#stardust reviews books

[stardustandrockets]

What's a trope that will almost always get you to read a book?

For me, it's fake dating. I absolutely love the it's-just-a-favor that turns into Real Feelings™. I eat that shit up!

I knew I was going to love Fake Dates and Mooncakes by Sher Lee because it's in the title. And it didn't disappoint. In this Crazy Rich Asians meets Heartstopper YA rom-com, Dylan and Theo are absolutely precious and I would protect them both with my life! There's baking, swoony moments, rediscovering lost family mooncake recipes, learning about your heritage, and so many food references that will have you craving xiao long bao the entire book. Did I mention there's also a corgi named Clover?

If you're a fan of fake dating like I am, I highly recommend this wonderful debut by Sher Lee!

#fake dates and mooncakes #fdam #sher lee #fake dating #asian american #chinese american #mooncakes #baking competition #chinese heritage #xiao long bao #lgbtq reads #lgbtqia #queer book recs #read with pride #read queer all year #stardust book recs #stardust reviews books #stardustandrockets

[the---hermit]

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

If you have read other posts of mine you might know that Neil Gaiman is proably my favourite author. This story and I have some past problems, ever since I was a kid I did not like the movie at all and I had this general disinterest to the story. And although I couldn't remember a single thing about the movie in my adult life I never really had a priority to add this novel into my collection. Then I was gifter this copy by a friend who was unhauling some books and had two different editions of this novel, and I just gave it a try. I was pleasently surprised when I did not dislkie it as expected, I had this unmotivated prejudice, but I really enjoyed my time reading this book. It is not my favourite by Gaiman, it's not at the top for me, but I didn't hate it as I expected. I loved how much this novel feels like a big fairytale from start to end. That was a big reason for which I enjoyed it. The ending felt a bit too quick for my taste, but when I consider it as a fairytale it makes more sense. Since I haven't said anything about the plot yet, this is the story of a boy who goes on an adventure to collect a fallen star after he promises to the girl he loves that he would bring said star to her. He will have to go beyond a guarded wall near the town he lives in, which is a magical place full of magic, fairies and creatures. Of course he won't be the only one interested in finding the fallen star, but I won't say more about it to avoid spoilers. I can't said that I will never reread it, it was definitely the right book at the right time, because I needed something light and cozy, and it worked perfectly.

#book #books #2022 book #stardust #neil gaiman #book cover #book rec #book review #book recommendation #bookish #reading #studyblr #cozy reads #cozy books #mine #the---hermit

[violettesbooks]

A young woman, raised in isolation by her uncles, yearns for her absent mother and magical worlds. But when her family is revealed to be tragically cursed, she sets off on a journey towards the fantastical in hopes of finding out the truth about who she is and the other, strange world that has beckoned her her whole life.

The writing in this book is absolutely beautiful, clearly written with a lot of thought. It's emotional and desperate, much like the main character, Violet. But where it falls short is the pacing and the overall plot. There were many glossed over aspects of the story and a few conveniences.

I would still recommend it to fantasy readers but more for the setting and ambience then storyline.

Out: Jan 2024

#book review #books by women #books #fiction #new books #arc #the city of stardust #georgia summers

[ismahanescorner]

Book Haul | 📚🩵

the newest editions to my biblio-family!! 

🌟 The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah (very excited to read an Arabian fantasy written by an actual Arab author!!!) 😁😁😁

❣️Get A Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert (heard loads of good stuff about this one!!)

⛺️ Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert (the hype got to me, hopefully it’s worth it!)

⛱️ Every Summer After by Carley Fortune (literally have no idea what this is about!)

