The beginning was really good but the middle became to complex to follow what was happening to the different characters and I feel like getting a pov from the eldest prince’s view would have really solidified this book for me but the ending rounded it off nicely.

The Stardust Thief is a fantastic story based on the Arabian Nights - the forty thieves and the genie in the lamp - woven into a YA fantasy epic.

It sucks you in from the very first page and weaves a tale of deceit and betrayal, full of twists and revelations. The characters of Loulie and Mazen are both likeable and showing some growth as the story unfolds. I can't wait to see their relationship progress and hope their mistrust turns to a strong friendship (will we get a romance? I hope so!).
All of supporting characters are also intriguing and I hope we get more about them!

Can't wait for book 2 in the autumn!

Thanks to NetGalley, Chelsea Abdullah and Orbit for the chance to review the book ahead of it's paperback release in exchange for an independent review.

"Not here or there but long ago..."

The Stardust Thief is an adult epic fantasy inspired by Arabian Nights that had me on the edge of my seat. It follows Loulie, the Midnight Merchant, a seller of magical artifacts. After she saves the youngest crown prince, Mazen, the sultan sends her on a quest for a magical lamp said to house a mighty jinn king. Along with her goes Aisha, a member of the Forty Thieves, and the cowardly prince Mazen in disguise.

I had so much fun while reading this. A truly action-packed adventure featuring jinn both malevolent and good, ghouls and an endless desert. The themes of grief, vengeance and storytelling were well-written. While Abdullah included nods to the original 1001 nights, like Sheherazade, Aladdin and Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, she still spun a truly original tale. Like the original, it also includes stories within the story, which I personally love.

All the characters were fleshed out and had significant character development. I particularly liked the group dynamic between Aisha, Loulie and Mazen. Mazen was completely out of his depth on this adventure and was so inadvertently funny. If you enjoy a dynamic of strong women and somewhat pathetic men, you will like this. I thought the worldbuilding was well done and expansive. There were some twists and turns at the end that I truly didn't anticipate and I can't wait for the sequel! 4/5 stars.

Based on classic folk tales from the Middle East and is a delightful riff on the classic Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. There are hints of the original tale but the author makes this story her own with the divide between humanity and the jinn.
The story is told from the viewpoints of the four main characters, Loulie, Mazen, Aisha and Quadir with the chapters alternating between voices. The story revolves around Loulie al-Nazari who is also the mysterious Midnight Merchant able to find and offer (for a price) outlawed jinn relics to her fellow citizens. Loulie has a tragic backstory, but from this trauma gained her constant companion and bodyguard Quadir, a jinn of many powers.
Jinn are outlawed in human cities and are killed if found, however the killings bring human the benefits of access to jinn blood which has miraculous healing and restorative effects. After Loulie provides a potion of jinn blood to a customer, thus restoring his eye she comes to the notice of the Sultan.
The Sultans last wife was killed by a jinn which led him to reeking bloody revenge by killing all and every jinn in his kingdom. He is aided in this by his oldest son who takes on the mantle of the leader of the forty thieves - the Sultans youngest son Mazen is more like his dead mother, a story teller, dreamer and not a man of action.
The Sultan forces Loulie to search for a mythical lamp which contains a jinn who will obey whoever commands the lamp. Once the lamp is found the jinn will be tasked to kill all of his kind. Twist and turns abound and the search in the desert sands leads to revelations for all the main characters.
I enjoyed the story telling and will be looking out for the sequel, as some of the characters need further development and hopefully this will occur in the subsequent stories.
If you want to be whisked away to a magical land of myths and legends then this is the book for you. My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for access to the ARC, all opinions are my own.

THE STARDUST THIEF's rich world and intriguing lore wallows under tedium and amateur writing.

First disappointment of the year. Massive shame, because I was expecting this to be at least enjoyable if not flawlessly written, but it was neither.

This is another book that reads in the YA voice and feels like it's a YA book with adult-aged characters. There's nothing wrong with a YA book, but when I read adult, I have expectations of the adult genre – and this very much wasn't that. The narration holds your hand, extraneous details of movement plug up space, the characters are repetitively referred to using epithets ('the merchant', 'the prince', 'the bodyguard') and develop in a way that feels more coming-of-age.

Only exacerbated by what I think is THE STARDUST THIEF'S biggest flaw: the juvenile, unedited prose that makes it obvious this is a debut novel. Loulie and co. snort, smirk, roll eyes, and, the worst offender, sigh (about 130 mentions) so much it that it jams the dialogue and makes it tedious to read. I struggled to stay invested – every time I read a chapter my mind would wander and I would have to go back and reread passages, and I never felt compelled to pick up the book.

