The Storyteller's Daughter: A Retelling of "The Arabian Nights"

I pulled this off my daughter's bookshelf in a moment of boredom. It's a retelling of the old Arabian Nights fairytale. It was a quick read, just a little escapism/distraction. It didn't blow me away, but it was entertaining. Shahrazad is a strong heroine, which I love, she's brave and courageous in her own right. She follows not only her heart, but does what she perceives to be her duty. I liked the twists of Shahrazad's blindness and the idea of seeing another's heart. It wasn't a terribly compelling book, however, it was entertaining and clean and a quick read. :)

Better than the imprint & cover might lead you to think. Strong, smart females and men who respect them as a matter of course (and wicked people of both genders, too) - but still almost true to the culture in which the story is supposedly set.

I especially liked the emphasis on how royalty can ruin the lives of peasants and other ordinary people, but how some choose not to do so. For example, at the big climax of the power struggle, victory and honor are won without bloodshed and violence.

Perfect for middle-school girls, good for anyone who likes clean and thoughtful fantasy.

This is the first book in the Once Upon A Time series. The first one I read was actually "Snow," and then I gathered all the rest from various places because I love them so much. I just recently decided to re-read the entire series. (And no, it's not a series you need to read in order - each book is based on a separate fairy tale.)

The Storyteller's Daughter is based off the The Arabian Nights, or The One Thousand and One Nights, or Tales of the Arabian Nights - pick your poison. Having never read the original (ok, that's not entirely accurate, let's say instead "any of the translations"), I can't speak to the accuracy of the story. The story Dokey tells, though, is positively enchanting.

Dokey tells the story of Shahrazad in beautiful show more language that has a form very much like I would expect to see the translations written in. The story is told by Shahrazad, the greatest storyteller of all time, and feels, to me, very authentic - as though it were truly Shahrazad telling her story. There are some beautiful phrases, such as the tear welling up from the crack in Shahrazad's heart, that I feel fit very well with the time and place of the story, and these phrases fit in well with the stories Shahrazad is telling, as well as being lovely.

While I didn't laugh out loud reading this book, I did smile a lot, and I even teared up some. This is a great read, and a pretty quick one. I always have the oddest feeling upon completing these Once Upon A Time books, one of satisfaction at the completion of a great story, and also as if I've just said goodbye to a dear friend. show less

I really loved how interwoven this retelling was. I've never been massively fascinated with this tale, but I was engrossed in it the whole time. The ways the stories are over lapped, the history alluded to and slowly revealed, the tales of love and hurt and healing and what makes or breaks a heart or a family.

Definitely advised.

This was a very odd re-telling. Told more like a bible verse or parable, it had a lot of "and so it came to pass" and "remember, seek that which you are meant to be and not what you are not" kind of stuff.

This is not my favorite way to read a story. It's a personal preference, but I feel like it keeps me away from the characters. As I'm a character reader, this takes away from my enjoying the story through the character - instead it just feels like....a story. Something on paper that never comes alive.

I'm glad this works for others, it's just not for me.

Previously I have read "Beauty Sleep" by Cameron Dokey, and I liked the story. So, I was excited to read another fairy tale retelling by Dokey. Unfortunately I found this retelling of "Arabian Nights" hard to get through and pretty boring.

Shahrazad is the daughter of a great storyteller. When the King is betrayed by his wife, his heart turns to stone and he vows to marry a young woman each new moon and kill her the next morning. That is unless a young woman comes forward voluntarily knowing she will die the next day. Shahrazad decides it is her destiny to step forward and every morning her life is sparred as she tells a story that has no end.

I had a lot of trouble getting through this book, even though it is relatively short. The show more language is stilted and somewhat difficult to read. Shahrazad is an uninspiring heroine that, despite talking about how women are always wiser, ends up showing herself to be a weaker character. None of the surrounding characters are any more inspiring. They are all un-emotional and two dimensional.

The stories that Shahrazad tells all have a very transparent moral to them and I didn't find them to be very interesting, engaging, or surprising. I has hoped that either the story itself or the story Shahrazad tells would engage me, but I struggled to get through them despite the fact that the book is very short. The writing seemed, as I said, a bit stilted and immature. I had trouble telling that this book was written by the same author that had written "Beauty Sleep". There is no description of the world, and little description of what the characters are feeling.

All in all this book was a disappointment to me. I am still planning on reading a couple other of Dokey's fairy tale retellings since I did enjoy "Beauty Sleep." Overall if you are looking for an interesting retelling of "Arabian Nights" to read, I would look elsewhere. show less

Beautiful and exotic, this book is wonderful recreation of the famous 1001 Arabian Nights. The Arabian Nights tales has always been of particular interest to me, and Shaharazad has remained a favored character. I expected to be disappointed by this retelling for young teens, but I was pleasantly surprised. This book offers a wonderful new spin on an ancient series of tales. The writing style is geared towards the intended audience, yet it retains an elegance that far exceeded my expectations. The descriptive element aided in the exotic feel of the story.