Rumaysa is the Muslamic retelling of three fairytales – Rapunzel (Rumaysa), Cinderella (Cinderayla) and Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Sara). When she finally gets her chance, she is met by a boy on a magic carpet named Suleiman, and is both shocked and annoyed that someone got close to the tower, and only after she saved herself. Though I don’t read many children’s books (I likely will when I have children to authorise what will and won’t be making it onto the bookshelf! The whole story is VERY simple, with a fairly straight-forward plot and uncomplicated writing style. A lovely debut about three intertwining stories that step away from the traditional and has some rather delightful and empowering twists.

Thank you to the author, Radiya Hafiza, and the publisher, Macmillan Children's Books, for this opportunity. Rumaysa is a wonderful character, she is determined and resilient and because she has never been outside so she is so grateful for all the experiences she now gets to see because she has missed out for many years and it reminded me of how girls are kept incredibly sheltered and not allowed to experience things and kept at home and so miss out on so many things. I am taking these (drops of perspiration) as a barakah (blessing) which comes from you ," she replied. He live-streamed his attack while hundreds of other extremist sympathisers watched and cheered him on. As for the plot, it's pretty fast-paced and never boring, with plenty of fun to be had in its 240 pages!I enjoyed the story, although I'd be lying if I said I did not get annoyed at some of the inconsistencies, like an Eid ball, Rumaysa wearing a hijab even in the tower, and being aware of her own name when even the witch is not.

Malik was not pleased especially when his wife went on to announce her acceptance of Islam in public and instruct her son Anas in the teachings and practice of the new faith. And they kept saying "I'll pray for you" which just made me 🥺 I'm curious to read the next book and see what other adventures Rumaysa goes on and if she ends up finding her parents.I was actually told by my agent that one of the editors she had sent Rumaysa to didn’t think it was original enough. He is a specialist litigator and regulatory lawyer having been a Partner and Head of Regulatory at 450 staff law firm Harvey Ingram Owston (now amalgamated into Shakespeare Martineau). He acts for corporations and business clients across a number of different sectors in the high courts, county courts and tribunals including Inquest Litigation and claims arising out of those. A light read which would work well in class as a contrast to the traditional fairytales, or alongside Joseph Coelho’s fairytales gone wrong series. Ever since her first recognition the now web-developer continuously used her mediatic attention and platforms to spread awareness on the lights and shadows of her very rare, sometimes challenging condition.

I love that Rumaysa's hijab provides a key part of her escape, and the mention of how her daily prayers calm her and give her structure in her days! Despite all the aforementioned glimpses of my critiques to follow, I didn't hate the book and quite enjoyed the light handed morals and feminism that was interwoven with clever remarks and snark. Absolutely love the fact that the girls are rescuing themselves and not just waiting around for someone else to come and save the day. Babies when grow up usually forget the memories of the first three years of their life, hence all the struggles and annoyances your baby has put you through, he/she will eventually forget.

Sophie Anderson, author of The House With Chicken Legs I loved the three heroines of this wonderful tale, loved how their stories intersected each other and that they were their own rescuers and path-finders. Other than that the book really needs an editor and new illustrations, I can see fairytale loving middle grade kids reading the book and finding it enjoyable, or even younger children having it read aloud to them a few chapters at a time, and being drawn in to the stories and eager to see what happens next. I really like that it erased the whole "prince charming" trope from the fairytales - although there is a prince and a kind Muslim boy, the princesses are really the true heroes of the story, and there is no falling in love which is really unnecessary for such a young audience. I had thought it was a standalone and things would be wrapped up, so I was a tiny bit disappointed when they didn't.