What do you think?
Rate this book
The Ninety-Ninth Bride
"Sister, would you please tell me a story?"
Dunya is fifteen when her father, the Grand Vizier, gives her over to the mad Sultan for his bride. Ninety-eight Sultanas before Dunya have been executed, slaughtered at the break of dawn following their first night with their new husband. But on her own wedding night, the ninety-ninth bride finds help from the mysterious and beautiful Zahra, who proposes to tell the Sultan a story…
The Ninety-Ninth Bride is a story of sisters and magic, and a kingdom on the brink of disaster.
Dunya is fifteen when her father, the Grand Vizier, gives her over to the mad Sultan for his bride. Ninety-eight Sultanas before Dunya have been executed, slaughtered at the break of dawn following their first night with their new husband. But on her own wedding night, the ninety-ninth bride finds help from the mysterious and beautiful Zahra, who proposes to tell the Sultan a story…
The Ninety-Ninth Bride is a story of sisters and magic, and a kingdom on the brink of disaster.
322 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 19, 2018
2 people are currently reading
228 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
Read
June 18, 2018A long, long time ago, there was a wonderful collection of folk tales which we came to know as
One Thousand and One Nights or, as it is more commonly known in English, Arabian Nights. For readers such as us, its stories within stories within stories have been a source of delight. Scheherazade herself, a master storyteller, someone we came to admire.
But then there is its frame story – which appears in pretty much all renditions of the collection: a Sultan, upon discovering his wife’s betrayal, kills her. Not satisfied, he marries a new wife every day and kills each of them the morning after – and on he goes, killing dozens of innocent women until Scheherazade comes along. She tells him these wonderful stories that all end on a cliff-hanger, effectively putting off her execution for one thousand and one nights. In many recountings, the Sultan and Scheherazade fall in love and they have children and it’s a happily ever after.
But what about those other women? The innocent women who were killed? How is it that the Sultan is forgiven for their murders? WHY is he forgiven?
We always wondered about that. How those women were forgotten.
Once upon a time, two bloggers became publishers and in their first open call for short stories, under the theme of Fairy Tale Retellings, there was one beautifully written submission by a debut storyteller of Lebanese descent called Catherine Fairs King whose tale was a new rendition of Arabian Nights.
It was a retelling that not only focused on the women, on Scheherazade and her sister as well as the other women, the women who came before; but one that also engaged with the question of whether the Sultan can (or should) be forgiven.
It was a wonderful story and we (surprise, we are the aforementioned blogger-publishers) acquired the story and published it.
The Ninety-Ninth Bride was about Dunya, a young, quiet girl who is forced by her father to marry the Sultan after ninety-eight women have been killed. On their wedding night, a mysterious woman walks in – and everybody thinks SHE is the one who just got married. Dunya becomes entangled in the wonderful stories her “sister” tells, many of them reframed to centre on new characters, all named after the women who died before.
It was a clever, beautiful, subversive short story and we wanted more of it. We wanted a whole novel.
So we asked Catherine to write it.
The result is even more precious than we could have ever hoped: a YA novel full of wonderful stories of subversion, of quiet power, of magic, and above all, of women. Women as friends, allies, lovers and survivors.
One Thousand and One Nights or, as it is more commonly known in English, Arabian Nights. For readers such as us, its stories within stories within stories have been a source of delight. Scheherazade herself, a master storyteller, someone we came to admire.
But then there is its frame story – which appears in pretty much all renditions of the collection: a Sultan, upon discovering his wife’s betrayal, kills her. Not satisfied, he marries a new wife every day and kills each of them the morning after – and on he goes, killing dozens of innocent women until Scheherazade comes along. She tells him these wonderful stories that all end on a cliff-hanger, effectively putting off her execution for one thousand and one nights. In many recountings, the Sultan and Scheherazade fall in love and they have children and it’s a happily ever after.
But what about those other women? The innocent women who were killed? How is it that the Sultan is forgiven for their murders? WHY is he forgiven?
We always wondered about that. How those women were forgotten.
Once upon a time, two bloggers became publishers and in their first open call for short stories, under the theme of Fairy Tale Retellings, there was one beautifully written submission by a debut storyteller of Lebanese descent called Catherine Fairs King whose tale was a new rendition of Arabian Nights.
It was a retelling that not only focused on the women, on Scheherazade and her sister as well as the other women, the women who came before; but one that also engaged with the question of whether the Sultan can (or should) be forgiven.
