The Bibliophile's Bookshelf

Title: Diamond Wishes

Series: All That Glitters #12

Author: Abigail Manning

Genre: Young Adult, Clean Romance, Fantasy. Retelling

Rating: 4.5 stars

Review:

A mute guard, a chatty parrot, and a diamond ring that could change it all…

Few people have heard the legend of the wondrous wishing diamond, and even fewer have wasted their efforts searching for it. Kya could care less about jewels unless they can sell for enough money to feed her and her mouthy parrot. Her chronic fainting spells make it impossible to hold down a real job, and difficult to escape the guards when a charming stranger interrupts her heist.
Caught and caged, Kya admits defeat as she wastes away in the palace prison. Not even befriending a royal guard can get her out of her chains, but a deal with a smooth-talking nobleman might… It would seem that the boy from the market isn’t the only person on a diamond hunt.
If anyone can find a diamond ring in a cave full of treasures, it’s a jewel thief, but that doesn’t mean she knows how to use it. Wishes gone wrong and a power struggle between royals quickly trap Kya once again, but this time as a fake princess. Even a counterfeit diamond can sparkle, but can it fool a treasure hunter? Life as a royal sure does have a nice ring to it, if you can live long enough to wish for a crown. – summary from Goodreads

This was a very twisty retelling of Aladdin, which I really enjoyed!

This is a gender-bent retelling, with the Aladdin character being Kya. And instead of Abu, there was the parrot, Kipu. In general, I don’t like birds, but I liked Kipu. Kipu was a fun, slightly obnoxious animal companion.

Kya was one of my favorite main characters from this series. She was sarcastic, fun, and stubborn. She had this terrible timing for sarcastic, sassy comments, which I love in books! Kya also faced chronic health problems throughout the book. I liked this inclusion and thought it added depth to the story.

I wasn’t too intrigued by Adir, but I was thoroughly intrigued by Jet. He was just so much more interesting than Adir! I was also interested with Jean; there was something about him that really drew me in. I am happy to share that despite the fact that this was a very short book, I got to know these characters fairly well.

Again, this book was really short, being just over one-hundred-fifty pages. The story moved very fast because of this.

The ending was such a surprise. It was one twist after the other. All of the twists were shocking and well done!

I loved the twist on the Genie. I thought that was well done and new. The magic involved with this book was also well done, and I liked it. I felt like the results from the wishes was more realistic than in other retellings. I also really liked how people were actively talking about this magic, unlike in Disney’s Aladdin when nobody knew what was happening. There was also a version of the Cave of Wonders. The Cave of Wonders is such a captivating place to me, so to see a version of it in the book made me happy!

I really hope this book gets a sequel! If there ever is a sequel, I would of course love to see Kya with her partner more, and more of the Sultan. He really only came in at the end of the book, but I would love to see more of him!

Diamond Wishes is a fun, short, twisty retelling of Aladdin, with a sassy main character and a well-developed magic system!