punished. Losing his powers for loving a human is the least of Tamir's problems when they meet again ten years later after Tamir's enforced slavery. Neriah is none the wiser of their previous encounter when they were young but that doesn't stop the two from building a relationship off the lust and affection that they can't help but feel. With Neriah trying to get revenge on his father and Tamir's old mentor, Amir, looking to force Tamir back into his life could possibly create a betrayal that just might break their fledgling bond.
This book is hard for me to rate. I thought the plot was a very good one. From the beginning I was fascinated with it, with Neriah and Tamir's characters. It was easy for me to feel for both Neriah and Tamir while at the same time enjoying how the story was progressing. The beginning was truly awesome and I just could not put the book down. There was a bit too much sex for my liking, hot sex yes, but that didn't derail me from enjoying it. It just made me think, "Geez, they're going at it, again??".
In the middle, however, my enjoyment of the story started to flag because something happens that I truly did not agree with. I felt like Tamir and Neriah were really starting to explore the relationship Tamir had lost a part of his life over and then 'it' happens. To say I was annoyed would be an understatement, though. It was hard to adjust my feelings from such fascination to a hint of disgust and a lot of disappointment, as sad as that is to say.
However, the very, very end was great. I truly loved it because while it did not seem like everything would turn out good, Amir, in the end, does something spectacular that I never thought he'd do and that soothed my annoyance with him and Tamir a little bit. It gave me the happy, warm and fuzzy feeling that I lost hope for because of the troubles I had in the middle.
All in all, I did mostly enjoy the story. There was just something about it, even when I was pissed off, that made me want to keep reading and figure out what would happen next. I loved the beginning, was frustrated in the middle but still loved the ending. I loved the world it's set in, the characters it revolves around and the conflict it resolves. I truly did like this book and I'd be looking forward to seeing more of Neriah and Tamir or any other Jinn and human. Just, hopefully, without what happens during the middle of this book to happen again. I liked the author's writing style and will definitely be reading more from her in the future.
Neriah, the crown prince of Tazier, is running for his life after witnessing his mother's death at the hands of his father's orders. Tamir, a young Jinn, heals Neriah when Neriah becomes injured and unconscious. Tamir has loved Neriah from afar for years which is forbidden for any Jinn and so after he saves Neriah and lets him go with a cleansed memory of their encounter, Tamir is punished. Losing his powers for loving a human is the least of Tamir's problems when they meet again ten years later after Tamir's enforced slavery. Neriah is none the wiser of their previous encounter when they were young but that doesn't stop the two from building a relationship off the lust and affection that they can't help but feel. With Neriah trying to get revenge on his father and Tamir's old mentor, Amir, looking to force Tamir back into his life could possibly create a betrayal that just might break their fledgling bond.
This book is hard for me to rate. I thought the plot was a very good one. From the beginning I was fascinated with it, with Neriah and Tamir's characters. It was easy for me to feel for both Neriah and Tamir while at the same time enjoying how the story was progressing. The beginning was truly awesome and I just could not put the book down. There was a bit too much sex for my liking, hot sex yes, but that didn't derail me from enjoying it. It just made me think, "Geez, they're going at it, again??".
In the middle, however, my enjoyment of the story started to flag because something happens that I truly did not agree with. I felt like Tamir and Neriah were really starting to explore the relationship Tamir had lost a part of his life over and then 'it' happens. To say I was annoyed would be an understatement, though. It was hard to adjust my feelings from such fascination to a hint of disgust and a lot of disappointment, as sad as that is to say.
However, the very, very end was great. I truly loved it because while it did not seem like everything would turn out good, Amir, in the end, does something spectacular that I never thought he'd do and that soothed my annoyance with him and Tamir a little bit. It gave me the happy, warm and fuzzy feeling that I lost hope for because of the troubles I had in the middle.
All in all, I did mostly enjoy the story. There was just something about it, even when I was pissed off, that made me want to keep reading and figure out what would happen next. I loved the beginning, was frustrated in the middle but still loved the ending. I loved the world it's set in, the characters it revolves around and the conflict it resolves. I truly did like this book and I'd be looking forward to seeing more of Neriah and Tamir or any other Jinn and human. Just, hopefully, without what happens during the middle of this book to happen again. I liked the author's writing style and will definitely be reading more from her in the future.
Read
October 13, 2011My first M/M romance, "The Dream of a Thousand Nights" is a fantasy/fairy tale about a prince and a Jinn and the power of love. This long novella (45K+ words) was inspired by a short story I co-authored a few years ago.
