Name: Daughter of the Salt King
ISBN: 9780744303919

A. S. Thornton

A young woman imprisoned by the Salt King must navigate not only court intrigue and a mounting rebellion but her own heart after she discovers the secret to the Salt King's tyranny over the desert.

Daughter of the Salt King

Sheena

I didn’t hate ‘Daughter of the Salt King’ but the love was not completely there. 
 
The author could have easily cut this down to 300+ pages. There were many scenes that were redundant and it only allowed the story to drag on. Page by page, I keep wondering, "Okay, soooo was something supposed to happen by now? Where is the excitement? Where is the built up for an epic conclusion?" Sadly, nothing really significant happened besides the fairly decent world building.
 
It was a fine read and a promising start for this debut author don’t get me wrong but was I the only one that felt like this was missing something? That certain flare to make this a knockout? I can't put it into words, but that spark wasn't there. I had enjoyed this for the most part though 2/4 through the excitement I once had started to fizzle—I wasn't completely wow'd. I wish the author included an unexpected twist or turn to help fully engross me. The plot was thin to say the least and there was no character development (I am looking at you Emel!). I don’t know... I just felt stuck and in my opinion, a whole lot of nothing was happening. 
 
Now with the romantic aspect of this fantasy novel—I didn’t buy into it. The (instant) romance and chemistry between Emel and Saalim was meh. I just didn’t see the connection between them at all and honestly, I probably would have liked them better if their relationship was more platonic. They were boring. My goodness they were boring. Firoz (and his boo Rashid) and Sabra were far more interesting, and they were the side characters.
 
When all's said and done, was I impressed with this read? No. I thought there would be more action, more adventure, more growth with the characters (especially with the main) but it didn't entirely work for me. The premise was there and unfortunately, it was not fully executed by the author.

Aleena Korell

You are mistaken. Life is not weak, it is infinite, and when faced with trouble, life endures.

Daughter of the Salt King is a middle-eastern-inspired, non-YA fantasy about a jinni and a daughter of a desert king who both are trapped by the same cruel tyrant as a master.

Emel is the Salt King's daughter, which doesn't mean riches and expensive clothing and food-- it means she exists solely to secure him alliances with other rulers and noblemen in one way, and one way only: with her body.

Emel mistakenly discovers that her father is in the possession of a jinni, and that is how he has secured-- and held onto-- all his riches and power. When the two come face to face, they see themselves in each other, trapped as they are in a life they wish they could wish away. The problem is, the jinni can make wishes come true, but they always come with a price.

This premise sucked me in, but I found the execution rather drawn out. This is largely a slow story about an oppressed group of women and the struggles of their daily lives-- being objects for trade, used for their bodies and cast out when they are no longer of use. This isn't uninteresting in itself, but we lingered on these struggles longer than I had guessed from the summary. I kept expecting things to happen, for Emel to take action, to make wishes to save herself or her sisters, but she bided her time, afraid to speak words that would have unintended consequences.

Emel and Saalim's relationship developed rather quickly. I struggled a bit with the pacing in the initial stages, and then later one trope cropped up that I do not much care for: (view spoiler)[ the "I've watched you from afar for years while you grew up and fell in love with you" trope (hide spoiler)] 
Otherwise, I actually liked Emel and Saalim together, I thought they were interesting takes on jinnis and women confined to harems. Emel was depicted not as weak and terrified of her duties, but as someone who stepped up and saw them as her way of life, and the way she could forge a good future for herself out from under her father's thumb. Saalim was not the usual trickster jinni, but rather a quiet, somewhat defeated prisoner who just wanted freedom (at first).

All in all, a good story, some sprinkling of beautiful prose, and a sweet central relationship. (minus that one scene (view spoiler)[ angry Saalim trying to pay Emel for sex because he was jealous?! Yikes. (hide spoiler)])
Another reviewer noted that this book would probably be rated R and I have to agree. This book does not shy away from the nature of Emel's responsibilities and there are depictions of her nights with different suitors.

My largest quibble with this book: the anachronistic overuse of the word "okay". It jarred me EVERY time-- which ended up being quite a few times. Otherwise there were only a handful of editing issues such as using the word "peaking" instead of "peeking" or "secret" instead of "secretive". 

Overall not a bad debut-- unsure yet if I'll read the sequel. I received a copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

danielle bush

I wasn't sure what to expect when I started this book, but I quickly became completely absorbed in the story. 
Emel is one of many daughters of the Salt King. Instead of fighting people that might want to take is throne, he just marries his daugters off. He is a horrible dude who makes his daughters sleep with the men before the men have to decide if they will marry the women or not. One day there is an attack and everything changes. Emel meets the Jinni Saalim. Emel finds out some hard truths about her father, and family. 

Emel is a strong woman who knows what she needs to do survive. She wants to get married if only because its an escape from her father. Saalim is a jinni who has to grant wishes to whomever has his vessel. However the goddess interprets how the wishes will be fulfilled. When he meets Emel face to face for the first time a connection between them is forged. A bond that will change everything for them both. 

The world building was amazing! It wasn't action packed at every turn, but it didn't need to be. Every action and decision built on what was going to come next. Once Saalim and Emel met I couldn't put the book down. They were drawn to each other and I could feel the connection between them, and i needed to find out what was going to happen next. 
I really hope that A.S Thorton writes a sequel to this, I need more Saalim and Emel. Especially after the ending we were left with..

Daughter of the Salt King

Reviews

Highlights