I have this entire set of books, and the common theme is supposed to show you what life is like inside of a royal Middle Eastern family. The underlying theme seems to be that women have it rough, which they do, and the men are mostly awful and privileged, which I would say a good percentage probably are. I cannot stand Sultana's brother or son, but in literally every single book, the most insufferable person is one of her daughter's. I have a severe dislike of Amani. I find her extremely frustrating...at least as frustrating as Sultana's brother. I will be glad to finish the next two books so I can stop being annoyed with these two.