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willrefuge's review
5.0
9.5 / 10 ✪
https://arefugefromlife.wordpress.com/2022/05/19/the-stardust-thief-by-chelsea-abdullah-review/
After reading this the only thing I regret is not trying to get a physical ARC of it. Although, I suppose that’s what money is for, right?
—
‘ King of the Forty Thieves, they called him. Hero. But the strangest was the third title, which he’d never heard before: the Stardust Thief. It was worse than the other titles because it was proof that everyone knew what Omar truly was: a man who stole jinn lives. A killer dressed in silver blood. ‘
—
In a world of desert and shifting sands, Loulie al-Nazari is the Midnight Merchant—a collector and dealer in rare and illegal magic items. As her trade implies, Loulie avoids the spotlight, doing business on the black market or in the shadows. Something she and her enigmatic jinn bodyguard Qadir have been managing for years. But when she inadvertently saves the life of the sultan’s youngest son, her trade is brought to the forefront. Forcibly.
The sultan—grateful for the Merchant saving his son (twice, in fact)—offers her a reward: her life, in exchange for a mythical jinn artifact lost somewhere in the Sandsea, its sands the border between jinn and human lands. The artifact, a wish-granting lamp, is worth a kingdom—if it exists at all. And should she returns with the lamp, Loulie will be showered with gold—you know, if it exists. Return with out it, however, or attempt to flee, and her life will be forfeit.
To aid the Merchant in this endeavor—as well as make certain she doesn’t try to flee—the sultan sends his youngest son, the same Loulie twice saved, along with an elite guard.
But surprisingly, the lamp turns out to be more trouble than just being mythical, lost, and infamous. And Loulie’s path more treacherous. Ghouls, rogue jinn, demons from the past, jinn hunters, enemies and allies, and the shifting and enchanted sands of the Sandsea are but some of the obstacles the foursome face. Yet Loulie really has no choice but to press on, lest this quest be her last.
—
Legend had it that after slaughtering the marid, the humans hung their corpses from the tops of the cliffs, and there had been so much silver blood running down the rocks, it had transformed into a cascading stream of water. Sometimes, when Loulie stared hard at the streams winding through the city, she thought they glittered like stardust.
It was beautiful, and it was horrible.
—
In the Stardust Thief, jinn bleed silver. Wherever their blood falls, life blossoms. It has the power to paint the desert green, heal wounds, or even restore the dying to life. This twist, along with so many others, prevented the book from being both a straightforward retelling, and a facsimile of so many others.
It also prevents the landscape from becoming too… dull. Tans and browns and reds and oranges aren’t necessarily dull, but after a while they do kinda make one long for a blue or two to break up the monotony. Maybe that’s why kohl was so popular. Point is, bleed a jinn or ten around one spot and you’ve got yourself a new forest. Or an everlasting river, as seen in the above excerpt.
As with really good reads, it’s hard for me to talk about what exactly I loved most about the Stardust Thief. I mean… there are just soooo many things! The retelling of various legends especially—not only those incorporated into the plot, but also those included as legends in their own right and told via storytellers, or in interludes—gave the world a tenuous connection to our own, while never confusing just which side of the looking glass the reader was on. It’s good to see so many tales from One Thousand and One Nights included in a single work, not just a retelling of Ali Baba or Aladdin or Shahrazad or the like. Yes, I know that other books aimed to do the same, but I’d argue that by in large, the results were nowhere near as good.
I feel like I should mention the characters too, but I’ve no idea where to start on them. Their depth is impressive, as each and every lead has a thorough backstory—both based in legend and written lore. I was really impressed at just how well they all worked together; amidst the chaos and battle there were hints of unlikely friendship and romance, though you could never tell just who was threatening to fall in love with whom.
TL;DR
This seems entirely worthless, as the review part wasn’t very long and mostly had to do with me gushing about how much I loved the story. Yeah, so that’s pretty much it. Whole-hearted recommendation, hands down. But is it worth the…? Yes. Are you sure? What about the…? Yes, that too. And the audiobook? Not sure about that, exactly. This one supposedly features a full cast, and even one terrible voice-actor can ruin the whole thing. But if I could just direct you back to the other forms of text, maybe try one of those.