It was a wonderful story and we (surprise, we are the aforementioned blogger-publishers) acquired the story and published it.
The Ninety-Ninth Bride was about Dunya, a young, quiet girl who is forced by her father to marry the Sultan after ninety-eight women have been killed. On their wedding night, a mysterious woman walks in – and everybody thinks SHE is the one who just got married. Dunya becomes entangled in the wonderful stories her “sister” tells, many of them reframed to centre on new characters, all named after the women who died before.
It was a clever, beautiful, subversive short story and we wanted more of it. We wanted a whole novel.
So we asked Catherine to write it.
The result is even more precious than we could have ever hoped: a YA novel full of wonderful stories of subversion, of quiet power, of magic, and above all, of women. Women as friends, allies, lovers and survivors.
July 20, 2018
Imagine a retelling of the frame story of One Thousand and One Nights, where Scheherazade tells stories each night to avoid death. I’ve seen retellings of this tale before, but Catherine Faris King may have written my favorite. The Ninety-Ninth Bride is a young adult fantasy novel that reads like a cross between The City of Brass and the work of Diana Wynne Jones: in other words, it’s a tremendous delight!
When Dunya is fifteen, the Sultan goes mad, killing his bride and then marrying and killing other women, one after another each night. After ninety-eight women have been executed, Dunya is given to the Sultan by her father, the Grand Vizier, to become his ninety-ninth bride. With Dunya’s death looming, salvation arrives from an unexpected source: a mysterious woman named Zahra.
I ended up spending a lazy Saturday morning reading The Ninety-Ninth Bride in one leisurely sitting. It’s not that the story’s particularly fast-paced or full of action, but it is compelling. There are mysteries, of course, (who is Zahra? Or what…), but the most compelling aspect is Dunya’s own personal growth. She’s spent most of her life alone and isolated with no idea of her own capabilities. While her life now hangs in balance every night, it’s also given her a degree of independence and power. She’s started to investigate the world around her and take initiative to solve the problems she sees.
The Ninety-Ninth Bride is centered around the female characters. Dunya is the heroine of the story, but she’s surrounded by other women too. In the days before her marriage to the Sultan, she became friends with two other women who were later married and murdered by the same Sultan. She also befriends a djinn, who’s broken-hearted after her girlfriend breaks up with her. And finally, there’s Zahra herself, who seems to have sorcerous powers — how else would she convince everyone that she’s the Sultan’s bride, not Dunya, and that she’s Dunya’s sister besides?
Romance in The Ninety-Ninth Bride is minimal. There’s a young man who Dunya has some romantic feelings for, but he’s not the focus of the story. That’s Dunya’s own character growth.
Retellings of One Thousand and One Nights always run into the problem of the Sultan. In the original story, he’s completely forgiven for killing all his previous wives and lives happily ever after with Scheherazade. Obviously, this is a problem for modern day YA retellings. Another one, A Thousand Nights by E.K. Johnston, deals with it by having the Sultan be possessed. The Ninety-Ninth Bride uses no such devices — the Sultan who kills his wives is not under any outside influences, so the questions remain: how many chances does one man get? Is he redeemable? I’m not going to go into spoiler territory, but I was very satisfied with the conclusion. Also, there’s a twist I didn’t predict at all!
The Ninety-Ninth Bride is one of the better YA fairy tale retellings I’ve encountered, and this may be my favorite retelling of One Thousand and One Nights. If you’re looking for a young adult novel with significant female characters and a heroine growing into her own agency, look no further than The Ninety-Ninth Bride.
Review from The Illustrated Page.
When Dunya is fifteen, the Sultan goes mad, killing his bride and then marrying and killing other women, one after another each night. After ninety-eight women have been executed, Dunya is given to the Sultan by her father, the Grand Vizier, to become his ninety-ninth bride. With Dunya’s death looming, salvation arrives from an unexpected source: a mysterious woman named Zahra.
I ended up spending a lazy Saturday morning reading The Ninety-Ninth Bride in one leisurely sitting. It’s not that the story’s particularly fast-paced or full of action, but it is compelling. There are mysteries, of course, (who is Zahra? Or what…), but the most compelling aspect is Dunya’s own personal growth. She’s spent most of her life alone and isolated with no idea of her own capabilities. While her life now hangs in balance every night, it’s also given her a degree of independence and power. She’s started to investigate the world around her and take initiative to solve the problems she sees.