A little bit of BDSM, a little magic, a nasty old king, lots of angst, handsome princes, Jinn and lots of sand... If you're curious, there's a link to an excerpt (Chapter 1 in its entirety) on my Goodreads profile or at the DSP website. -Shira
PS: If you're interested, the short story that inspired this book is available for free download here on Goodreads: The Prince and the Jinn
UPDATE: "Dream" has been nominated for several M/M Romance Group awards here on Goodreads! Please check out the fabulous M/M Romance Group and the other nominees here: M/M Goodreads Group
A little bit of BDSM, a little magic, a nasty old king, lots of angst, handsome princes, Jinn and lots of sand... If you're curious, there's a link to an excerpt (Chapter 1 in its entirety) on my Goodreads profile or at the DSP website. -Shira
PS: If you're interested, the short story that inspired this book is available for free download here on Goodreads: The Prince and the Jinn
UPDATE: "Dream" has been nominated for several M/M Romance Group awards here on Goodreads! Please check out the fabulous M/M Romance Group and the other nominees here: M/M Goodreads Group
September 28, 2011
This book was written to create as much angst as possible.
Lovers separated by the authority? Checked
Lover has to witness the other one being humped by another man--and the other one seems to enjoy it? Checked
Lover has to choose between the lover's life and his own love? Checked
Lover has to be alone for several years knowing that the other one is used as a boytoy but he cannot do anything about it? Checked
Lover has to let go his loved one because he loves another person? Checked
And these are on top of a son has to witness his mother being killed and him being chased by his own father.
Since it's a thousand nights world, with jinn and others, the author has the flexibility to create rule of games in her plot to maximize the angst. And she uses it all.
Don't get me wrong. It's a good story if you like angst (induced by, among others, but not limited to, stuff I listed above). It's just not my cup of tea.
Lovers separated by the authority? Checked
Lover has to witness the other one being humped by another man--and the other one seems to enjoy it? Checked
Lover has to choose between the lover's life and his own love? Checked
Lover has to be alone for several years knowing that the other one is used as a boytoy but he cannot do anything about it? Checked
Lover has to let go his loved one because he loves another person? Checked
And these are on top of a son has to witness his mother being killed and him being chased by his own father.
Since it's a thousand nights world, with jinn and others, the author has the flexibility to create rule of games in her plot to maximize the angst. And she uses it all.
Don't get me wrong. It's a good story if you like angst (induced by, among others, but not limited to, stuff I listed above). It's just not my cup of tea.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 28, 2011
There were a few things about this book that would normally have me hitting the roof or growling at the very least. I did not care, not one single bit. This story managed to engage me completely making me cheer for Neriah and Tamir, making me want to shake some sense into them, taking me to unexpected places, breaking my heart, making me cry like a fool and finally end up happy. I enjoyed the heck out of it. Bring on Amir!
April 3, 2013
Light-hearted and sweet, but still oh, so achingly beautiful.
That jade pendant is so totally a consummate Chekhov's gun it's not even funny.
It's great. I like that it tackles serious subjects, but still maintains a light tone. I think the lightness adds to the fairy-tale/myth-like quality of it much more than a darker tone would have.
And it's got a moral.
It's got a nice ambiance. Very 1001 NIghts-esque.
That jade pendant is so totally a consummate Chekhov's gun it's not even funny.
It's great. I like that it tackles serious subjects, but still maintains a light tone. I think the lightness adds to the fairy-tale/myth-like quality of it much more than a darker tone would have.
And it's got a moral.
It's got a nice ambiance. Very 1001 NIghts-esque.
May 22, 2016
This book is about a bunch of overgrown teenagers with raging hormones, irrational, stubborn and angry. There is no reason to their actions, no logic in their thoughts. The writing itself is on immature side. Disappointed. The rating is for the 40% I've suffered through.
July 18, 2011
This review was written prior to this book being picked up by publisher. Final content may not be reflected in this review.
Moving on:
The biggest compliment I can give to this tale is that I remained awake past my bed time to read 'just a little more'. I thoroughly enjoyed the story of Tamir and Neriah. The world created around these characters (Tazier) is at once original and familiar. It had a very Middle Eastern feel to it, coupled with some magic and otherworldly elements (Aladdin meets King Arthur). It was very easy to instantly submerge myself in the scenery and the confines of the story and I really enjoyed that.
