Take a photo of a barcode or cover
moonlightcupofcocoa 's review for:
The Stardust Thief
by Chelsea Abdullah
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
(I read this book for Ifrits and Inks Book Club)
The book starts out simple enough. We have our protagonist, Louie, and her djinn companion, Qadir. The setting seems vibrant. I want that coin of hers. Good, good, good.
Hold on! We have a second protagonist! Oh hey, Prince is sweet enough. A bit naive. It’s okay, we love him even if he wants to smuggle a large carpet back into the palace he just snuck out of. He reminds me of a golden retriever and I like golden retrievers.
… wait, is there a third protagonist? I usually don’t like that many characters in the focus. But Aisha is kinda epic, maybe I’ll give her an exception.
So far, lovely readers, things are fine. Fun, but nothing epic. Then, all hell breaks loose. The moment those three start their mission, it all changes. The story takes a darker turn, runs at a good pacing and honestly managed to surprise me quite a bit (even if one could guess who the villain is).
What I found more impressive, however, was the fact that it didn’t do this at the expense of character development. Not only did I enjoy, and get attached, to all three main, characters and many of the side characters, the book also managed to give each of them enough space to grow and shine that by the end of the book they’re pretty changed.
I, also, really loved that the book embraced its One Thousand And One Nights roots, but made it its own. You will notice elements from the original tales, but they evolved into a piece of the overall lore of the book wonderfully. I am intrigued by the djinn, ifrits and ghoul lore especially!
While I’ve seen some people say they didn’t enjoy that the writing style itself is a bit simplistic, I honestly didn’t feel that way. Perhaps it wasn’t as poetic or flowery, but that didn’t detract from the story that was being told. I thought the writing style was perfect for the pacing and the genre.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and was hooked immediately into the sequel!
You can also find me on: Instagram
The book starts out simple enough. We have our protagonist, Louie, and her djinn companion, Qadir. The setting seems vibrant. I want that coin of hers. Good, good, good.
Hold on! We have a second protagonist! Oh hey, Prince is sweet enough. A bit naive. It’s okay, we love him even if he wants to smuggle a large carpet back into the palace he just snuck out of. He reminds me of a golden retriever and I like golden retrievers.
… wait, is there a third protagonist? I usually don’t like that many characters in the focus. But Aisha is kinda epic, maybe I’ll give her an exception.
So far, lovely readers, things are fine. Fun, but nothing epic. Then, all hell breaks loose. The moment those three start their mission, it all changes. The story takes a darker turn, runs at a good pacing and honestly managed to surprise me quite a bit (even if one could guess who the villain is).
What I found more impressive, however, was the fact that it didn’t do this at the expense of character development. Not only did I enjoy, and get attached, to all three main, characters and many of the side characters, the book also managed to give each of them enough space to grow and shine that by the end of the book they’re pretty changed.
I, also, really loved that the book embraced its One Thousand And One Nights roots, but made it its own. You will notice elements from the original tales, but they evolved into a piece of the overall lore of the book wonderfully. I am intrigued by the djinn, ifrits and ghoul lore especially!
While I’ve seen some people say they didn’t enjoy that the writing style itself is a bit simplistic, I honestly didn’t feel that way. Perhaps it wasn’t as poetic or flowery, but that didn’t detract from the story that was being told. I thought the writing style was perfect for the pacing and the genre.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and was hooked immediately into the sequel!
You can also find me on: Instagram
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, Abandonment