A 2021 Foreword INDIES Award Winner in Romance and Finalist in
Fantasy
A 2022 Benjamin Franklin Award Runner-Up in Best New Voice: Fiction
"The heat and romance of the desert, the push and the pull of Emel's
desperation, and the magic and humanity of a caustic jinni make
Daughter of the Salt King an irresistible ride." --Amy Harmon, New
York Times bestselling author
"This riveting debut novel will leave readers eagerly awaiting
Thornton's future works." --Booklist
A girl of the desert and a jinni born long ago by the sea, both
enslaved to the Salt King--but with this capricious magic, only one can
be set free.
As a daughter of the Salt King, Emel ought to be among the most powerful
women in the desert. Instead, she and her sisters have less freedom than
even her father's slaves . . . for the Salt King uses his own daughters
to seduce visiting noblemen into becoming powerful allies by marriage.
Escape from her father's court seems impossible, and Emel dreams of a
life where she can choose her fate. When members of a secret rebellion
attack, Emel stumbles upon an alluring escape route: her father's
best-kept secret--a wish-granting jinni, Saalim.
But in the land of the Salt King, wishes are never what they seem.
Saalim's magic is volatile. Emel could lose everything with a wish for
her freedom as the rebellion intensifies around her. She soon finds
herself playing a dangerous game that pits dreams against responsibility
and love against the promise of freedom. As she finds herself drawn to
the jinni for more than his magic, captivated by both him and the world
he shows her outside her desert village, she has to decide if freedom is
worth the loss of her family, her home and Saalim, the only man she's
ever loved.
For readers who enjoy epic desert fantasies and forbidden romance like
The Forbidden Wish by Jessica Khoury, The Wrath & the Dawn by Renée
Ahdieh, and Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri.
