Abdullah did an incredible job with this debut. The worldbuilding was lush, and the characters were fantastic. I seriously can’t wait for book two!

I just checked and I made it about 35% of the way through the audiobook and sadly DNFed it. I do, however want to try again in the future and will update my feedback if I do.

I think what I really needed was a long and in-depth book to just push me and really get me in the mood to read long fantasy books again and this really did! Even though this is under 500 pages so it’s not actually that long, but it felt like it was. That is quite impressive, though – to seem like a long book even though it’s not a long book (I think long books are usually over 500 pages?).

It is such an immersive book, it really just drags you into the story, making you forget where you actually are because it truly felt like I was traveling with the characters, living the story with them – which is honestly my biggest wish when I’m reading (especially fantasy) books. Abdullah can definitely pat herself on the back because it is really impressive and I can’t wait to read everything else she has (and I very much hope she’ll be writing more after this trilogy is complete).

The characters are really what drew me in first. They’re rich, well-written, complicated without being too complicated. They’re exactly the type of characters you’d want to have and follow in a fantasy series. Loulie al-Nazari is just the type of female main character I want to see in a book – smart, capable, one who knows herself. I always love any type of magical items in books, so of course her finding and selling ancient relics made me like her more. I also like her strong personality and the fact that she’s a strong character who speaks her mind. Qadir is definitely my favourite character and he just needs so many naps because he’s so busy being the Dad™️ of the group. I NEED his POV in the sequel, you don’t understand how much. He’s funny and I love him. I loved reading his relationship with Loulie and how he cares for her.

Mazen and Aisha are two characters that I didn’t think I’d like but I grew to really like them. Mazen, originally unsure about basically everything, really started to come more into his personality and shared what he loved – telling stories. I loved hearing the stories and the big emphasis that they had in the book – which just goes to show you how important oral storytelling is in various cultures. I didn’t like Aisha at the start but she grew on me with her fierce personality and how she just forges on, not caring what people care about her.

The oral storytelling plays a big role in the book and I love how Abdullah ties the storytelling to culture, mythology, and history. The writing and world-building are both stunning and vibrant. Rich with description – especially the food – it made hungry several times 😂. The plot is substantial and there are several subplots that, once again, can be linked to the stories told in the book. A big part of the plot is going on a quest (already fantastic) in order to acquire an ancient relic – which also ties a lot into the storytelling, culture, history, etc etc.

I enjoyed the narration of this story. Our 3 main players are given a separate narrator and I liked that this helped bring each character to life. Unfortunately I just couldn't get into the story. Not for me Unfortunately

This book was EVERYTHING! BEAUTIFUL, ADVENTUROUS, DANGEROUS AND SO MAGICAL!
If you love stories inspired by The Arabian Nights, Jinn stories and stories that are plot driven and exclude romance — this one is for you!
Filled with political pressure, magic disappearing, Jinns being hunted, life brings together a simple merchant girl and a struggling prince, a Jinn guard : on a quest to retrieve a magical item.
The twist and turns are unexpected, you always root for the MCs and hope their life will get better. I cannot wait for book 2!

The voices of the narrators are immaculate!

“Neither here nor there, but long ago…” or so the storytellers begin their best tales. Of which The Stardust Thief is most definitely one.

Loulie al-Nazari is the legendary Midnight Merchant, an infamous smuggler of magic relics left behind in the world of humans by the powerful, dangerous and deadly jinn. But she has a secret – of course she does. She finds the jinn relics that she sells to discerning buyers at extravagant prices with the help of a jinn relic of her own – along with the able assistance of her taciturn bodyguard, Qadir. Who is one of the hated and feared jinn, hiding in very plain sight. Only Loulie knows Qadir’s true identity – not that she knows even as much of that identity as she believes she does.

Mazen bin Malik is the second son of the Sultan. He’s been sheltered to the point of imprisonment for most of his life, while his older brother Omar has become their father’s heir, not just to the throne in the hazy future, but even now to their father’s position as the leader of the infamous ‘Forty Thieves’ – jinn killers who steal and murder on behalf of their leader, the prince they call ‘King’.

Mazen would rather be one of the storytellers in the souk. At least that way he’d have some freedom – and some purpose.

They shouldn’t have anything in common – a smuggler and a prince. But they are both people who hide their real selves behind masks; the Midnight Merchant is a persona Loulie puts on, while Mazen bribes the palace guard so he can escape the confining safety of his palace prison.