♦️Solitaire by Alice Oseman (i loved everything i read by this author!!) 💗

🪄Back In A Spell by Lana Harper (witches?? count me in!!) 😌

#booknerd #bookworm #bookstagram #booklover #books #bookish #book review #goodreads #bookaholic #reading #back in a spell #the stardust thief #highly suspicious and unfairly cute #every summer after #solitaire #get a life chloe brown #chelsea abdullah #talia hibbert #lana harper #carley fortune

[flovverworks]

(person whos obsessed with akira and also been cold all day) akira in northern country

#stardust speaking ! #(person with mutuals who has seen them talk like this for years and years) do you understand me #i was gonna write but theres a book review i wanna watch soooooooooooooo uh...i HAVE to write tonight tho #but also i havent finished the gbf event still LMAO um. tmrw ill be rushing ig

[mistwraiths]

3.5 stars

So, this was a very long albeit mostly enjoyable read. It had all the trappings I wanted in a fantasy. Nobles, thieves, magic, stories, the great journeying and adventures, and good worldbuilding and interesting characters. I really liked the inclusion of the tales themselves being in the story too.

However, there was just something so... average about this book? I think it was just the writing and I'm not trying to be mean, but most everything felt written on a more surface level. Nothing moved me, the writing wasn't super descriptive or good. It was just simple? I didn't fall in love with the characters. I like them but they didn't do anything for me.

This is not to say that this book isn't enjoyable! The jinn, the relics, the Sandsea, it's all very interesting. The secrets and betrayals were everywhere in this story. I think my favorite part was that these characters did stumble and fail, they didn't immediately get along, didn't immediately like each other, got hurt, etc.

The ending was definitely the best part in my opinion because it took about a good 120ish pages before it really began to start.

I liked Qadir and Loulie's adopted family relationship. And I really liked how Mazen is completely unskilled but a good person. And Alisha and her deal was very intriguing.

I'm interested to seeing what happens next.

#the stardust thief #chelsea abdullah #steph's book review #book review #steph reads

[sarahstudieschem]

6th of January 2023

I finished Stardust by Neil Gaiman last week! It was quite a different book than what I was expecting, but I did like it!

The main character sometimes (almost always) made wrong life decisions and I could scream at him lmao. Overall a good book that I read in a few days :)

xoxo Sarah

#sarahtalkschem #studyblr #stardust #neil gaiman #gaiman #book #books #bookblr #review #book review #book recs #book recommendations

[totalbee-atch]

The Stardust Thief

by Chelse Abdullah

Rating: 8/10

Summary: A merchant by the name of Loulie al-Nazari drags her and her jinn bodyguard into trouble when she decides to save the youngest Prince. Forced to find a relic by the Sultan and trying to unravel her past all at the same time, the Midnight Merchant suffers an adventure full of questions, magic, and death. 

Opinion: Overall, the book is fun and easy to read. There are essentially three main characters: Loulie, Mazen, and Aisha. The main protagonist, Loulie, is a 20-year-old woman who is witty and relatable. The energy between her and her jinn bodyguard, Qadir, is sweet and makes you want to see more interactions between them. I did find myself getting frustrated with some of the characters such as Mazen and Aisha but I still loved them a lot - which to me, credits the author in regards to writing a character that your reader will feel genuine emotions for. 

The plot has pleasant surprises in them. I am usually the type of person who can guess the ending to a story but I'm happy to say some things genuinely threw me off. It did have some predictable bits but I think it helps add familiarity to the story. It focuses a lot on family and the lore in Arabian Nights (The Thousand and One Nights). As mentioned, Qadir is a jinn, a mythical being of great power to us but a reality to the characters in the book. It is a great read if you love magic. 

I would recommend it to people who love the genre of Fantasy and those who want an easy book. The language is not hard. If you don't know a word, you can figure it out by context clues most of the time. The diction and syntax are easy to read and have more of a modern touch to them although it takes place in ancient times. 

#books and reading #book review #booklr #book blog #books #booksbooksbooks #reading #bookworm #the stardust thief

[fantasybooktournament]

Book review: The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah

Rating: 4/5

I read this earlier this year and loved it. The setting was great, I loved seeing the world and learning about it, the people in it, and the magic.

