Now this was a breath of fresh air. This Sapphic fantasy Renaissance is great to see. Glad that I was able to read this and am looking forward to everything else she will write.

I was incredibly eager to pick up this novel, and I’m happy to report it didn’t disappoint! I was drawn into this tale right from the start, and the lore and plot are very compelling. If the pacing had been more consistent and if I’d formed an even stronger personal connection to our characters, I’d probably have been able to rate this higher. As it is, I still very much enjoyed the book and look forward to the next one!

I genuinely loved this book. The magic and adventure had me captivated. Reading about the Midnight Merchant and her bodyguard jinn put me in another world and I loved the One Thousand and One Nights magic and myth included. The circumstances around their adventure, the danger they were put in, and the friendships formed were fantastic.

The heroism amidst despair, the friendship amidst tragedy, the bravery amidst betrayal. It was all there. I loved Loulie and Qadir’s relationship, Mazen’s struggles and the bond they somehow managed to form. You will genuinely worry for the well-being of these characters, especially Qadir, the jinn who is traveling with a jinn-hunter. The search for jinn relics and the power they hold is very high-stakes and those on the journey are in constant danger, often from their own companions. Fantastic book and I can’t wait for the sequel!

honestly? a slay! i'm so picky choosey with adult fantasy, even though i consider it my favorite genre, but this one was great! really well defined characters which is so important with a quest type story

The Stardust Thief is the first in a new series, The Sandsea Triolgy. Enticing premise and for those that enjoy jinns, magic, with the likes of Arabian Nights this is right up your ally. I found it interesting but not the best thing ever.

3.5/5

The Stardust Thief initially reminded me of We Hunt the Flame. A cloaked protagonist with a mysterious alias who is unusually good at locating things teams up with a prince to find a Magical Thing; desert adventures and mishaps ensue. I found this book and its characters to be much more engaging, however, and ultimately, I had a really fun time with this story! I do think it dragged in parts that were obviously meant to tease out certain plot twists, but I'm definitely intrigued enough to pick up the sequel when it comes out.

It took me a little while to get into this one, but once the action picked up, I quite enjoyed it! I particularly enjoyed Mazen, weaving stories into power, and would hope to see more of that in a sequel.

Well, I was pretty surprised to read that this is marketed to be an adult fantasy because it didn't feel like one at all. The whole time I was reading it I was convinced it was YA (which isn't a bad thing, but has different expectations for me) because the characters all felt pretty juvenile and sometimes one-dimensional to me. However, I understand that this is a debut novel and this book is a really promising start.

I did enjoy being immersed in an Arabian world, it felt like something fresh from a lot of the other current fantasy series. Also, I liked the premise of the world hating the jinn and seeing them as evil while you travel alongside one that was honestly probably my favorite character. I ended up DNFing at about 50% of the way through because I didn't feel like the characters were growing or progressing, it felt like being in the heads of young teenagers trying to act like adults. I really disliked the male main character, there was just something off-putting about him. Overall, I just didn't really like most of the characters and even though the world was interesting, the journey itself was not for me. But, there is a whole lot of promise there, so if an Arabian YA-like fantasy interests you, then I'd check it out!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

All in all, I truly loved The Stardust Thief. I loved its characters and their journeys, its worldbuilding, the way its author wove retellings of One Thousand and One Nights into the story, and the multiple perspectives and the ethical questions that constantly arose. With a thrilling adventure, a world brimming with Arab culture, identity shenanigans, magical artifacts, and jinn, readers are certain to find in this novel—and, perhaps, this whole series—both a very enjoyable, and a thoroughly thought-provoking, read.
-- Safia H Senhaji

This book!!! I knew this was going to be something special and... quick notes version... it was all that and then some! Even though I received an eARC of this book, it sounded perfectly suited to what I was craving and the voice actors were incredibly emotive and distinct... they really sealed the deal... I had to have it on audiobook so... I bought it and you know what?? I am thankful I did. I will definitely be gifting copies to some friends and family this holiday, that's how much I enjoyed it! It did have a few slow spots but the background's ambiance and the character's kaleidoscopic essences were enough to smoothe over any sluggish spots. BUT don't worry about the slogging areas... when it picks back up?? Wooo weee does it get good! I'd say that the last 10 (or so) chapters were more than worth the price of admission and the very last few reveals are both heartbreaking and hopeful. And where 2 of the 3 MCs end up??
*** Chef's Kiss ***

This managed to put forth a cast of characters so enchanting that I was won over by each and every one of them... except for 1... you know who you are!! I loved the rest fiercely, even all 3 MCs in their own ways. I don't want to give away too much but let me say that I just now reached the end and I want to start it all over again... and that's not like me... at all! So I'll just leave that here and you can make of it what you will.