The story-telling was superb. I quickly grasped each characters motivations and desires. No plot holes and little to no errors in the text to distract me from greedily making my way from one sentence to the next. I found the story-telling so engrossing that I didn't notice or really take heed of certain elements I usually characterize as 'missing' from a romantic/erotic story. For example, the sex was usually brief and not very descriptive, still, there seemed to be some emotional subtext that made me say 'good enough for me; I don't need a blow-by-blow (no pun intended)'. Also, the story operates in a time warp, entire months/years pass in the mention of one sentence. Normally, I would raise a flag and call that lazy, but somehow - it just worked in this story.
In the end, while I DO wish the story were longer (just so I could spend more time with Tamir and Neriah), I have to say that I was very impressed with this author. 'The Dream of a Thousand Nights' is a ruby in a sea of crap!
Moving on:
The biggest compliment I can give to this tale is that I remained awake past my bed time to read 'just a little more'. I thoroughly enjoyed the story of Tamir and Neriah. The world created around these characters (Tazier) is at once original and familiar. It had a very Middle Eastern feel to it, coupled with some magic and otherworldly elements (Aladdin meets King Arthur). It was very easy to instantly submerge myself in the scenery and the confines of the story and I really enjoyed that.
The story-telling was superb. I quickly grasped each characters motivations and desires. No plot holes and little to no errors in the text to distract me from greedily making my way from one sentence to the next. I found the story-telling so engrossing that I didn't notice or really take heed of certain elements I usually characterize as 'missing' from a romantic/erotic story. For example, the sex was usually brief and not very descriptive, still, there seemed to be some emotional subtext that made me say 'good enough for me; I don't need a blow-by-blow (no pun intended)'. Also, the story operates in a time warp, entire months/years pass in the mention of one sentence. Normally, I would raise a flag and call that lazy, but somehow - it just worked in this story.
In the end, while I DO wish the story were longer (just so I could spend more time with Tamir and Neriah), I have to say that I was very impressed with this author. 'The Dream of a Thousand Nights' is a ruby in a sea of crap!
December 19, 2011
Reviewed by Kristen: I love the setting and idea of the story, but I'm a torn about the actual story.
The characters are amazing. I love Tamir and Neriah. Both are complex and I understand why they act the way they do.
What makes me torn about this is that there's a part of the story that is blurring the lines of consensual sex and just plain rape between one of the main characters and a Jinn. While Tamir didn't object, he didn't really have a choice because Jinns are these beautiful creatures that no human can resist. I just don't know what to feel about that part. I get why it was included and it would feel less if it wasn't there, but I'm not a fan of this theme.BUT, and the but is huge, I loved everything else about this book.
Shira Anthony created a unique tale I want to reread over and over again (skipping the consensual sex/rape part). She even got me to like the Jinn (Amir) that seduced Tamir in the end, although he was my mortal enemy no 1 during most part of the book.
Now I'm totally excited and looking forward to Amir's story. I want him to see for himself what love is all about and to see the errors of his way, while still finding love!
A
http://manohmanreviews.blogspot.com/2...
The characters are amazing. I love Tamir and Neriah. Both are complex and I understand why they act the way they do.
What makes me torn about this is that there's a part of the story that is blurring the lines of consensual sex and just plain rape between one of the main characters and a Jinn. While Tamir didn't object, he didn't really have a choice because Jinns are these beautiful creatures that no human can resist. I just don't know what to feel about that part. I get why it was included and it would feel less if it wasn't there, but I'm not a fan of this theme.BUT, and the but is huge, I loved everything else about this book.
Shira Anthony created a unique tale I want to reread over and over again (skipping the consensual sex/rape part). She even got me to like the Jinn (Amir) that seduced Tamir in the end, although he was my mortal enemy no 1 during most part of the book.
Now I'm totally excited and looking forward to Amir's story. I want him to see for himself what love is all about and to see the errors of his way, while still finding love!
A
http://manohmanreviews.blogspot.com/2...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 21, 2011
a sweet and good story written like an old Arabian tale. i think i'll follow this author to see if it's not just a one shot.
September 27, 2011
For me, this is by far the best book of this year :D I'm so glad that I read this book ^_^
September 28, 2011
Wow, what a tragic emotionally plotted story. I, of course enjoyed it, but it was a bit to dramatic for my taste. We got an happy ending... what do we need more.
October 1, 2011
This book was nothing like I expected it to be but soooo much better. I cried a lot but it was so good and the ending was perfect. I'm definitely going to recommend it.
