Oh my goodness, this book was GORGEOUS. Packed with lush mythology, vividly realised characters and SO MUCH VOICE, it sucked me right into its world and I was hooked (genuinely struggled to put it down once I got going which says a lot as I have been stuck in a major reading slump!). I adored Loulie, Mazen, Qadir and Aisha, and I can't wait to see what happens in the next book!

his is such a stunning adventure!

one that weaves lush mythology and vibrant world-building to create an immerse narrative that you wont want to leave. it does an amazing job of incorporating the tales from ‘a thousand and one nights’ within a fresh and engaging plot. and the characters are such exciting travel companions every step of the way.

i have been desperate for something to fill the void that the end of ‘the daevabad trilogy’ created, and this fits perfectly. i cant wait for this series to continue!

such a massive thanks to orbit books for the ARC!!

The Stardust Thief is the kind of book that you're enjoy reading, you're having a nice enough time with it, but at the end of the day you do realise that it was all a bit underwhelming. Not in the way that it's badly written (like I said, you are having fun with it!), but kind of unpolished. Maybe not given the right amount of care. And maybe the author not having enough confidence in both her own writing skills, and the readers' reading comprehension skills.

Because the main issue with The Stardust Thief is its worldbuilding. It's interesting, the bones are right there to make something great, but it's just... not. It doesn't live up to its potential. It doesn't have enough depth. Looks like the author, in order to avoid info-dumping (which in itself is a good thing), accidentally also avoided adding some meat to said bones. And it's disappointing since it's very clear she would be able to make it better, that she has the skill for it.

I'm not sure I will be picking up the sequel, but I will be interested in any new series from Abdullah.

Incredible adventure Middle Eastern fantasy with an iconic main protagonist. This book was so well paced and easy to follow despite multiple POVs. Can’t wait for the sequel

The Stardist Thief is a very good novel, that I enjoyed reading. I particularly loved the tales that are imbricated into the story and is very original.
The plot is quite good, full of twists and I had a great time. Worldbuilding is also very complete.
Characters are very realistic, with coherent emotions and feelings. The relation between Loulie and Qadir is very beautiful, I loved their friendship.

I love the journey, would definitively recommand !

I found this a bit tricky to get into. There's a lot of lore. There were parts I Ioved - the desert world, the culture, the main character. But the pacing was off and it's very slow in the middle.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC to review. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I loved the storytelling, narrative voice, and the worldbuilding was so lush.

I’m always intrigued in retelling or “inspired” tales because they give me new insights to the source text. I wanted more from this considering it was listed as Adult fantasy, but it felt more like YA. I did enjoy it, and I appreciated the diversity of voices we’re getting in the publishing industry lately, and would love to see more. I wish this story was a standalone, but it was clear the whole time it is heading to sequels

I was a little disappointed in this. The premise and the characters are good - Loulie especially stands out - but it was ultimately a little frustrating. About two thirds of the way through it was clear that the book wasn't going to wrap anything up and that it was heading for a sequel, which is just a bit irritating. There didn't feel like there was much effort in tying up any of the storylines and leaving other things for the next book. It also had a definite YA vibe rather than adult.

Overall I'd say it's enjoyable reading, but wait until the full series is published as you won't get any resolutions otherwise!

*3.75 stars

If this had been marketed as young adult fantasy instead of its adult counterpart, this could have been grand. The story follows Loulie al-Nazari as she—and the people she is bound to travel with, either by choice or by force—unwillingly works for the sultan in searching for a lamp that will save the land but destroy all jinnkind. Adventure stories, when done well, sweep me away with them easily, and I found myself enjoying my read as I followed the characters through the desert. It helped that the novel takes its cues from Sheherazade's Thousand Nights and One Night; this may be one of the few things that sets the book apart from several others of its like, but it truly was enough to please me. A few of the characters could have been more fleshed out, especially the main villains, but I particularly liked how—apart from Loulie and Qadir—character relationships weren't the focus of the story.

Thank you to NetGalley as well as Little, Brown Book Group UK for providing me with an eARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

An interesting book that keeps you hooked,page after page to the end. I would recommend this book to everyone who likes a good read.

The time has come for me to admit to myself and the world that The Stardust Thief simply did not work for me. I DNF'd it at around 60%, so I still feel that I have some thoughts on the story that are worth sharing, but do take my opinion with a grain of salt, as I have not finished the book.

I was SUPER excited for this. Fantasy based on mythology, with vengeful djinn, cowardly princes, mysterious merchants and a whole bunch of magic - this just sounded so, so good. And while the beginning seemed promising, the story ultimately just didn't hold up for me. The characters didn't have enough depth to stay compelling for long, the quest they set out on felt way too linear to hold my attention, and certain aspects just seemed utterly repetitive after a while. Frankly, I just got bored of it, and I don't think anyone could be sadder about that that I am myself.
A few reviews have already mentioned this, but I also do feel that this reads more like YA fantasy than Adult fantasy. That's not to say that there is anything wrong with YA - I love Young Adult! - but going into this, expecting it to be catered towards Adult audiences, I just expected some more complexity and depth to the story.

Don't let me dissuade you from giving this a try, though. What did not work for me might be right up your alley.

