The Bibliophile's Bookshelf

Title: The Orphan’s Wish

Series: Hagenheim #8

Author: Melanie Dickerson

Genre: Young Adult, Clean Romance, Christian Fiction, Historical Fiction, Retelling

Rating: 4.5 stars

Review:

Orphaned and alone, Aladdin travels from the streets of his Arab homeland to a strange, faraway place. Growing up in an orphanage, he meets young Lady Kirstyn, whose father who is the powerful Duke of Hagenheim. Despite the difference in their stations, Aladdin quickly becomes Kirstyn’s favorite companion, and their childhood friendship grows into a bond that time and opposition cannot break.

Even as a child, Aladdin works hard, learning all he can from his teachers. Through his integrity, intelligence, and sheer tenacity, he earns a position serving as the duke’s steward. But that isn’t enough to erase the shame of being forced to steal as a small child—or the fact that he’s an orphan with no status. If he ever wants to feel equal to his beautiful and generous friend Kirstyn, he must leave Hagenheim and seek his fortune.

Yet once Aladdin departs, Lady Kirstyn becomes a pawn in a terrible plot. Now, Aladdin and Kirstyn must rely on their bond to save her from unexpected danger. But will saving Kirstyn cost Aladdin his newfound status and everything he’s worked so hard to obtain?

An enchanting new version of the well-known tale, The Orphan’s Wish tells a story of courage and loyalty, friendship and love, and reminds us what “family” really means. – summary from Goodreads

The Orphan’s Wish was an excellent retelling of Aladdin, with unique twists and turns, and a wonderful friends to lovers love story!

This book dealt with some really heavy topics! Kidnapping was one of the big ones with this book. This is not something you see too often in YA, but it was beautifully and delicately handled. It showed the effects it had on the family, as well as the person taken. Through the kidnapping storyline we get a little peek at the Stockholm effect, and, again, this was wonderfully handled. Kirstyn was starting to feel bad for her kidnapper, and when that happened, she would look at how her family and friends treat her and what they would think of this situation. I really enjoyed how this was included in the storyline. PTSD was also included through the kidnapping storyline. I loved this inclusion, and it was really well handled. This is a heavy storyline, but it’s not too graphic.

Usually, the books in this series are narrated primarily by the female leads, and I was especially expecting that this book because it follows Kirstyn, who is Rose and Wilhem’s third daughter. However, this book was mainly narrated by Aladdin. I didn’t mind that; just thought it was noteworthy.

This book still took place in Germany, but Aladdin was from the Middle East, and I thought his backstory was interesting. I was curious how this story would be told, and I greatly enjoyed how it was done.

This book had strong childhood friends to lovers, and I just adored it! There were a lot of flashbacks, which really cemented their relationship in my mind. I also loved how we got flashbacks from both their perspectives, and how these memories gave them strength.

I loved Kirstyn! She was so sweet and kind. She isn’t the most outgoing or loud of the main characters, and that was a big storyline for her. It was one I appreciated, too. I loved this exploration and her learning how loved she was.

Aladdin was amazing, as well! He was smart and well-mannered, as well as incredibly helpful to those around him. I loved his guilt storyline, which I won’t spoil, but it showed how much some people care about doing the right thing. I really enjoyed how he never gave up on Kirstyn, as well.

There was also some strong adoption storylines, which I loved at lot! These storylines will always be dear to my heart, and I loved how it was done.

The Orphan’s Wish was a fantastic retelling of Aladdin, that had some heavy storylines that were beautifully done, childhood friends to lovers, and kindhearted characters!

Quotes:

“‘If Jesus had the power to create us, then He has the power to save us.’”