October 12, 2011
Enjoy and was so into it so much I delay my work, oh the torture. had much fun reading and rooting for the prince and ex jinn. The end was pleasing
October 13, 2011
Great book, true love story and those sacrifices that one would make for love.
June 17, 2012
What Amir did to Tamir was a rape.
Amir is not kind but selfish and egocentric.
Amir is not kind but selfish and egocentric.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 6, 2014
Honestly, this read like rookie work.
March 10, 2017
The characters tortured themselves, and I tortured myself when reading this.
I love Arabian Night themes but this is too much.
I love Arabian Night themes but this is too much.
September 26, 2011
4.5 stars
October 24, 2015
Amazing. Loved the story, loved the characters, loved that the villain (Amir) was not that much of a villain after the author presented his point of view, his desires and pains. Loved that there were actually consequences for the decisions the characters made. I give this book five stars. However, I would like to comment on the ending: As much as we all love HEA, I would actually loved the story more if it ended with chapter 15 (in that case the story would get five and a half stars from me). A bittersweet ending would even intensify the idea that every action and every decision has its consequences, that not every character necessarily has to have its HEA and that good ending does not always equal HEA. Though, I believe this is not one of those stories where HEA is not possible/logical outcome, so... It makes me sad. And that is why I love this book so much. I have read my share of MM books and very few made me feel something more and intense.
September 27, 2011
3.5 stars
For all the angst in this story, you can see this review, since I think that covers all.
Part of the plot (Tamir's being punished for helping Neriah, a human - and Tamir erasing Neriah's memory) evokes emotion for me to feel what the characters are going through, but other part (Amir's forcing Tamir to choose him for Neriah's safety -- plus the blurry line between consentual and not since jinn's body is made for pleasure) is just a bit too much to convey the angst.
It's still a good novella to enjoy. The pace is quite fast, since the author uses fast forward plot with single sentence ("Ten years later", "for the last few weeks", etc). I like the conflict of the heart between Tamir and Neriah. The ending is lovely.
For all the angst in this story, you can see this review, since I think that covers all.
Part of the plot (Tamir's being punished for helping Neriah, a human - and Tamir erasing Neriah's memory) evokes emotion for me to feel what the characters are going through, but other part (Amir's forcing Tamir to choose him for Neriah's safety -- plus the blurry line between consentual and not since jinn's body is made for pleasure) is just a bit too much to convey the angst.
It's still a good novella to enjoy. The pace is quite fast, since the author uses fast forward plot with single sentence ("Ten years later", "for the last few weeks", etc). I like the conflict of the heart between Tamir and Neriah. The ending is lovely.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 6, 2015
So...when I first picked this up I didn't read the blurb. I really just made an assumption that it would be similar to One Thousand and One Nights with a few changes.
Well, I was really wrong. Okay maybe not really, but still they have nothing to do with each other, other than the fact that they're both set in the same place and time. Anyway, the writing was good, easy to follow, and kept the same patterns throughout (big pet peeve if they don't). Unfortunately, I just couldn't get into the whole Jinn things. Plus although Neriah was described as this self-confident and charismatic leader I almost found him haughty and not rude per say but arrogant. What was described just wasn't what he acted like.
Anyway, the beauty of this book is that it's a culture, time period and story you don't see a lot in MM books. So I'd recommend it just to read something a little different.
Well, I was really wrong. Okay maybe not really, but still they have nothing to do with each other, other than the fact that they're both set in the same place and time. Anyway, the writing was good, easy to follow, and kept the same patterns throughout (big pet peeve if they don't). Unfortunately, I just couldn't get into the whole Jinn things. Plus although Neriah was described as this self-confident and charismatic leader I almost found him haughty and not rude per say but arrogant. What was described just wasn't what he acted like.
Anyway, the beauty of this book is that it's a culture, time period and story you don't see a lot in MM books. So I'd recommend it just to read something a little different.
September 6, 2015
The concept of this book was good but the characters didn't really speak to me. I couldn't find myself liking Neriah and Tamir was too "perfect" even with the whole incident with his former teacher. The beginning of the story seemed too unrealistic. They meet face to face for the first time. Neriah just takes Tamir's word for everything then they both are in love by the time they part. The story was just a little to easy when it came time to explain things with no indication of the solutions before. It just felt forced. Still I believe the story will appeal to others and is not a terrible book.
February 23, 2012
I'm a sucker for a fairy (genie) tale. I loved this story. It was very well developed. I know some people may have issues with a middle part of the story, but I accept it as part of the nature of the creatures involved and as a given by the author. It's her world so who am I to say how it works.
