From the "Once Upon a Time" series comes another retelling by Cameron Dokey, this one following the young storyteller Sharhazad as she steps forward to save the lives of the women of her kingdom from a grieving, rage-filled king who has vowed to kill each of his brides before they can dishonor him.Dokey lightens the tale by making Sharhazad the first of the king's wives--thus he hasn't had scores of women executed by the time she marries him. She begins telling him a tale which weaves through the rest of Dokey's narrative, offsetting the main action. This book focuses on Sharazad rather than the stories, with only one main story continued night after night. In fact I found the story Sharazad told more memorable than her own story--at least that is the imagery which sticks with me the best.
This is a quick read, as most in the series are, and not overly complex. Still, it's one of my favorites from the "Once Upon a Time" set, and it's rarer to find an adaptation of the Arabian Nights than, say, Cinderella.
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