Overall:
This remastered version of A 1001 Arabian Nights was not only a skilled Own Voice homage it also gifted us a lush backdrop and equally beguiling chatacters all steeped in beautifully represented Mythology told in Abdullah's dreamy prose. The audiobook both blew me away and reigned me in, helpless to look away. The 3 narrators were exceptional and vividly brought this gem to life. I'll quit the (much deserved) fangirling but leave off letting you know that this went above and beyond my expectations and perfectly scratched the itch that was left behind by my completion of the Daevabad Trilogy... if you were a fan of that series, you're going to Love this!! I can't wait to see where this story goes from here! Bring on book #2!!

*** I received an advance review copy for free from NetGalley and I am leaving this review voluntarily. ***

Overall, The Stardust Thief is a well-written story. I have never read 1001 nights so I can't compare this re-imagining to it. I believe the author did a fantastic job with the world building. The characters were likeable but somewhat unremarkable, which seems to be due to a lack of character development. It just beeded an extra push to make them less one dimensional. The pacing was decent considering that this is the first in a series and has to be more descriptive.

Getting lost in a world conjured by Chelsea Abdullah in The Stardust Thief reminded me why I adore the fantasy genre. From the imperfect characters and their found family to the world-building and adventure, the Stardust Thief is adventurous and simply fantastic.

In The Stardust Thief we find ourselves in the midst of the action when Loulie al-Nazari, a heroic and strong-willed protagonist finds herself on a quest to locate a powerful relic at the Sultan’s command. There’s jinn and those who hate them, there’s danger lurking in unknown places and the allure of forbidden power. Where will this quest take our charming group of characters?

Abdullah takes readers on a rich journey full of stories and myths told throughout, and delectable scenes for the senses. I really enjoyed this and can’t wait for the sequel!

Absolutely loved this title, I had to purchase the physical copy! Amazing work from Chelsea, truly beautiful writing and story

The publisher archived the ARC on Netgalley before I could download it to my kindle, leaving me unable to read or review the book.

Unfortunatly not appropriate enough for our school's extremely religious and conservative library, but I did enjoy it very much. Look forward to the follow ups!

I was really excited for this novel because it is inspired by a story from One Thousand and One Nights. However, this novel was really hard for me to get into. Very little happens in the story, and the characters seem to be very flat. Nevertheless, it was light read with fantastic world-building. I recommend this for fans of fairytale retellings, and I am interested in reading the sequel. This novel is perfect for fans of The Girl who Fell Beneath the Sea, Spin the Dawn, and Flame in the Midst!

I first heard about this book because of an author I love raving about it, and from then on it was one of my most anticipated releases for early 2022. While it didn’t quite live up to those lofty heights, I did still generally enjoy my time with this book, and I’m quite excited to see where things will go after how it ended!

This book was fairly slow, and it ended up taking a while for me to properly get into it, unfortunately. For the first half of this book, I was worried if it was going to live up to my excitement, and it wasn’t until the last third of the book that I finally was fully drawn in. If this were a book I was less excited for, I might not have been able to push myself through, but I am really glad I did! I do still think this book suffers a bit from this, which is why it never quite reached the 5-star rating I had hoped for.

My main issue with this book was that it took me quite a while to feel connected or know any of the characters. For a long time, this book felt very plot and world heavy, without spending enough time with the characters to really build them up. While I love interesting plots and intriguing worlds, my main source of connection to a book will always be through the characters, and if not enough time is spent here early on, it’s harder to draw me fully into that book. This was this book’s main weak point, I didn’t feel as if enough time was spent on the characters and building them up until way too late into this first book, and it made me feel disconnected from the story at the beginning. However, unlike many books where this is an issue, I was able to connect with them much later in the story, and found myself much more invested in the latter half of this book!

I also adored the world itself, especially how it felt wrapped in stories and myth and magic. It felt like a world full of possibilities and cruelties, and I can’t wait to explore more of this in the second book now that I’m fully enmeshed in the plot. There’s so much potential here, and I find myself extremely excited for The Ashfire King!

Thank you to Orbit for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah, the first in the Sandsea Trilogy, is a beautiful and compelling fantasy debut. Inspired by stories from One Thousand and One Nights, and infused with a love of stories, storytelling, and myths, The Stardust Thief is full of layered and lovable characters, an interesting plot with many unexpected twists, and a beautifully rendered Arab-inspired world.

I am so pleased to have written about how much I enjoyed the characters, worldbuilding, and ethical questions of The Stardust Thief for Strange Horizons, and you can read the full review here: http://strangehorizons.com/non-fiction/the-stardust-thief-by-chelsea-abdullah/

*I received a copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review*
This was actually a really fascinating book! I can't wait to get to read the sequel!

Compelling fantasy with well developed characters featuring different POVs. I throughly enjoyed the immersive writing style, and felt like I was transported in this world right alongside our characters. I would definitely recommend this book to lovers of the fantasy genre who crave a more diverse setting and cast of characters in their reading experience.