Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah

64 reviews

angiedotthereader's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

What an adventure! Chelsea Abdullah is now one of my favorite fantasy authors. Her imagination is out of this world and I was so immersed in the desert world that she created in this book. 

There is a lot going on in this story and some chapters were very jam packed, and I had to take breaks from reading to ruminate and make sense of the story. 

Overall I cannot wait for the second book in this series! 

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laura_mcloughlin's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

 
For the most part I enjoyed this book. The world building and characters are good, but the pacing was a bit off. Things got real exciting about the 60% mark, then slowed down to a crawl until right at the end. This is part 1 of a trilogy and the ending felt a bit abrupt. I do look forward to reading part 2 next month when it comes out.

 

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jadesarah's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This is one of those books where after reading it I feel lost on how to feel lol. 

Just to note, there is A LOT of violence in this book. So much. 

I'm not even going to try and summarise the plot but know it's rooted in a convolution of power, greed, revenge and survival. And reading it in 2024 brings on feelings of discomfort with what is happening right now.

Here's my word vomit of thoughts and feelings: 
-There are some characters who I never really liked or never know how I should feel about them. Not Qadir though,  I love him even with his millions of secrets. Also Hakim, my heart hurt for him from the beginning.  I need to know more on that front.

- I really love Mazen and Loulie. Not together though. It seems like the author is setting them up romantically and I actively dislike that tbh. Firstly, I think the author took an easy out with Ahmed and it feels like it was used as a tool to just eventually bring Mazen and Loulie together. It just doesn't sit right with me at all. And if M & L are going to get together I feel like it would ruin the next book(s) for me tbh. Also despite all the mess with Aisha I actually thought she and Mazen would be interesting together! I'll have plenty of time to think about it anyway because I don't think the sequel is coming out for another year...*sobs* lol.

- This whole thing of Mazen being a coward feels so forced. It feels like the author is making a point with the whole coward/hero thing and ehh. I get it but ehhh. Why? He's a coward because he doesn't happily murder like many other characters?? 

- speaking of the murder. It made me extremely uncomfortable.  How am I supposed to feel about it other than uncomfortable? How am I supposed to feel about the hypocrisy of it all with some characters? I'm not about to just consume it as "oh well it's just part of fiction!". Maybe that's the point. I've read plenty of violent books but I guess I'm trying be conscious of how I'm consuming it.  

- also the whole thing with the sultan and killing his wives? And Mazen's mom being like "I will marry him so he stops!" Nooo lol. 

- Anyways I have so many feelings but it's hard to get into them without spoiling but the author constantly had me second guessing my own feelings and didn't give me a second of peace with all her twists and turns and uno reverses then uno reversing those uno reverses and just all around stressing me out. Regardless, whenever I wasn't reading the book I was thinking about it. And on that note I think that's why I gave it 4 stars. Initially I was leaving it at 3.5 because some things happened that just feel like well what was the point in all that just for this to happen?! That along with the fact I'm not keen on a romance between Mazen and Loulie but I'm not sure that's what the author is definitely doing, though it seems highly likely. 

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ldenehy's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5


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theespressoedition's review against another edition

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slow-paced

4.0


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writteninmagic's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

3.5

The world-building was well-written. My favorite parts were the tales of the Jinn and other characters; they added complexity to the characters, especially to the magical beings. There was a variety of magic throughout the story, and I liked that there were limitations to the powers.

The characters were okay. I didn't feel particularly attached to them. On another note, the instance where a dangerous and powerful item was left behind because a character supposedly forgot about it (even though they were highly aware of some of its powers) made little sense.

While the journey for the characters was long, the book also felt longer than necessary. At times, especially in the middle of the story, it felt like it was dragging along. Several things are left unanswered by the end. With all that said, I'm interested enough to give the second book a read.

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angeldevoursliterature's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark funny lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense 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

3.0


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dalek_caan's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense fast-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

4.75

I really enjoyed this book. It was unpredictable, imaginative and very well told. I found myself very engaged with most of the characters and enjoyed how each of the characters in the split perspective narrative had their own distinct voice. I would definitely recommend this book and anxiously await the publication of the sequel.

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stargazer_ley's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

The facinating focus on Arabic cultures is a pleasant change of pace for me, however I found myself wanting a glossary to define certain terms. While context provided some measure of assistance, I would have preferred actually having the information (Google is exactly helpful when I don't know what I'm trying to find.) That said the characters and story were compelling and I found myself constantly having to mentally update my theories. It was overall a good book that I'm glad I purchased and I am looking forward to getting the next volume. :)

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ijustreallyliketrees's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I've never read any version of 1001 Nights but am familiar enough with some of the stories that I got the references. Really enjoyed the story and characters, can't wait to read more.

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