The Forbidden Wish by Jessica Khoury: prepare to 'Friend Like Me" stuck in your head for the next three years

The Forbidden Wish 

by 

Jessica Khoury

Everyone knows the story of Aladdin. Boy finds mystical lamp, and rubs aforesaid lamp. Genie pops out all like 

 Aladdin makes some wishes, which are granted. And, he ends up marrying the princess to boot. Bada bing, bada boom, you've got a happily ever after. Ah, but not this time around. This time when Aladdin rubs the lamp it’s not blue Robin Williams who materializes but Zhara, the super powerful and (of course) super attractive all-powerful genie of the lamp. Fairytale things happen, but the plot thickens when the King of genies offers Zhara a chance at winning back her freedom. Of course, the King's chance requires her to betray Aladdin.

Characters

Zhara: okay, I have no problems with the genie being female; just to get the out of the way first. In fact, as a straight up powerful female character, she’s great. She has flaws and makes mistakes (understandable ones). Even more, she never suffers from the overly perfect kick butt heroine syndrome. However, I am a picky prune and I’m going to complain about a relatively small detail that drove me crazy.... because it did. She didn’t act two thousand years old! I was convinced maybe twice that she was an ancient genie who had lived for thousands of years. But every other time she just acted like a young girl. Eighteen maybe? Nineteen? Now, this would've been fine, I suppose, if it had been addressed as some sort of character flaw. Maybe she acts young because it’s a coping mechanism for how old she really is. Maybe she’s like the Doctor and she goes through silly phases. I would have gladly accepted either of those! In fact, it could have been used as both humor and character development. But instead, she just acted like some teenage girl who happened to be able to grant wishes. Still, I can’t complain to much because, as I said, she was a great character. I’m just crabby I suppose.

Note from the Editor: Yep, you're crabby, sing Under the Sea for me.

Aladdin: okay, Aladdin was pretty darn good. He was childish and silly, but noble and kind. Even when he was ‘stinking drunk’. In the grand scheme of things, he didn’t have a lot to do. Zhara was, after all, the main character this time around. The things Aladdin did do made sense from a character standpoint. Even if they sometimes made me cringe.

Likes

It’s an Aladdin retelling: Obviously. But, how freaking cool! Aladdin was one of my favorite Disney movies growing up. Now, I know the book is not like the tale at all, but I don’t particularly care). The whole setting was amazing! Gigantic palaces and sweeping deserts: everything was so unique, at least compared to the other retellings. And, that little nod to Sinbad in the end makes me very happy, it was another one of my favorite movies growing up. Very happy. Maybe Khoury will write a sequel with the adventures of Sinbad as the backdrop.

Note from the Editor: Ah! Sinbad! That was the best movie, I loved every minute of it. Please writer person, do a Sinbad retelling.

There was a ‘friendship love’ is just as strong as romantic love kind of thing: I have to confess that I’m low-key in love with this trope. Probably because I find most YA romances to be more irritatingly awful than anything else. Still, Zhara has this plot bunny where she ‘fell in love’ with another human once before. This, of course, ended disastrously for the poor squishable human. Sorry, I know it was supposed to be sad but I couldn’t resist. Now you’d think that this other human would be another guy that she fell in love with. But Plot Twist! It turns out she was best friends with some queen to the point where they were practically sisters. I’ve got to admit, I kind of wished I was reading a book about them.

Note from the Editor: The ancient Greeks had several different types of love, in the event any of my fellow nerds want to know. Philia was a sort of deep friendship that came about between longtime friends or brothers-in-arms. It sort of implies a longstanding relationship that has been through tough times.

See? this is why she edits and I ramble. 

Dislikes

I was destined to make squinty-eyes at the romance: Because frankly I thought from the beginning that this book could be ten times better if the Zhara and Aladdin weren’t in love. Look I even made a list

•        In the original story, Aladdin fell in love with the princess
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•      We could basically have a book told from the perspective of an all-powerful genie who is also a third wheel
• 
  
•         Which would be hilarious
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•          I feel like the conflict would be more interesting. Because we all know she’ll choose true love over freedom, but choosing to save a relationship that doesn’t give you anything back is a much greyer area and far more compelling
• 
  
•         We already have the ‘friendship love’ plot bunny from above so it would have fit perfectly.
• 
  
•         The climax required an action that was driven by ‘love’ and since this time around it was romantic love it really belittled the above message.
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•         The main protagonist would be in a position where she wouldn’t need a love interest
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•         In fact, she could be in trouble for feeling a very friendship-like love for Aladdin and the Princess
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•         In my mind, she could have been a super sassy, grumpy fairy godmother
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•         Basically, everything in the book could play out in pretty much the same way just trade the awkward romance between Aladdin and the genie for sass and ulterior motives and crabby third-wheeling in increasingly annoying forms

I just feel like there were some missed opportunities here Y’all.

Yeesh, that was a long list. I guess I should write my own Aladdin retelling. At least that way I could nitpick my writing instead of other peoples. Okay, confession time. This is a great book! I’m just crabby that it was more romance than genies being genies, which is my issue not yours. So, in a weird way, I’m actually recommending this book. Yeah. This is me officially recommending a book to you, it’s a beautiful retelling with some amazing dialogue and really great characters. Just go in expecting more romance than action.

Note from the Editor: I'm going to have to read this. I like more romance than my sister, who prefers explosions to googly eyes