The Ninety-Ninth Bride is centered around the female characters. Dunya is the heroine of the story, but she’s surrounded by other women too. In the days before her marriage to the Sultan, she became friends with two other women who were later married and murdered by the same Sultan. She also befriends a djinn, who’s broken-hearted after her girlfriend breaks up with her. And finally, there’s Zahra herself, who seems to have sorcerous powers — how else would she convince everyone that she’s the Sultan’s bride, not Dunya, and that she’s Dunya’s sister besides?
Romance in The Ninety-Ninth Bride is minimal. There’s a young man who Dunya has some romantic feelings for, but he’s not the focus of the story. That’s Dunya’s own character growth.
Retellings of One Thousand and One Nights always run into the problem of the Sultan. In the original story, he’s completely forgiven for killing all his previous wives and lives happily ever after with Scheherazade. Obviously, this is a problem for modern day YA retellings. Another one, A Thousand Nights by E.K. Johnston, deals with it by having the Sultan be possessed. The Ninety-Ninth Bride uses no such devices — the Sultan who kills his wives is not under any outside influences, so the questions remain: how many chances does one man get? Is he redeemable? I’m not going to go into spoiler territory, but I was very satisfied with the conclusion. Also, there’s a twist I didn’t predict at all!
The Ninety-Ninth Bride is one of the better YA fairy tale retellings I’ve encountered, and this may be my favorite retelling of One Thousand and One Nights. If you’re looking for a young adult novel with significant female characters and a heroine growing into her own agency, look no further than The Ninety-Ninth Bride.
Review from The Illustrated Page.
October 27, 2019
I like what she did here. Will be watching for her first novel.
did-not-finish
April 28, 2022DNFing this one around 70 pages. Such a bummer because I had been trying to read this book for so long, and eventually had to buy a copy because there weren't any available to borrow from any libraries. I'm always on the hunt for wonderful retellings, and I was hoping this might come close to Shadow Spinner perfection for a retelling is 1001 Arabian Nights.
There might be a good story here, but unfortunately I found the writing a bit stilted and...unpolished? The writing felt very "tell" instead of "show", and I wasn't connecting to the main character at all. There is a way to write a book that evokes that old-school fairy tale style, and maybe that's what the author was going for, but I think it takes a certain amount of skill to make it feel right and not just stiff. The flow here was too halting and didn't flow smoothly. I feel bad because I think this is a debut novel by an indie author and there aren't a lot of reviews for it....but I have to be honest. I really want this book to go through a couple more drafts and then get republished.
The paperback edition I bought was also RIDDLED with editing/formatting errors, which makes me feel bad again for the author. These kinds of issues are the fault of the publisher, but it still detracts from the story. There were sentences that were
interrupted by paragraph
breaks in the wrong spot, like this, or lines of dialogue that weren't formatted correctly. For example:
"No, no, I'll help," said Dunya.
"You don't have to--" Shirin started. "I'll help,"
Dunya said, her brow set.
Shirin let her help.
It should read: "I'll help," Dunya said, her brow set. But unfortunately the line breaks for the dialogue are all over the place, and it mangles the meaning. Errors like this were littered throughout the book, which I found very distracting.
So anyway, I'm going to DNF this book, but I'll keep an eye out for other books by this author.
There might be a good story here, but unfortunately I found the writing a bit stilted and...unpolished? The writing felt very "tell" instead of "show", and I wasn't connecting to the main character at all. There is a way to write a book that evokes that old-school fairy tale style, and maybe that's what the author was going for, but I think it takes a certain amount of skill to make it feel right and not just stiff. The flow here was too halting and didn't flow smoothly. I feel bad because I think this is a debut novel by an indie author and there aren't a lot of reviews for it....but I have to be honest. I really want this book to go through a couple more drafts and then get republished.
The paperback edition I bought was also RIDDLED with editing/formatting errors, which makes me feel bad again for the author. These kinds of issues are the fault of the publisher, but it still detracts from the story. There were sentences that were
interrupted by paragraph
breaks in the wrong spot, like this, or lines of dialogue that weren't formatted correctly. For example:
"No, no, I'll help," said Dunya.
"You don't have to--" Shirin started. "I'll help,"
Dunya said, her brow set.
Shirin let her help.