There are 3 point-of-view characters, Loulie, Mazen, and Aisha. I liked all of them, and seeing their different perspectives on the world and seeing how each of them and their motives clashed was interesting. Of the 3 I'd say Mazen was the one I disliked the most; his character felt kind of flat next to the other two for a good portion of the story.

I initially listened to this as an audiobook through my library (later I purchased a hard copy), which had 3 narrators, one for each POV. I was kind of thrown off a little at first by this, because each of the narrators had different interpretations for characters within the story. I adjusted though and actually I kind of liked that in the end. You get a different feel for the way the characters view themselves, each other, and others.

I do wish more time had been spent on showing the relationship between Loulie and her jinn friend Qadir. I also think some sequences went on a little too long, or just didn't quite achieve what the author was probably going for.

Thank you!!

#the stardust thief #chelsea abdullah #book reviews #im actually really excited for the next one!

[quirkycatsfatstacks]

Review: The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah

Review: The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah

Series: The Sandsea Trilogy #1Author: Chelsea AbdullahPublisher: OrbitReleased: May 17, 2022Received: Own (BOTM)Warnings: Death of a parent, torture I have been hearing SO many good things about The Stardust Thief, so I knew I would have to read it! Thankfully, I could grab it with my June selection for BOTM, which is always a nice treat. Loulie al-Nazari is known as the Midnight Merchant. In…

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#Book #Book of the Month #Book Review #Books #BOTM #Chelsea Abdullah #Fantasy #Fantasy Novel #Fantasy review #Fiction #Literary #Literature #Orbit #Review #The Stardust Thief #The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah

[lilibetbombshell]

#arc review #arc reader #arc reviewer #book review #book reviewer #book blog #book blogger #netgalley #random house childrens #delacorte press #laura sebastian #stardust in their veins #castles in their bones #ya fantasy #fantasy #ya fantasy romance #fantasy romance #fantasy series #coming of age #young adult #new release #new release tuesday #new release book #new book #new book alert #new book release

[stardustandrockets]

Do you have a favorite book with bisexual rep?

I read Winter's Orbit by Everina Maxwell last February for the @rainbowcrate book club. Did I understand everything in the book? Not at all. Did I love the absolute chaos of the characters and their journey? For sure!

This political intrigue space opera follows Prince Kiem, who has an arranged marriage bomb dropped on him, and Jainan, an ambassador from another planet whose partner just died and who Kiem is betrothed. What happens next is a string of communication issues, problems due to the miscommunication, an investigation into Jainan's late partner's death, a few attempts at effective communication that go... not so well.

Usually, books that are extremely political are hard for me to follow and I lose interest, but that wasn't the case for Winter's Orbit. The world building was so well fleshed out and I loved how big a role culture plays. In this universe, sexuality is a fluid thing and gender expression is shown through the items they wear. No one questions it. This made for such a refreshing reading experience!

I adore Kiem and his chaotic bisexual energy so much! He was

incredibly kind and perceptive—the perfect match to Jainan's careful guardedness and intensity. And, while the miscommunication trope usually incites me with rage, it paid off so well in the end. Don't get me wrong, I was still absolutely screaming in my car while listening to the audiobook. That's what happens when you get both POVs.

Seeing Kiem and Jainan connect on such a deeply emotional level was everything. I adored watching them grow, uncover the past, and move past it together.

CW for past abusive relationship (mental, physical, gaslighting) discussed between characters and seen in flash backs, violence, torture

• For a full list, check StoryGraph

#winters orbit #everina maxwell #space opera #science fiction #scifi #adult scifi #rcdec22 #rainbow crate #rainbow crate book box #lgbtq reads #lgbtqia #bisexual books #bisexual representation #read queer all year #stardust reviews books #stardustandrockets #backlog from january #january 22

[picaz0e]

Stardust by Neil Gaiman (Review)

Overall Rating: 8.5/10

Total Pages: 248

Would I recommend it? Yes.