They meet in the souk, where Loulie is wandering incognito as Layla, while Mazen is pretending to be Yusuf the storyteller. Where Mazen is ensorcelled by a jinn, and Loulie can’t resist following their trail where it leads.

It leads to the palace. Not directly, and certainly not in a way that either expects. But the Sultan coerces the Midnight Merchant into finding a jinn king’s relic for him, deep in the desert, and sends his older son, Omar along to ‘protect’ her – and ensure she comes back with the prize.

But Omar has schemes of his own, so he trades places with Mazen, using a relic to switch their identities. He sends one of his ‘Forty Thieves’, Aisha bint Louas with the disguised prince as a bodyguard.

As the adventure bleeds into one danger after another, and their journey comes to feel more like a trap than a quest, they begin to learn the hidden truths about themselves and each other. Only to discover that not a single one of them is what they seemed, or what they thought they were, when they set out.

And that as many times as each of them promises themselves and each other that they will not run away – at least not this time – they are forced to accept the truth that “he (or she) who runs away lives to fight another day.” If only because they must in order to prevail against the powerful forces, both human and jinn, who stand in their way.

Escape Rating B+: I’m having the same kind of mixed reaction to writing this review as I did to reading this book. Which doesn’t explain anything at all, does it? The dilemma I’m having is that I loved the story, but did like or empathize with many of the characters, and it’s a real conundrum.

The story is utterly fascinating. The jinn (or djinn or genies) are such powerful mythical and mystical creatures. This story posits a much more nuanced interpretation of the jinn, and much of what happens is based on a fundamental dichotomy in that interpretation. Humans have been taught that jinn are dangerous and evil and hate humanity. Jinn, on the other hand, have an entirely different set of myths and legends about the first encounters between themselves and humans. Encounters in which the humans coveted the jinn’s powers and murdered them indiscriminately, as they still do. Some jinn do kill humans, but it’s more often in self-defense than outright murder.

As the story continues, it certainly seems like the jinn perspective is more likely the true one – particularly based on the behavior of the humans that Loulie and Mazen meet along the way.

But the story is a nearly endless ‘out of the frying pan into the fire’ kind of story, as one near-death adventure – and escaping therefrom – leads directly into another. Much as the tales that Shafia – who we know as Scheherazade – told to the Sultan to keep him from killing her. This adventure is clearly intended to remind readers of One Thousand and One Nights, as it should. Shafia was Mazen’s mother, and the Sultan of the famous story was his father.

It’s the truth of that tale, as well as so many other truths, that Mazen, Loulie and their companions must discover on their dangerous quest.

Speaking of the party, that’s where I felt conflicted. The story is told in the first person, from three different points of view; Loulie, Mazen and Aisha. I listened to the audio for about 90% of the book, and the three narrators made the differences in their perspectives quite clear. They all did an excellent job of portraying their respective characters. The problem I had was that I found that both Loulie and Mazen spent a lot of time wallowing in self-pity, self-flagellation and adolescent angst. Not that their situations weren’t more than worthy of some considerable wailing and gnashing of teeth – because they are in deep sand up to their necks. It’s more that because the story is told from inside their heads, it got repetitive. If I’d been reading instead of listening I’d have skimmed through those bits.

So I loved the adventure. This story is a thrill-a-minute ride with plenty of fascinating exploration of this world. The way that the legends come to life was absolutely riveting. But the one character I really liked and wished I had more of was Qadir, and he’s the one really important perspective we don’t have in the first person – or nearly enough of at all.

But I have hope – in a slightly twisted way. The Stardust Thief is the first book in a trilogy, although the second book doesn’t even have a title yet, let alone a publication date. It can’t come nearly soon enough because this first book doesn’t exactly end. Like the other adventures in this book, like the adventures Shafira told the Sultan, this one ends just as our heroes have jumped out of yet another frying pan but are still in freefall before they land in the inevitable fire.

It’s going to be a long, nail-biting wait to find out how hot things get in the next installment!

This book was awesome- I loved every minute! So many plot twists, I couldn't even guess what was going to happen next. My fave character was the bodyguard- so mysterious and loyal- loved him! This won all the stars- can't wait to read the next book.

Leaving reviews on amazon and goodreads.

I loved the world and the magic and our four main characters (it took a while for Mazen to grow on me but I loved the girls right away and I think Aisha especially will be extra interesting in future books), but one thing that kinda bothered me was how “cheaply” death was treated. There are actually quite a few deaths that are really dramatic and then almost immediately undone, and that’s something that I personally hate quite a bit.