And, probably because of this, the book feels unnecessarily long. On their way to find the lamp, Loulie and Mazen are also joined by Qadir, Loulie's undercover jinn bodyguard, and Aisha, one of Omar's company – who also gets a POV of her own. I have to admit, even though her story ended up being the most interesting after certain twists, I didn't vibe with Aisha's chapters at all, and I think it's because the book was already so long and convoluted that adding Aisha's to the mix felt egregious, or at least overly drawn-out. This book is 147k words and could've had at least 50k chopped off and been stronger for it. I unfortunately had to skim from about 70% of the way through for all THE STARDUST THIEF seemed to wallow in the vastness its own world.

Which is a shame, because the world is so richly rendered and the lore is so interesting. There is magic, souks, elusive derelict palaces in the sand, unique and sinister jinn who plot and deceive. I particularly loved the fables told between the story to add context and breathe realism into THE STARDUST THIEF'S fairytale-esque world.

The characters were also fun – even though, again, they could be aged down and nothing would change. Loulie was more milquetoast than I would've liked – seeking revenge against the shadowed killer who murdered her entire tribe and aloof in her role as the Midnight Merchant, but also not exaggerated enough to make me believe it, that she really was hell bent on revenge, that she really was aloof and composed. Mazen was a bit of a loser, but in a charming way, even though his place in the story feels contrived. Their romance together feels rather left-field because all of their interactions could be read as friendly – I got more romantic tension from him and Aisha than I did with him and Loulie.

All that's to say is, other people will undoubtedly enjoy this more than I did and I think it came down to personal taste, and I really liked Qadir's story. If you can put aside the flaws, you will really enjoy this read.

WILL I READ ON? No. I wouldn't mind reading another book by Abdullah again though, when she has a few more books under her belt.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC of this book.
Oh what a delight this book was. It takes some time to get to know this world and its characters. But it's totally worth it. The Midnight Merchant, the Prince (who's also a storyteller), the Bodyguard and the Thief form an incredible quartet. The book's magic system is unique. Jinns enchant so called reliques which are quite pricey and the possession and the selling of magical objects is forbidden. But our main cast's task is it to get a magical lamp for the sultan. On their way they have to encounter other jinn, ghouls and other things that live in the desert. While our cast learns what really happened in the past.
I really loved the various stories that were included in the story and I'm soo excited for the next book.

This is an adventurous story about a group of characters that are sent out to search the desert for a magical relict and bring it back to the sultan. while they are on their way, they encounter magic, epic battles, enchanted jinn objects and lots of fascinating places.

while the description of the book sounded wonderful to me, this was actually a very dragging read. it felt so slow and I didn't feel a connection to any of the characters. all the places, while very descriptive, somehow lacked atmosphere and the battles didn't feel so epic after all. What was meant to be creepy was at best somewhat interesting to me.

I'm not really sure if I want to continue this series. Though i must say that I really liked the ending, because all the time, while where a lot of dramatic scenes, it didn't seem like there were huge consequences for the characters and this really changed towards the end. This is why I might read the next book.

I really enjoyed reading this book! The word building was magnificent, the plot was engaging and intense, and I loved most of the characters (not you Omar).

Loulie and Qadir had such a sweet, loving, familial friendship, and they were definitely my favourite part of the book.

Mazen was adorable and I really enjoyed his journey in this book, as he began to grow more in to his own skin (there is a joke there, you’ll get it if you’ve read the book) and realise his own worth. Of course, this is massively challenged at the end of the book when things happen, but still, Mazen went through so much in this book that forced him to come to terms with himself (even if it wasn’t always comfortable).

This was similar with Aisha. I liked her, even when she was being challenging (again, if you know you know). She had her own journey to go on in this book, and still, like the rest, has a long battle ahead of her. But I liked seeing her grow in to herself (I’d say her own person but…again, if you know, you know).

I didn’t always guess where this book was going, but I enjoyed seeing how things came together.

I’m very excited to see where the sequel goes. I genuinely have no idea what it has in store for me, and I’m intrigued!

This desert fantasy is about a merchant (fancy word for smuggler 😅in this book) Loulie Al Nazari and her jinn bodyguard Qadir, a Prince and a thief who are forced to go on an epic adventure in search of a magical relic.

