Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Thoughts on Tomes. If you want to join or find out more information about the weekly themes check out the Goodreads page! This week’s topic is about books that are not set in the Western world (i.e. North America/Western Europe). I really love reading retellings, so I decided to focus more on fantasy stories that were based on mythologies and fairy tales, but whose settings were obviously not of the Western World.

THE WRATH AND THE DAWN – A very popular fantasy retelling of A Thousand and One Nights that seems to be either hit or miss with most people. I absolutely loved it. Renée Ahdieh proves herself to be a marvelous storyteller and I loved the romance between Shahrzad and Khalid. 

A CROWN OF WISHES – This book seems to be on a lot of my lists lately, but who can blame me when it was just so good. Roshani Chokshi is such a talented writer and vivid storyteller. A Crown of Wishes is dark fairytale-esque story with elements of Hindu mythology and two wonderful protagonists. If you want to hear more of me gushing about this book, you can check out my full review!

THE FLAME IN THE MIST – Mulan is my absolute favorite Disney movie. I wish so badly that they were more retellings of this story, or stories similar to it. Renée Ahdieh does an excellent job creating a wonderful retelling of Mulan and I’m really looking forward to the next book in the series.

THE FORBIDDEN WISH – Jinn are on of my favorite aspects to read about from Islamic mythology. Jessica Khoury writes a fabulous retelling of Aladdin with a strong, female protagonist, wonderful side characters, and a beautiful forbidden romance.

SPINDLE – A retelling of Sleeping Beauty, with a few elements of Rapunzel, but in a middle eastern setting. The story is a very well-crafted fantasy full of magic, adventure, and romance. I ended up liking this way better than the first book, A Thousand Nights.