Friday Memes and 'A Thousand Nights'

I've been meaning to read this book for so long but because I know I'll probably get so stuck in it once I start it I keep waiting for a moment where I actually have the time to read it all at once. But I've decided that such a break will probably never come so here I am, just starting it! I'm talking about A Thousand Nights by E.K. Johnston.

Lo-Melkhiin killed three hundred girls before he came to her village, looking for a wife. When she sees the dust cloud on the horizon, she knows he has arrived. She knows he will want the loveliest girl: her sister. She vows she will not let her be next.

And so she is taken in her sister's place, and she believes death will soon follow. Lo-Melkhiin's court is a dangerous palace filled with pretty things: intricate statues with wretched eyes, exquisite threads to weave the most beautiful garments. She sees everything as if for the last time.But the first sun rises and sets, and she is not dead. Night after night, Lo-Melkhiin comes to her and listens to the stories she tells, and day after day she is awoken by the sunrise. Exploring the palace, she begins to unlock years of fear that have tormented and silenced a kingdom. Lo-Melkhiin was not always a cruel ruler. Something went wrong.

Far away, in their village, her sister is mourning. Through her pain, she calls upon the desert winds, conjuring a subtle unseen magic, and something besides death stirs the air.
Back at the palace, the words she speaks to Lo-Melkhiin every night are given a strange life of their own. Little things, at first: a dress from home, a vision of her sister. With each tale she spins, her power grows. Soon she dreams of bigger, more terrible magic: power enough to save a king, if she can put an end to the rule of a monster.

Doesn't that sound amazing? And how stunning is that cover? Book Beginnings and Friday 56 are hosted by Gilion from Rose City Reader and Freda from Freda's Voice respectively.

BB:
'Lo-Melhkiin killed three hundred girls before he came to my village looking for a wife.

She that he chose of us would be a hero. She would give the others life. Lo-Mehkiin would not return to the same village until he had married a girl from every camp, from every town, and from each district inside city walls - for that was the law, struck in desperation though it was. She that he chose would give hope of a future, of love, to those of us who stayed behind.'

I love this beginning. I thought of only sharing the first line but I couldn't just not share the second paragraph especially since that first line is technically in the blurb already as well. I also preferred this beginning over the prologue which is stunning but not as directly gripping as the beginning of Ch. 1 is!


F56:

'She knew. She knew, and yet she saved me anyway, when I lay weak and dying in front of her.'

This part of the text is in italics which I assume means it's from a different narrator's perspective and I have a very strong feeling that I know whose. I also thought for a moment whether this is a spoiler or no but decided it's not since clearly the narrator is still doing dandy enough to narrate.

So, that's me for today! I'll be castle-hopping today so I won't be able to blog-hop until I get to my hotel tonight but at that point I'll be sure to stop by everywhere. They better have wi-fi...