What I liked
- amazing world building! Especially in the second half
- The small stories within the book
- Ahmed Bin Walid (can’t say much without spoilers)
- All the buildup and intrigue towards an unknown villain
- Zero romance

What didn’t work for me
- The main characters, the merchant and prince Mazen of whom I expected a lot and was very very disappointed. Loulie is given an amazing intro at the beginning but the rest of the story does not hold any evidence to that greatness. I wasn’t rooting for either of them. The only POV that was good and was interesting to read was the thief’s - Aisha.
- Also, a major part of the plot was —> Ifrit attack-make stupid mistake-ifrit attack - repeat.
- Sometimes the magic was difficult for me to understand or visualize what was happening coz there’s a lot of shadow and illusion magic and it all went over my head.
- 4 main characters and three POVs to follow throughout and none of them are the titular character, The stardust thief 😫

What I expected
- POV from Qadir, the jinn.
- More of Ahmed ☹️
- Mazen and Loulie to behave like adults 😕
- More clearer explanation on jinn-human conflicts but I believe this will be answered in upcoming books.

But the last few pages made it worthwhile and I’m surprised to say I wanna know what happens next.
I’m conflicted between a 3.75 or 4 ✨rating.


Thanks to @netgalley and @orbitbooks_uk for the e-arc.

Thank you Netgalley for the arc!

A great storytelling that left me speechless and left me wanting more! The last chapter makes me want to hurry up the author to publish her second book immediately. I must say I didn't expect to actually enjoy this whole roller-coaster rides, but fortunately I did, and oh I like the plot so much. The thing I adore the most about this book is the never-ending twists and secrets. There's always layers of surprises await for readers to uncover them. The characters, despite being imperfect, they make the story marvellous. I don't think I ever find heros that are imperfect as lots of fantasy books comprised of 'talented, perfect and handsome looks' kind of people, The Stardust Thief debunked that notion that people are flawed and that's what makes them human and perfect in their own way. Totally immersed in the story, and I can't wait for the sequel!

"The Stardust Thief" by Chelsea Abdullah is a thrilling fantasy novel set in a desert land where magic and danger lurk around every corner.
The main character, Midnight Merchant Loulie, is a criminal who uses her cunning and resourcefulness to hunt and sell illegal magic. However, her life takes a risky turn when she attracts the attention of the despotic sultan who blackmails her into finding an ancient artefact. The journey to find the artefact is not without perils, as Loulie is accompanied by the sultan's oldest son, who is a secretive and dangerous man. The story is quite fast-paced and action-packed, with Loulie and her jinn bodyguard facing a series of thrilling challenges and obstacles. The author's writing is lush and descriptive, evoking the heat and danger of the desert landscape. The novel is not just a thrilling adventure, but also a thought-provoking story that explores themes of power, identity, and self-discovery. I highly recommend "The Stardust Thief" to fans of fantasy fiction, and those who enjoy stories full of adventure and magic creatures.

This book delivers everything the blurb and the book cover promises. A fast-paced story you can get lost in, with jinn and thieves, magical relics and and vast sand dunes. There's a hint of romance but nothing too obvious (though I am expecting more on this field in Book 2!). I really enjoyed this mixture of fairy tales, myths and Arabian adventures, and I got a very different ending to what I'd expected. Which is great!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group / Orbit books for an Advance Review Copy.

I am a bit of a newbie when it comes to the fantasy and mythology genre, but, I am widening my perspectives and so far loving it. The author has done this brilliantly. The story is beautifully written, the characters come alive on the page, the settings pop and all characters have believable voices. This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

This book is such amazing, incredible. The world created by the author has potential, is fascinating and you can see it by scrolling through the pages!
The characters were such amazing, and so funny. We see them grow and develop in such an incredible way!
There were so many twists that i loved, awesome fights and incredible lands discovered.
This is such a beatiful book, a incredible story! I love everything!

This first - but hopefully not last - novel from Chelsea Abdullah is a lively, action packed Arabian Nights style fantasy adventure. There are three viewpoint characters: Loulie, trader in illegal magical artefacts; Aisha, a thief and assassin of djinn; and Mazen, the bookish youngest son of the Sultan. These three are thrown together, along with Loulie's djinn bodyguard Qadir, on a quest into the deep desert to find a lost enchanted lamp. All sorts of perils soon befall them, and all of them are hiding big secrets which gradually come out in dramatic fashion.

It's a sparkling, fast paced tale with lots of incident and excitement, although all of it purposeful and relevant to the ongoing storyline. Abdullah writes action very well, but there are plenty of quieter moments too. The characters are interesting and likeable, and the settings are vividly conjured up. You will feel like you've been in the desert - though fortunately without getting covered in sand. There are all the twists and turns you expect in a story of this type, and I wasn't quite sure how it would unfold. Various stories from the Arabian Nights are referenced or adapted - I think it will be equally enjoyable for those familiar and unfamiliar with the tales.