Yeah, so I’m gonna wrap this up, as it’s pretty much just me rambling. Read this. It’s sooo good! The only downside I can think of is that you’ll have to wait another year for Book #2.
https://arefugefromlife.wordpress.com/2022/05/19/the-stardust-thief-by-chelsea-abdullah-review/
After reading this the only thing I regret is not trying to get a physical ARC of it. Although, I suppose that’s what money is for, right?
—
‘ King of the Forty Thieves, they called him. Hero. But the strangest was the third title, which he’d never heard before: the Stardust Thief. It was worse than the other titles because it was proof that everyone knew what Omar truly was: a man who stole jinn lives. A killer dressed in silver blood. ‘
—
In a world of desert and shifting sands, Loulie al-Nazari is the Midnight Merchant—a collector and dealer in rare and illegal magic items. As her trade implies, Loulie avoids the spotlight, doing business on the black market or in the shadows. Something she and her enigmatic jinn bodyguard Qadir have been managing for years. But when she inadvertently saves the life of the sultan’s youngest son, her trade is brought to the forefront. Forcibly.
The sultan—grateful for the Merchant saving his son (twice, in fact)—offers her a reward: her life, in exchange for a mythical jinn artifact lost somewhere in the Sandsea, its sands the border between jinn and human lands. The artifact, a wish-granting lamp, is worth a kingdom—if it exists at all. And should she returns with the lamp, Loulie will be showered with gold—you know, if it exists. Return with out it, however, or attempt to flee, and her life will be forfeit.
To aid the Merchant in this endeavor—as well as make certain she doesn’t try to flee—the sultan sends his youngest son, the same Loulie twice saved, along with an elite guard.
But surprisingly, the lamp turns out to be more trouble than just being mythical, lost, and infamous. And Loulie’s path more treacherous. Ghouls, rogue jinn, demons from the past, jinn hunters, enemies and allies, and the shifting and enchanted sands of the Sandsea are but some of the obstacles the foursome face. Yet Loulie really has no choice but to press on, lest this quest be her last.
—
Legend had it that after slaughtering the marid, the humans hung their corpses from the tops of the cliffs, and there had been so much silver blood running down the rocks, it had transformed into a cascading stream of water. Sometimes, when Loulie stared hard at the streams winding through the city, she thought they glittered like stardust.
It was beautiful, and it was horrible.
—
In the Stardust Thief, jinn bleed silver. Wherever their blood falls, life blossoms. It has the power to paint the desert green, heal wounds, or even restore the dying to life. This twist, along with so many others, prevented the book from being both a straightforward retelling, and a facsimile of so many others.
It also prevents the landscape from becoming too… dull. Tans and browns and reds and oranges aren’t necessarily dull, but after a while they do kinda make one long for a blue or two to break up the monotony. Maybe that’s why kohl was so popular. Point is, bleed a jinn or ten around one spot and you’ve got yourself a new forest. Or an everlasting river, as seen in the above excerpt.
As with really good reads, it’s hard for me to talk about what exactly I loved most about the Stardust Thief. I mean… there are just soooo many things! The retelling of various legends especially—not only those incorporated into the plot, but also those included as legends in their own right and told via storytellers, or in interludes—gave the world a tenuous connection to our own, while never confusing just which side of the looking glass the reader was on. It’s good to see so many tales from One Thousand and One Nights included in a single work, not just a retelling of Ali Baba or Aladdin or Shahrazad or the like. Yes, I know that other books aimed to do the same, but I’d argue that by in large, the results were nowhere near as good.
I feel like I should mention the characters too, but I’ve no idea where to start on them. Their depth is impressive, as each and every lead has a thorough backstory—both based in legend and written lore. I was really impressed at just how well they all worked together; amidst the chaos and battle there were hints of unlikely friendship and romance, though you could never tell just who was threatening to fall in love with whom.
TL;DR
This seems entirely worthless, as the review part wasn’t very long and mostly had to do with me gushing about how much I loved the story. Yeah, so that’s pretty much it. Whole-hearted recommendation, hands down. But is it worth the…? Yes. Are you sure? What about the…? Yes, that too. And the audiobook? Not sure about that, exactly. This one supposedly features a full cast, and even one terrible voice-actor can ruin the whole thing. But if I could just direct you back to the other forms of text, maybe try one of those.
