Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah

5 reviews

chrisb913's review

Go to review page

adventurous emotional 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

4.5

This story was a lot of fun. Jinn and magic and lots of mystery. My only issue with the book was the pacing was all over the place. The author was incredibly descriptive which made for a fantastic read but kinda bogged down the plot in areas. All in all, highly recommend and looking forward to the sequel.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

biobeetle's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional 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? It's complicated

4.5

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

stargazer_ley's review

Go to review page

adventurous emotional mysterious slow-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? Yes

3.5

The facinating focus on Arabic cultures is a pleasant change of pace for me, however I found myself wanting a glossary to define certain terms. While context provided some measure of assistance, I would have preferred actually having the information (Google is exactly helpful when I don't know what I'm trying to find.) That said the characters and story were compelling and I found myself constantly having to mentally update my theories. It was overall a good book that I'm glad I purchased and I am looking forward to getting the next volume. :)
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

cookiecat73's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

4.0

This book wasn't 100% my thing, but I have incredible respect for the author. The world and magic was cool and interesting, and character development was really well written, but it was the plot that blew me away. The twist were really well done and way they tied everything together was brilliant. It also gave you all the pieces you needed to figure things out for yourself (and it was incredibly satisfying when I did) whilst also providing explanations for anyone who didn't figure it out yet, but in a way that wasn't beating you over the head with it or talking down to the reader, it just felt like the characters figuring it out themselves.

Personally I had no real interest in the romance/crush aspects, and some of the torture/violence was a bit much imo, but my biggest issue was the fake-out deaths. If it was just Aisha's I wouldn't have much of an issue because there were still consequences, but Mazen and Qadir's I don't think serve any real purpose, and they made threat later on feel hollow for me. In general there are a lot of times where people sustain what should be serious injuries, but then they just recover? It made me feel like the characters would just be fine whatever happened, which made any times where there was meant to be danger and threat feel less meaningful and more hollow. Thankfully the plot and twists were really really interesting and well done, so I still was invested in the book, but I think if maybe those 2 deaths weren't there and some of the injuries either didn't happen or had more consequences I would have enjoyed it more
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

readingelli's review

Go to review page

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

5.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
More...