Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - The Stardust Thief

Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah

70 reviews

e_claire's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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? No

4.75

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thecatconstellation's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional 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

4.25

Overall, I really enjoyed this. Lots of adventure and twists. I do think it dragged at times while going too fast at others. Can’t wait to read the next one!

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tahsintries's review against another edition

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3.5

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brittanyboston18's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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

3.0

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tbhsunday's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense 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

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sorcery_and_stories's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

4.0

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memento_morri's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

4.25

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mallorypen's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

The characters and use of myth as a basis for the storytelling were hugely enjoyable. The jinn (especially Qadir) were interesting, and the relics with their powers and origin made the story feel like both a treasure hunt and a philosophical quandary about power.

That said, this novel had SO many twists and turns I had a rough time keeping everything straight. I liked all the plot points, but getting to them felt in some places awkwardly quick, and in others clumsy and slow.

I also feel like the characters’ relationships are being kept deliberately uncertain in a way that feels more like a book to read more books in a series (which idk if I would be interested in doing) versus building to real resolution.

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abbiemarie's review against another edition

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adventurous 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

4.75

This book is perfect for people who loves Hunger Games and Percy Jackson when they were younger. The world building is stunning and it really a draws you in. I wish I had the next book in my hands right now

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thebookcoyote's review against another edition

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medium-paced

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

1.0

TW/CW: Violence, family death, death of a child, fantasy violence, murder

REVIEW: The Stardust Thief is the story of Loulie (Layla?), a merchant who sells magical artifacts and Mazen, a prince who is forced to travel with her on a mission to retrieve a magical lamp. It is the first in a planned trilogy.

I really wanted to enjoy this book. Reading the blurb on Book of the Month, it sounded interesting and I am a huge sucker for epic fantasy, which was what I hoped this would be. I also loved the ideas of story telling and the idea of a great epic fantasy taking place in the middle eastern world with middle eastern mythology. Unfortunately, I was greatly disappointed.

The first thing I have to say about this book was that it was boring. It droned on and on and on with nothing really happening. There is absolutely no reason that this book should have been even close to it’s 463 pages. A big part of the reason that it was boring was the complete lack of character development. I felt nothing for any of the characters. I really couldn’t have cared less what happened to any of them. None of them were friends, or close to each other, and none of that built over the ‘action’ of the story.

The second thing that really bugged me was the author’s complete lack of ability when it came to writing any sort of dramatic tension. Even in places where it should have been exciting, it just kind of fell flat.

And lastly, there was a lot of it that just didn’t make sense. More than in a lot of books, I found myself looking back to see if I’d missed something that could explain what was going on. If I had? I certainly couldn’t find it anywhere. I’m still very confused by the ending, and I’m not a skimmer, so I read everything.

I do not recommend this book, and I won’t be reading the next one.

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