Yeah, so I’m gonna wrap this up, as it’s pretty much just me rambling. Read this. It’s sooo good! The only downside I can think of is that you’ll have to wait another year for Book #2.
awesomeeallyson's review
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I would have never in a million years guessed that this was a debut novel. Everything about this book is so intricately woven and expertly written. The characters are all fully fleshed out, flaws in all. It’s easy to get emotionally invested in the main characters and their decisions and their relationships with each other. The world building is so detailed, i felt like I was watching a movie the entire time. And the magic system! I loved the jinn and their world and magic and how they had relics and their spirits. It’s just all so interesting.
The story does start a little slow. You get a lot thrown at you almost immediately and it’s a bit jarring. But stick with it a few chapters and you very quickly get sucked in. I had a hard time putting this book down. It’s got red-herrings and plot twists that I truly did not see coming. The middle of the book gets a but long, but there’s still a lot happening plot wise that even when I felt like it was dragging I was still super invested. I guess it was more of action fatigue where I was looking at how much had happened and how much was left and wondering what I still had to face.
But overall I put the book down and just sat there in awe. Easily going to keep going with the series because the cliff-hanger in this book is real.
The story does start a little slow. You get a lot thrown at you almost immediately and it’s a bit jarring. But stick with it a few chapters and you very quickly get sucked in. I had a hard time putting this book down. It’s got red-herrings and plot twists that I truly did not see coming. The middle of the book gets a but long, but there’s still a lot happening plot wise that even when I felt like it was dragging I was still super invested. I guess it was more of action fatigue where I was looking at how much had happened and how much was left and wondering what I still had to face.
But overall I put the book down and just sat there in awe. Easily going to keep going with the series because the cliff-hanger in this book is real.
gogglor's review
adventurous
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
A little slow getting started, but once it does it’s an amazing adventure. The twists are twisty, the emotional payoffs are earned, the characters are multifaceted, the relationships formed are meaningful. Will absolutely come back for books 2 and 3.
emmk's review
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
lj99's review
4.0
4.75 stars. I absolutely loved this book. Found family is easily my favorite trope but the way that Chelsea Abdullah did it here was so so incredible. It wasn’t cheesy and they All immediately loved each other, they were a family because they needed to survive and it was so so incredible to watch this growth and journey. This is especially true in looking at Mazen and his character growth. He started a coward but grew to be such a great man with such a good heart but plagued by death and loss. I LOVED the way she wrote these powerful female characters, but also the soft male. Absolutely amazing look at racism and gender roles in this incredible story and I cannot wait for the next books. There is so much potential in this series and I am SO excited for it.
rustbeltredux's review
4.5
I honestly can’t believe that this is a debut novel. The prose, the characters, the twisting plot all speak of an author well past their first effort. I can definitely see why this is so well liked and I’m anxiously awaiting the next in the series.
kaivalry's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
jenhurst's review
2.0
This really read like a debut. I’m interested enough in the story to see where it goes, but I really hope the author improves as it progresses.
princessmeg's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
aceinit's review
2.0
Interesting premise but it gets bogged down in its own narrative way too often. There are long stretches of setting a mood where little actually happens, and jumping from POV to POV makes the timeline a little wobbly in places.
There were so many times when I felt like scenes were repeating themselves (how many times are we going to get trapped underground, exactly)? And the constant misleads/reveals/half-truths from literally everyone, but especially Qadir (sp? I listened to the audiobook), ended up being more frustrating than intriguing.
Overall, this narrative would have benefited greatly from being about 20% shorter, a feat it could have easily achieved by cutting out the repetition.
There were so many times when I felt like scenes were repeating themselves (how many times are we going to get trapped underground, exactly)? And the constant misleads/reveals/half-truths from literally everyone, but especially Qadir (sp? I listened to the audiobook), ended up being more frustrating than intriguing.
Overall, this narrative would have benefited greatly from being about 20% shorter, a feat it could have easily achieved by cutting out the repetition.