Alex Anderson asked Jessica Khoury:

I had recently read The Forbidden Wish and I absolutely loved it! I love the story of Aladdin, but I really love how you changed the story! What inspired you to write an Aladdin retelling, but instead of using Aladdin as the main protagonist you wrote it from a Jinni's perspective! What inspired you to write from a Jinni's perspective and was it difficult to add Jinni folklore into the story?

Jessica Khoury Thanks so much for reading, Alex! My initial inspiration was a picture of two cosplayers, a guy and a girl. They were actually cosplaying Prince of Persia, but my mind first interpreted it as Aladdin and a female genie. I was immediately entranced by this female genie (or jinni!) and knew from the start that the book had to be from her POV. The folklore was a lot of fun to write, and one of the easier aspects to develop. I had more trouble with kissing scenes than the mythology! ;)

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