It should read: "I'll help," Dunya said, her brow set. But unfortunately the line breaks for the dialogue are all over the place, and it mangles the meaning. Errors like this were littered throughout the book, which I found very distracting.
So anyway, I'm going to DNF this book, but I'll keep an eye out for other books by this author.
May 18, 2025
I read the short story version of this story years and years ago, back when it was published by the Book Smugglers, and I'm very happy to have finally got around to read the book version. The writing style has a kind of classic fairy-tale feel, and I really liked that it's a retelling of One Thousand and One Nights focused on female friendship and solidarity and never loses sight of the Sultan as the villain unlike some other retellings (okay, that was me being shady about The Wrath and the Dawn, sorry).
May 23, 2023
A great and wonderous tale.
The true story behind The1001 Nights. No Disney needed. A gentle and calming novel that leaves the reader smiling and happy.
The true story behind The1001 Nights. No Disney needed. A gentle and calming novel that leaves the reader smiling and happy.
December 14, 2023
I read this book in India.
It was an enjoyable set of tales, written in a deceptively simple style that ferried things along at a silky-smooth pace that felt both brisk and unrushed. It also did a really good job of capturing the magic and the mystery of being in a foreign place, the wonder and the fear. I finished it in one night.
As you may have gathered, it's a modern retelling of the Thousand and One Nights, but more than that, it's a story about finding yourself in unfamiliar surroundings and surviving with what you have in times of adversity. It's mature enough to reward adult readers like myself, but simple enough for a young adult reader to get a lot out of it.
There's a lot to say here, but more than anything I loved the protagonist's relationship with her father. It's rich, complicated, dynamic, and imminently believable. Also there's genies and mermaids and murder and magic and........
It was an enjoyable set of tales, written in a deceptively simple style that ferried things along at a silky-smooth pace that felt both brisk and unrushed. It also did a really good job of capturing the magic and the mystery of being in a foreign place, the wonder and the fear. I finished it in one night.
As you may have gathered, it's a modern retelling of the Thousand and One Nights, but more than that, it's a story about finding yourself in unfamiliar surroundings and surviving with what you have in times of adversity. It's mature enough to reward adult readers like myself, but simple enough for a young adult reader to get a lot out of it.
There's a lot to say here, but more than anything I loved the protagonist's relationship with her father. It's rich, complicated, dynamic, and imminently believable. Also there's genies and mermaids and murder and magic and........
June 25, 2018
I LOVED this book. Dunya, the main character, is the kind of character you want to spend time with. I loved how her story included danger, magic, drama, family, friendships & romantic elements, but where romance was not the main point.
If you have kids who love fantasy books like A Wrinkle in Time, they'll probably love this, and it's a great read for adults too. If you loved One Thousand and One Nights (I do), then this is a really interesting take on that world as well.
If you have kids who love fantasy books like A Wrinkle in Time, they'll probably love this, and it's a great read for adults too. If you loved One Thousand and One Nights (I do), then this is a really interesting take on that world as well.
Want to read
December 14, 20232022 update: copy acquired! jeff bezos and i will never be besties but sometimes amazon is indeed helpful
-
2021: i've been trying to find a copy of this for like two years, if anyone ever invents time travel please do me a solid and tell past!me thebooksmugglers publishing branch is gonna go under and i wanna get a copy of this asap cause the option WILL disappear if i wait
-
2021: i've been trying to find a copy of this for like two years, if anyone ever invents time travel please do me a solid and tell past!me thebooksmugglers publishing branch is gonna go under and i wanna get a copy of this asap cause the option WILL disappear if i wait
November 5, 2018
A truly lovely, cozy, and occasionally quite eerie fantasy novel with a strong, satisfying ending. I'd recommend this for fans of Diana Wynne Jones and for anyone who enjoys magic-suffused stories with a phlegmatic young protagonist in dire circumstances.
February 4, 2015
My favourite from The Book Smuggler's fairytale collection, probably because it's a retelling of One Thousand and One Nights. Eerie and smart.
June 19, 2018
Review forthcoming from The Skiffy and Fanty Show!
July 3, 2018
This book is so good and the author’s love of stories and storytelling clearly comes through! This book is creative and subversive and fresh. I read it in one night, couldn’t put it down!
October 3, 2018
An excellent re-imagining of the story with a profoundly satisfying ending. I had some trouble judging the passage of time but ultimately I didn't care.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews