A review by bookchainedsoul
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
5.0
The Stardust Thief was a brilliant read with most of my favourite things. This book felt instantly familiar with elements of the story burrowed/inspired by (at least seemingly to me) by 1001 Nights and Aladdin, and I’m sure other Arabian Nights tales. I loved the inclusion of these tales I adore in a book that I found to be so original and completely unpredictable.
The setting of this book was so immersive. The world building was beautifully done with cities I could picture vividly and that I fell in love with. The magic system was dark and sad but also so interesting conceptually. I absolutely adored every element of this world that I can see so much potential in and cannot wait for it to be further explored in the rest of the series.
The characters are brilliant. They differ enough that they each had distinguishable personalities, back stories (all of which were tragic), and a good amount of character development. I hope to see the relationships between the ifrits (jinn kings) further explored in the next book as that was a dynamic that really caught my attention. The growth in the relationships between the main characters was wonderfully shown. I’m especially excited to get more Loulie and Qadir scenes. I honestly don’t care which direction their relationship goes in as long as they still have their bond because it was a relationship I loved reading.
I also found the antagonists to be very well written and revealed. I can actually understand the motivations of every single antagonist and sympathise or hate them appropriately based on what is revealed. I think the set up in this book should lead to an epic downfall at the end of the series which I cannot wait to read!
I absolutely recommend this book. It has great characters, unpredictable plot twists, and a beautiful world. Now I just have to wait god knows how long for the next book!
The setting of this book was so immersive. The world building was beautifully done with cities I could picture vividly and that I fell in love with. The magic system was dark and sad but also so interesting conceptually. I absolutely adored every element of this world that I can see so much potential in and cannot wait for it to be further explored in the rest of the series.
The characters are brilliant. They differ enough that they each had distinguishable personalities, back stories (all of which were tragic), and a good amount of character development. I hope to see the relationships between the ifrits (jinn kings) further explored in the next book as that was a dynamic that really caught my attention. The growth in the relationships between the main characters was wonderfully shown. I’m especially excited to get more Loulie and Qadir scenes. I honestly don’t care which direction their relationship goes in as long as they still have their bond because it was a relationship I loved reading.
I also found the antagonists to be very well written and revealed. I can actually understand the motivations of every single antagonist and sympathise or hate them appropriately based on what is revealed. I think the set up in this book should lead to an epic downfall at the end of the series which I cannot wait to read!
I absolutely recommend this book. It has great characters, unpredictable plot twists, and a beautiful world. Now I just have to wait god knows how long for the next book!