Reviews tagging 'Torture'

The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah

36 reviews

kylieqrada's review

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious 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

Middle Eastern-inspired fantasy is my shit! I loveeeeddd this! I did get lost a few times with what was happening and had to go back and re-read to catch on with the plot, but overall I really enjoyed it. Can't wait for the next one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Torture, Blood, and Death of parent

Minor: Child death and Animal death

xtsukix's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

For a debut novel this book had a fascinating and original story, one that I think many people would enjoy. I will say that the characters despite effort felt quite flat, which I imagine will improve the more Abdullah writes, she pulls off the whole “detached grouchy untrusting” character scheme a little too well, where it seems to bleed into every character in the book. 

The start was a little boring, and this book took me forever to get through but I do blame that partially on my reading slump. I think I’d give the second book in the trilogy a read when it does come out :) Qadir is definitely my favourite character and I would love to see more of him. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, Grief, Violence, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Torture, Gore, and Child death

mandkips's review

adventurous mysterious tense 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Torture, Death of parent, and Blood

Minor: Child death and Animal death

kkarinh's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

If you enjoyed the Daevabad Trilogy, then you’ll no doubt enjoy this. Similar setting, but with different magical twists and characters. I enjoyed the weaving of the 1001 nights of Scheherazade as a background/history. The story was a bit slow to build, but rushed to the end. I’m now wanting to read the next in the series…

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Blood, Violence, Murder, Racism, and Hate crime

mikaelaandherbooks's review

adventurous medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Not sure if it was just me or it was actually the writing style, but it felt slow up until the end. This became a book where I was more so invested in the characters than the actual storyline. I am very excited though to see where the story goes next in the series after that action-packed ending.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Violence

Moderate: Grief and Torture

Minor: Child death

khakipantsofsex's review

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death of parent, and Child death

Moderate: Torture

liona91's review

adventurous mysterious 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Torture, and Violence

Minor: Death of parent

hasmazlom13's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Torture, Blood, Child death, Death, Murder, Violence, War, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Misogyny

bookishflower's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

“I am Loulie al-Nazari, the Midnight Merchant, and I am the master of my own fate.”

I wouldn’t have picked this up if it hadn’t have been in the Fairyloot May box, but I’m so glad I did! I tend to be intimidated by adult high fantasy, but this was easy to read, had beautiful and witty writing, with nuanced characters you can root for. I think this would be a great entry to adult fantasy books if anyone was looking for one. 

I adored the importance of storytelling, and the ambiguity of good and evil in this book. I also loved Qadir, Loulie, Mazen and Aisha. I hope we get to see their found family develop more and explore more of the world building as the series continues! I will definitely be continuing with this series! This book took me back to my love of stories and a thousand and one nights when I was younger. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Moderate: Alcohol and Confinement

Minor: Child death and Cursing

maregred's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, War, and Genocide

Moderate: Torture, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Animal death and Infidelity