Would I read it again? Yes.

Comments:

I watched the movie first and adored it, so I wasn’t expecting the book to match my love for the movie, especially because the movie ending was so incredible. Somehow this book was every bit as good. This book was written for adults whereas the movie version was advertised as a “family” movie, so I enjoyed the fact that the book was more mature and… I don’t want to say realistic because it is still a fairytale… but the character development was everything I could imagine of a real person and I can’t express how much I appreciated that. The ending was a bit different than the movie but every bit as jaw-dropping and incredible. I also really loved the writing style, this is the first English book by Neil Gaiman that I’ve read (I’ve also read Coraline but it was translated into French) so I’m not sure if this is his usual writing style or something that he just took on for this specific book but it worked well with the story; if you told me that this was a classic fairytale written in the 19th century, I might’ve believed you. The reason I didn’t give it 10/10 is because the beginning was a bit slow, and because there were one or two times where I couldn’t believe that what I had just read was written by someone living in the 21st century, as they were so outdated and in some cases slightly offensive (it’s worth mentioning that these parts were very rare and brief, but still inappropriate). I also took half a point away because halfway through the book I realized the protagonist is named Tristran and not Tristan, and it quite honestly shocked and confused me because I’ve never heard this name before and in the movie his name is Tristan. All things considered, I really enjoyed this book, especially the ending.

Stardust Aesthetic:

#book review #books #books & libraries #bookworm #book recommendations #reading #stardust movie #neil gaiman #fanstasy #fantasy books #magical #aesthetic

[lookingforamandaa]

recent dnf’s

#bookblr #booklr #fantasy books #iphone photography #book review #reading update #currently reading #new release #dnf #did not finish #dnf books #book stack #gleanings #sister stardust #the wild robot #the walled garden #be dazzled #the high house

[just-a-bookish-reader]

The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah My rating: 5 of 5 stars This book was amazing. I read it while waiting for flights and on flights to Charleston for YAllFest last month and I finished it so suddenly that my dad and I were thankful our first flight was only an hour long and then we had a layover, so I could just listen to an audiobook and survive before I could get to the other books I had packed. And honestly, in someways I feel like this book has ruined me forever.

The storytelling aspect was so strong, the way the author set it up with it actually being a story being told and not just running dialogue between characters that felt info dumpy... I almost find the latter annoying now even though that's much more common than what this book did. Also some of the flashbacks the way they were written - for some reason were giving me Six of Crows flashback vibes?

Which is absolutely meant to be taken as a compliment because I think those have been the best sorts of flashbacks I've ever read. Everything felt so vivid and real when I was reading it, and I cannot wait for the second book, but hey at least we have a title and a cover for it! Overall, completely 5 stars, magnificent masterpiece of a novel, and I can't wait to see what Chelsea Abdullah does with the rest of the series! View all my reviews

#the stardust thief #chelsea abdullah #1001 arabian nights #1001 nights #stunning book cover #the ashfire king #goodreads #should have won goodreads choice awards #hardcovers always win #i need book 2 now #books #book club #book review #booktok #bookstagram #i wish i could read forever

[amandaklwrites]

Book Review: The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah 

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: 4/5

Book Review: 

I love Middle Eastern/Persian/Arabian folklore. Probably came from my love of Aladdin as a kid. So I was really excited for this book! I love anything that had to do with jinn. 

And this one was SO MUCH FUN! I loved the characters, the magic, how the jinn were different from what I’ve seen before. The journey and tests to find this magical object was a great touch. And the twists of different stories from Arabian Nights were so well crafted. I loved how the characters came together, interacted with each other, and the different things that happened to me. I didn’t guess anything in this book, it kept surprising me, and I almost didn’t want it to end. 

I loved this book! I can’t wait for more! 

#the stardust thief #chelsea abdullah #book review