Standalone Sunday is a weekly feature created by Megan at Bookslayer Reads which aims to showcase standalone books which you loved or would recommend.
The Forbidden Wish by Jessica Khoury
She is the most powerful Jinni of all. He is a boy from the streets. Their love will shake the world…
When Aladdin discovers Zahra’s jinni lamp, Zahra is thrust back into a world she hasn’t seen in hundreds of years—a world where magic is forbidden and Zahra’s very existence is illegal. She must disguise herself to stay alive, using ancient shape-shifting magic, until her new master has selected his three wishes.
But when the King of the Jinn offers Zahra a chance to be free of her lamp forever, she seizes the opportunity—only to discover she is falling in love with Aladdin. When saving herself means betraying him, Zahra must decide once and for all: is winning her freedom worth losing her heart?
As time unravels and her enemies close in, Zahra finds herself suspended between danger and desire in this dazzling retelling of the Aladdin story from acclaimed author Jessica Khoury.
It’s well known by now how much I love fairytale retellings, but for some reason The Forbidden Wish is one I still haven’t gotten around to. That will change soon, before the year is over at least, now I own a copy of this book thanks to my Souvenirs from Across the World partner.
I’ve heard brilliant things about The Forbidden Wish, it seems like everyone who’s read it so far has loved it so I’m excited to get around to it myself. I haven’t read many Aladdin retellings, in fact the only other one I’ve read I wasn’t a fan of, so hopefully this will be a memorable read for me as well.
“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.”
What did you think of The Forbidden Wish? Have you read it yet or is it still on your to-read list? Let me know in the comments and let me know if you took part in this week’s Standalone Sunday as well.
Reading Every Night 
I can’t believe I still haven’t read this book yet! Omg, it’s been on my TBR for what feels like forever! So happy to see you feature it for SS!
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It’s been on my to-read list for a while now, and probably will still be on my to-read list for a while longer as well. 🙂
I’ll get around to it eventually, and I hope you enjoy this when you read it as well Megan. 🙂
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I haven’t read it but that looks too amazing to not read 😍😍
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I completely get what you mean. 🙂 I need to get around to this book soon and I hope you manage to as well. 😀
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Ouuuhh, something you haven’t read yet! Hope you enjoy it when you get the chance. 😉 I hear there’s also a prequel available on wattpad for fans of this book too hahah
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There aren’t many fairytale retellings I haven’t read but this is one of them.
Ohh, I didn’t know that about the prequel. Once I’ve read The Forbidden Wish I’ll definitely have to check that out so thanks for letting me know Lashaan. 😀
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Oh my gosh yes, Beth, you HAVE to read this book!! 😀 Considering you love fairytale retellings, and the beautiful world-building and magic of this book, I’m pretty sure you’ll enjoy it ahah. ❤ At least I hope so! It was definitely one of the most imaginative retellings I've read.
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Considering I love fairytale retellings I’m a little surprised I haven’t gotten around to this one already. It sounds incredible and pretty much everyone has loved this book so I need to get around to it ASAP! 😀 ❤
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I’m so, SO happy you’re featuring this book, Beth! I can’t wait for you to read it – if it’s not done by now – and I hope you’ll love it as much as I did ❤
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It seemed like the perfect book to feature given I just received a copy of it! 😀 Unfortunately I haven’t gotten to it yet, but I will before this year is over. I can’t wait to get started on it! 😀 ❤
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I still need to get to this 🤦🏻♀️ I’ve heard some amazing things, so hopefully I will be able to do that soon
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I’ve heard nothing but amazing things as well. Everyone who’s read this book has loved it so hopefully we both will as well! 😀
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The Forbidden wish is one of my favorite standalone ever!! I really liked how the You should definitely try it 😉
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I’ve heard plenty of amazing things about this book, so I really can’t wait to get around to it! 😀
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It was an amazing read! I hope you’ll like it as much as I did 😀
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(and I just noticed I didn’t finish the sentence above ^^ I was saying I really liked how the author wrote about the world and the characters!)
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Oh I did notice that. I figured WordPress cut you off because it does that with me sometimes. 🙂
That’s a great thing to hear about the world and the characters, makes me more excited to get around to this one. 😀
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Thanks, I hope so too. 😀
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gahhhhh! The Forbidden Wish is also on my TBR, one that I’ve been trying so hard to get to since Aladdin is my #1 fave Disney movie of all time! I hope this is as good as everyone says it is, great pick Beth <3!
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Ahh I can’t say Aladdin is my favourite Disney movie, but this is a fairytale retelling and I have a weakness for those so I want to try and start this book ASAP. I hope you manage to get around to this one soon, and I hope you really enjoy it too.
Thanks Lilly! 😀 ❤
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Oh I know about your re-telling addiction because we share the same love for them 😂 I can’t wait to read this one, Next year I plan on reading a ton of my backlist books and maybe less review book haha! 💜
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Ha, yes we definitely do! 😀 See reading more of my backlist books was my plan for the rest of this year, but it hasn’t gone well because of my review books. May have to be a resolution I bring into next year as well! 🙂
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Same here Beth, I’ve already been approved for a few arcs from January through April but they’re 1 or 2 per mth nicely spread out. Let’s see how long it stays that way though 🤣🤣🤣
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Yeah I have a few for next year, but I’m going to try and get them read and reviewed this year so all I need to do is publish the reviews in the new year. Makes it easier to get to the backlist I have, 🙂
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this is something I should try as well, thank you because I’m def going to need to get on them asap lol.
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That’s all right. I hope you succeed in it, I’m not sure how well I’m going to do at sticking to it. 🙂
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Ooooh, I don’t think I’ve ever seen an Aladdin retelling! And the romantic interest being the genie instead of a princess – an interesting twist! This book sounds pretty good! 🙂
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I haven’t seen too many Aladdin retellings, and the one I read before wasn’t a great one in my opinion.
Hopefully this one will be amazing, it certainly sounds good I agree! 😀
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This book sounds so good! AND Sarah J Maas liked it?? I’m definitely going to keep an eye out for it!
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I’ve heard some amazing things about it, everyone who’s read The Forbidden Wish has loved it so I have high hopes. Hopefully you’ll enjoy it as well if you decide to pick it up. 😀
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You always have the best cover to show us!
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Yeah this one is pretty gorgeous isn’t it? 😀
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I loved The Forbidden Wish!! It is one of my favorite books, and definitely my favorite retelling! I wish more people would read it!
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I’ve heard plenty of amazing things about this book so I can’t wait to get started on it. I hope I enjoy it as much as you, and everyone else it seems, has. Then again I love fairytale retellings so I think it’s a safe bet I will love it! 😀
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Oh, this one is on my TBR! I saw it at my school library and after I get through my current stack of library books, I’m hoping to read it. Congrats to getting the book from your SFATW partner! 😀
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In that case I really hope you enjoy this book May. I’ve seen some incredible reviews for it, people seem to really love it so I’m hoping I will as well. 🙂
Yeah I was thrilled with this book in my SFATW box, definitely one I’d hoped for! 😀
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