Fans of SA Chakraborty's 'Daevabad' trilogy will certainly enjoy this. I would go as far as to say I think 'The Stardust Thief' is even better - it's faster paced and the backstory/politics is less complicated to absorb and remember. There is lots of scope for great fantasy set in this 'Arabian Nights' genre, the exotic setting and host of magical creatures make it perfect for escapism. Although I was sorry when the book ended, I am certain there will be a sequel - assuming this one does well, which it deserves to.

Highly recommended to all fantasy fans, to anyone who likes stories set in the Middle East/North Africa, and even to readers who only occasionally dip into the fantasy genre for the highest quality books. It's good enough to be enjoyed by even the last category.

The Stardust thief by Chelsea
Publisher Little Brown Book Group Uk
Publication Date 26 January
Genre : Sci and Fantasy
This book gives me an more adultish Aladdin vibes especially as Ashia is one of the forty thief's. Welcome to a bright and vibrant world bulding adventure interlaced with mythology. This is like an adult Aladdin. It was a perfectly adequate desert fantasy, but given how good the ending was compared to the dragging midpoint, this book could have used more editing. The characters were fine, but lacked the details and subtext of an Adult novel, making it read more like a middle-tier YA Fantasy. Despite this, I felt like I was reading a better version of a book called We Hunt The Flame while reading this (which I rated one star).

The novel's short stories were unquestionably my favourite part. The environment was beautifully described, and I was eager to learn more about it. Even though I tend to favour more qualitative fantasy writing, I think the author did an excellent job. These characters are extremely well written and very likeable.

introduced to a world way jinn or kill their blood and the possession of illegal Relics. Loulie whom is a merchant and seller of his embarks upon a journey to help find a magical lamp.




#bookreview #goodreads #scifictionandfantasy #thestardustthief #NetGalley #booktok #bookclub #booklover

Do you remember Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, Shahrazad the storyteller of One Thousand and One Nights and master of Jinni of the Lamp?

This is it, only here we have Omar, King of the Forty Thieves; Shafia, sultan's late wife; and Layla who lost her parent!

Twenty years old Loulie al-Nazari (her birth name is Layla) is a Midnight Merchant, an esteemed magic seller. She and her partner in crime, Jinn Qadir have a compass that could lead them to anything and sell not very magical relics to fools.

Mazen, sultan second son, had been only twelve years old when a jinn had killed his mother. The reason his father is killing Jinns and his brother Omar, High Prince of Madinne, the great Jinn killer, the most feared hunter in the desert.

Aisha, not a hero, but since she’d picked up a blade, promised to kill them all, anyway. She is one of Omar's forty thieves, loyal and talented!

An impossible mission ties Layla, Mazan and Aisha's destinies to each other. Sultan wants a myth relic, the legendary lamp!

"What else would a power-hungry fool want but destruction?"

You may find it interesting to know we have ghouls, invisibility cloak and the Stardust Thief is Omar's title: A man who stole jinn lives. A killer dressed in silver blood. color of Jinns blood!

An entertaining read, a little flat, unengaging with unconfident characters but promising for the next book.

Thanks to Orbit via Netgalley for DRC, I have given my honest review.

What a journey!! It’s been a while since I’ve full on dived into a fantasy book, so I was a bit overwhelmed at first, but, how amazing was this?
The world was magical and otherworldly, descriptive and fascinating!
The characters were funny, relatable, annoying. We see them grow and develop in such an incredible way!
There were so many twists and turns, awesome fights and incredible lands discovered.
It felt like I was watching a great movie on the big screen!

The Stardust Thief was such an exciting fantasy to read. Loosely inspired by A Hundred and One Nights, the author does a fantastic job of setting the scene of this desert kingdom filled with magic and mystery. I enjoyed the take on Jinns and how their magic works, I found our four MCs captivating and their personality differences worked well together. There were quite a few plot twists throughout the book (some more obvious than others) and there was never a dull moment in the story. Can’t wait to read the sequel!

I was offered this book as an ARC via NetGalley and am always interested to read reinterpretations of older tales. The Stardust Thief is very loosely based on The Arabian Nights tales. I have to admit that I have yet to read a copy of the original tales so any preconceived ideas I have are based upon pop culture. I liked that Chelsea Abdullah swapped genders for some principle characters and that they used words in the native language (I did have to look many of these up online) as it helped immerse the reader in the culture. It was a fun, lighthearted read with lots of twists and turns.