I also really liked how storytelling was woven throughout - especially when there’s the question of who’s telling the story and the lines between history and legend and also truth and embellishment. I wanted way more of that, but the plot wasn’t really permitting (it was definitely a good choice to focus on the main plot instead).

And the ending felt a bit rushed. Our last big conflict was over seemingly in a blink and the book itself is not short.

TL;DR cant wait for book two!

I listened to the audiobook of this one, and it was just such an achingly beautiful experience; from the amazing writing and worldbuilding of the book itself, to the narrators who all really did such a fantastic job.

It was such an easy book to lose myself in, and I came to love all of the characters so, so much. I especially love the friendship between Loulie and her jinn bodyguard, Qadir (who may now just be one of my favorite characters ever).

I can't wait to get to return to this world.

I think my lack of enjoyment of this book came from it being mis-marketed to me. I was expecting an adult epic fantasy set in an Arab desert filled with Jin and magic. While yes I got a lot of those elements, the overall tropeyness of the book made me feel like I was reading a ya fantasy romance.

I think so many people will love this book, I just don't think I was the right audience anymore for this type of story.

Another problem I had was the pacing. The story is told with splices of myths/historical short stories to help build the world. I felt like sometimes they were helpful to better understand things that were happening, but a lot of the times they took me away from the action that was building and put me into a new mindset. I also felt like there were times it was used instead of letting me see what was happening to our characters.

I also had no connection to our characters. I think there were too many POVs for this short of a story. I would have liked to focus more on Loulie and see the reveals of the story through her eyes instead of knowing the entire time everything that is happening to all of our characters.

Thanks to Netgalley and Orbit for giving me a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

As someone who has never read 1001 Nights and is not terribly familiar with the Arabic language....this was absolutely captivating! Every chapter something new was happening or being revealed. Thankfully, instead of feeling like you're following a never ending journey/quest it was so easy to get caught up in whatever new situation or problem the characters found themselves in. A lot of ground was covered here (figuratively and literally) all while providing lush atmosphere, strong world building, and intriguing characters! I cannot wait to see what Abdullah does for the next installment and I'm already planning my reread prior to the sequel release......which is soon right?!?!

For the audiobook- the narrators Nikki Massoud, Sean Rohani, and Rasha Zamamiri were absolutely stunning! It was a pleasure to hear the characters come to life through their work.

Loved this! Set in the aftermath of Scheherazade telling her tales, this follows her son, who is smitten with stories, and Loulie, who keeps finding herself caught in more complicated stories than she knows. I'm a sucker for good character development, and this has that in spades. I genuinely want to be everyone's friend, well, every member of the questing party anyway. The pacing can sometimes feel a smidge off, but it all clicks together nicely. There are definitely some characters introduced because they will be important later in the series, and while that normally irks me, they are just so charming that I'm fine with it. Definitely a magical world you will get sucked into.

Neither here nor there, but long ago…
The Stardust Thief is a story about stories - their impact; their origins; what they mean to us.

When Loulie al-Nazari, the Midnight Merchant, comes to the attention of the sultan, she and his son are sent on an impossible quest across the desert. Accompanied by her mysterious bodyguard, and one of the infamous Forty Thieves, they set out to discover a hidden artefact and along the way learn an awful lot about themselves.

Inspired by One Thousand and One Nights, The Stardust Thief beautifully weaves these classic stories into a web of intrigue, magic, and betrayal.
The characters were realistic, the story was immersive, and the magic was fascinating - I particularly loved the jinn relics and the way they were woven into the lore of the world.

The narrators for the audiobook were fantastic - I enjoyed that they were different for each perspective, and felt that they really added to the story.

I adored The Stardust Thief and I eagerly await the sequel - it is truly a fantasy novel not to be missed.

I listened to the audiobook narrated by Nikki Massoud, Sean Rohani, and Rasha Zamamiri.

I loved this book. It does a fantastic job of world building without dragging. The characters are layered and well developed. I am surprised that this is a debut novel and cannot wait for the next book. There are multiple strong female characters who interact with each other. I love the books history and the use of Jinn. It was a new take on a well known fantasy/religious race of characters.

"To live is a matter of belief. The wicked live longer simply because they believe themselves to be invincible." —Omar

Abdullah's debut is sweeping, rich, and plunges the reader into the middle of a world that pulses with magic and story.

The characters are captivating, layered, shady, clever, and the world-building is intriguing. The mystery of the jinn is beguiling with an edge of danger. The deeper one gets in the story, more is revealed about the balance of power and greed that exists, the more you question whose story is right: the most popular or the one whispered.