I would definitely recommend this book is anyone cared to ask me.
I would definitely recommend this book is anyone cared to ask me.
January 27, 2013
Wonderful tale with professional prose. I enjoyed Tamir and Nerah and the sense of the old Middle East came alive beautifully. That was perhaps the best part of the novel. There were no patronizing characterizations either.
November 17, 2013
like a poetry,the dream of thousand nights gives something like euphoria can not to say.
romeo & romeo will be romantic love story.in here,you'll knows it:)
romeo & romeo will be romantic love story.in here,you'll knows it:)
December 9, 2013
Very cute. The author has a very clear voice and the characters were put together rather well. I was pleasantly surprised by how sweet this little short was.
July 12, 2017
I finished this book late in the night and since then I have been dieing to write a rewiew. (Spoilers ahead)
First of, I hate hate hate how a person who was so vile, so bad, beyond cruel, he was a rapist to be exact and the reason for all their problems got scot-free. why??
I really like drama in my books. And angst too, but when you pile it all together one after another it becomes sort of difficult to give them their happy ending. The readers/viewers are always suspicious that things would go wrong again. And though there was a happy ending but not really a very satisfying one, because of the overall tone of the novel is angsty.
Another problem with that much drama, which was actually a problem here, is that its difficult to connect it all together. It starts to feel chunky. For example: we understand that Neriah treats Tamir cruelly in the beginning but then the writer gives us 6 months of happiness and bliss and love, and six months mean that things have gradually become better so its a substantial improvement. We have a sort of happy ending right there.
And then when Tamir in a way betrayes his trust, it does feel like betrayel to me, and not feels like something that Neriah deserved it because of his treatment of Tamir. Also I felt Neriah's pain more than Tamir's. And maybe that was because how it was all written. It was rape. And maybe becuase of the enjoyment angle, I don't think that was made clear enough. Which should have been to feel his pain.
And then above it all, Neriah somehow gets a change of heart and becomes all noble about it, why? what has happenned? How does he understand?
AND on top of that, 3 years of abuse which, again, did not seem like abuse, but it still was and I still hated Amir. There were thousand ways the writer could have arranged for Amir to be punished, he interferred with the human world, with a person who had contracted with another human ( or how else the fact that Amir could not touch neriah be explained, and how could Amir have contracted with him?) or that he fell in love with a human. Things were not clear and neither were they satisfactory. This much angst does not give good results. 2.5 rounded to three.
First of, I hate hate hate how a person who was so vile, so bad, beyond cruel, he was a rapist to be exact and the reason for all their problems got scot-free. why??
I really like drama in my books. And angst too, but when you pile it all together one after another it becomes sort of difficult to give them their happy ending. The readers/viewers are always suspicious that things would go wrong again. And though there was a happy ending but not really a very satisfying one, because of the overall tone of the novel is angsty.
Another problem with that much drama, which was actually a problem here, is that its difficult to connect it all together. It starts to feel chunky. For example: we understand that Neriah treats Tamir cruelly in the beginning but then the writer gives us 6 months of happiness and bliss and love, and six months mean that things have gradually become better so its a substantial improvement. We have a sort of happy ending right there.
And then when Tamir in a way betrayes his trust, it does feel like betrayel to me, and not feels like something that Neriah deserved it because of his treatment of Tamir. Also I felt Neriah's pain more than Tamir's. And maybe that was because how it was all written. It was rape. And maybe becuase of the enjoyment angle, I don't think that was made clear enough. Which should have been to feel his pain.
And then above it all, Neriah somehow gets a change of heart and becomes all noble about it, why? what has happenned? How does he understand?
AND on top of that, 3 years of abuse which, again, did not seem like abuse, but it still was and I still hated Amir. There were thousand ways the writer could have arranged for Amir to be punished, he interferred with the human world, with a person who had contracted with another human ( or how else the fact that Amir could not touch neriah be explained, and how could Amir have contracted with him?) or that he fell in love with a human. Things were not clear and neither were they satisfactory. This much angst does not give good results. 2.5 rounded to three.
March 6, 2020
This works as a romantic fairy-tale ... tragic separation of youthful lovers, hidden identities, loyal but dis-empowered Jinn, baddies to overcome, snarky 'bestie' characters. What did not work for me is 2.5 stars rounded up to 3.
May 10, 2017
Great love story fullof angst and heartbreak but with a happily ever after
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