Let me start by saying that I couldn't put this book down. That said, a lot of the time I found great difficulty in understanding what was going on. I understood the this was retelling of the story of Aladin, resetting the key characters in a more complete "allegorical world" than our childhood story allowed. A story we all know, Aladin recovers the lamp with the genie, three wishes etc. etc
Ms. Abdullah created heroic characters on a quest, and I was fully invested in the successful outcome of both the quest, and the development and interaction of Loulie, the eponymous thief, her partner Qadir, Mazen and even Aisha with her role never quite clear until the big reveal at the end.
I am in the curious situation, having loved the key characters, been invested in their futures, but not really understanding much of what was going on in the story. I am unable to explain clearly how the author achieved this strange feat, clearly she has talent beyond the wit of my keypad.

I really enjoyed this story despite some of the lengths it had in the second half of the novel. I like the trope of a character being given no choice but having to accept an impossible assignment, like the world of otherworldly creatures and humans, the sense of 1001 night. Cannot wait for the second book to come out.

First off, I continue to be genuinely pleased that there is a growing rep of ownvoices offering lovely, vibrant takes on fantasy cultures that are not inspired by standard issue Western staples. I am also pleased to find a book written without a strong non-romantic central relationship: as much as I love a good romance, I like to see this happening! The bond between the heroine and her adoptive family member slash bodyguard was very wholesome and clearly the foundation of the story.

As for the rest, my gripes are unfortunately the same old: despite not being marketed as a YA, this book very much feels like one. The luster of simpler times and childhood fairytales helps balance this out somewhat, but for me, it ended up detaching me from the narration. If you have no similar qualms, and love a good plantonic relationship (and may I say, loved Daevabad), you may very well enjoy it more than I did.

Thanks to #netgalley for an ARC of #thestardustthief

I’ve been intrigued by this, and I was lucky enough to get an ARC, and then I received a gorgeous hardcopy from FairyLoot, so I had to read it! This was a very fun read. It seems to straddle the balance between the YA premise and quick pace, but with the older characters and slightly more serious themes of Adult Fantasy. It’s an interesting world, using mythology I’m lucky enough to get more and more exposed to, and uses the Arabian Nights stories in a fresh new way. I loved that our characters were given space to create and develop bonds, as well as their stories, without any of the complications that I normally care less for – give it the time it needs! Keen to see where the next part of the tale takes us in the sequel, as this is the first of a new trilogy!

La autora de The Stardust Thief tiene un origen ecléctico ya que es estadounidense y kuwaití, esto es algo que se refleja perfectamente en esta historia de djinns, magia y desiertos que da comienzo a una trilogía destinada a hacerse un hueco en el mundo de la fantasía


Hay varias cosas que llaman la atención en la lectura de esta novela. La primera es el maravilloso mundo que crea Abdullah, reminiscente de otras historias de clara influencia árabe pero con personalidad propia, intercalando entre los capítulos propios de la novela relatos que recuerdan a las mil y una noches y que sirven para dotar al relato de más consistencia e interés. Los personajes también son muy atractivos, desde la Mercader de Medianoche a los ladrones y familiares del sultán. El relato sobre la búsqueda de un artefacto mágico se trocará en aventura por la supervivencia cuando entren en acción ghouls y otras criaturas mágicas, pero siempre teniendo presente el objetivo principal.

La magia está íntimamente imbricada en la narración, apareciendo de forma más leve con el uso de artefactos mágicos con efecto discreto o por la propia intervención de los poderosos djinns, cuya historia también iremos conociendo conforme se van desarrollando los acontecimientos.

El ritmo se mantiene bastante bien a lo largo de la novela, si bien es cierto que debido a su longitud en algunos pasajes se resiente. Afortunadamente son pocos momentos, porque la autora ha sabido espaciar juiciosamente los momentos de introspección con otros de más acción. Además, el juego de ir cambiando de punto de vista a lo largo de la novela es bastante equilibrado, no se puede decir que haya una perspectiva que sea eminentemente más interesante que otra.

Resulta también muy interesantes las revelaciones que se van haciendo hacia el tercio final del libro, sin duda semillas para el desarrollo de los siguientes libros. Se nota que la autora tiene bastante definido el camino que tiene que seguir su historia, y va plantando las ideas que serán el origen de las tramas posteriores.

Menos gracia me hizo el cliffhanger del final del libro, algo que parece casi inevitable en los principios de las series, pero que no por ello me hace más gracia.

Chelsea Abdullah ha conseguido despertar mi interés por saga, así que sin duda me haré con la siguiente entrega.

"One cannot know the outcome of a journey if one is not brave enough to take it"
What a journey this book was!!!!
This story was all encompassing from the very first page. The story follows Loulie and her bodyguard Qadir embark on a quest for a jinn relic through sandseas, lost cities, grief and friendship.
This has to be one of my favourite books I've read in a long time. The world, the stories, the gods, I found myself believing in it all.
Thank you Netgalley for giving me a copy of this to review, I am now going to go out and buy a beautiful hardback version and eagerly await the next installment.
#TheStardustThief #NetGalley

This book was such an enjoyable read and a great adventure story! The worldbuilding was incredible, in depth and full of lush descriptions. It was very easy to picture everything that happened. The characters were my favourite part though and literally jumped off the page. I’m extremely excited to see what will happen next after that ending!!

Thank you for a copy of this book for review. I really enjoyed the adventure and the banter between the characters. I wish for more books by Chelsea so that we can have more to read in this setting.