The histories contained within the narrative are the foundation upon which this mesmerizing and immersive tale is built. The world comes alive with the mythology, people, traditions, and food.

I loved the return to a world of jinn where the story was addictive and the character development and motivation had me exulting and kept me hooked. I cannot wait for what comes next.

Using a cast of voice actors to narrate this epic adventure only seved to enhance how deeply I once again fell for and into this book.

3.75/4 stars. Ok, so this book definitely felt like a book one in a trilogy. I loved the characters especially Mazen, and I think especially at the end we have so much more to learn about the minutiae present between Jinn, and Ifrit’s. I did feel like the pacing in the beginning dragged a bit, but by about 60% the story is truly finding it’s own stride and it finishes really strong. I love a Middle Eastern inspired fantasy setting, I would’ve loved more world-building in the sense of setting. I often couldn’t picture where the characters were at beyond just “desert” or “ruins”, so more embellishment there would’ve made this a 4+ star book, for me. Overall, strong debut and looking forward to the continuation!

Chelsea Abdullah has evoked One Thousand and One Nights with her tale The Stardust Thief. The story she shares is fraught with peril of various types, filled with legends come to life, and tells other tales, too. It re-imagines some classic Arabian myths, imbuing them with new flavor.

The narrating team did a great job bringing the story to life. They helped me feel what the characters felt without being overly dramatic. A nice touch to me was the wrap up music at the end.

A solid five stars for The Stardust Thief. This 15-1/2 hour fantasy was adventurous, fun, and very well told. I’m looking forward to book two! My thanks to Hachette Audio via Netgalley.

#TheStardustThiefAudio #Netgalley #ifcatscouldread #cattitude #rescuedismyfavoritebreed #fivestarread #catstagram #bookstagram #booksandcatstagram

It’s been a while since I was invested in a good fantasy adventure book. Other than a bit of the beginning, there wasn’t a slow part in The Stardust Thief. Filled with action, magic, betrayal, and secrets, I found my walks going longer and my drives going slower as I was pulled into the epic adventure when a merchant selling illegal magic and a prince too kind for his own good find themselves tangled in a battle no one, even the reader, expects. This story provides a world where evil jinn are hunted down for their powers, with desert mirages, and where dangerous creatures and traps lay hidden among sandstorms and sand dunes. The world building was complex enough to be immersive without being confusing and the writing style contained beautiful imagery to help the reader understand the Arab customs, legends, and setting. The characters were unique and well-developed and there was hardly any romance, which goes to show how entertaining this book is because that is usually a necessity for me. The Stardust Thief reads like a classic tale woven beautifully together to share a story of overcoming one's fears, the power of trust, and the wonder of magic. If only it didn’t end on a cliffhanger… Four and a half stars!

A wonderful, complex world full of djinn, betrayal, magic, and friendship. I eagerly look forward to the next book.

Thank you to Orbit Books and Netgalley for the complementary audiobook and physical ARC, in exchange for an honest review.

For the most part I enjoyed The Stardust Thief, but found myself feeling like the novel lacked in terms of the what I normally expect out of an Epic Fantasy. I very much enjoyed the writing of Chelsea Abdullah, as it felt uncomplicated to follow along with, as well as easy to digest and understand.

When it comes to the plot and story itself The Stardust Thief felt like a rollercoaster, but the kind where there’s only a few good parts and the rest just feels lackluster. The pacing felt a bit wonky throughout a majority of the novel. It wasn't the thrilling immersive ride of an Epic Fantasy that I was initially expecting. I had a bit of a rough time getting into the book in the beginning, struggling through most of the first half. But the story did start to pick up more in the second half, and I just need to say that the final act of the book was phenomenal, with a shocking twist that had me on the edge of my seat.

Unfortunately I had a difficult time becoming vested in the main characters for a bit and found myself more vested and curious about some of the side characters. But that did begin to change in the second half.

I really loved the lore and history of the Jinn, and the world itself was interesting, but I felt like it lacked in depth and detail.

I enjoyed the audiobook as well, though I feel it could've been more enjoyable. I liked the full cast performance but felt like there was a lack of consistency and communication when it came to some of the characters vocal portrayals.

Overall, The Stardust Thief was good for a debut novel, and I still look forward to following this story in the next novel to see how the writing, world, and characters progress. I feel like this is a solid start to what will end up becoming a phenomenal series.