It turns out there’s a formula for amazing fantasy. Take one djinn that can shapeshift into a lizard, and add that to a woman who deals magic, has two names (one real, one fake), and also goes by The Midnight Merchant. Multiply by a Prince in disguise, set in a middle eastern desert, and you have got yourself a book with everything you could ever possibly want.

Layla is a notorious trader on the black market and captures the attention of the sultan, who wants her to venture into the desert and find relics. However, as an insurance policy, one of his sons must accompany her, which ends up being someone she previously met in the market place while he was pretending to be a commoner (do you see where I’m going with this?)

Abdullah puts her own twist and spin on traditional stories such as the Forty Thieves and Scheherazade, while introducing us to Layla (and all her general bad-ass-ery), Qadir, and Mazen. It’s both familiar and new all at once, and the type of book you can entirely get lost in. I loved it.

- Lexie