I am really behind with some of these unboxings that I took photos of ages ago but haven’t got round to posting! April 2022 was the second book in Fairyloot’s new Adult book only subscription.
The theme of the second box was ‘Divine Power’ and the book chosen was The City of Dusk by Tara Sim.
The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah
Genre: Adult, Fantasy
Publishing Info: Audiobook by Hachette Audio UK, May 2022, narrated by Nikki Massoud, Rasha Zamamiri, Sean Rohani
Star Rating: 3/5
Back Cover Summary:
Inspired by stories from One Thousand and One Nights, this book weaves together the gripping tale of a legendary smuggler, a cowardly prince, and a dangerous quest across the desert to find a legendary, magical lamp.
Neither here nor there, but long ago . . .
Loulie al-Nazari is the Midnight Merchant: a criminal who, with the help of her jinn bodyguard, hunts and sells illegal magic. When she saves the life of a cowardly prince, she draws the attention of his powerful father, the sultan, who blackmails her into finding an ancient lamp that has the power to revive the barren land—at the cost of sacrificing all jinn.
With no choice but to obey or be executed, Loulie journeys with the sultan’s oldest son to find the artifact. Aided by her bodyguard, who has secrets of his own, they must survive ghoul attacks, outwit a vengeful jinn queen, and confront a malicious killer from Loulie’s past. And, in a world where story is reality and illusion is truth, Loulie will discover that everything—her enemy, her magic, even her own past—is not what it seems, and she must decide who she will become in this new reality.
Full of adventure and magic, The Stardust Thief takes readers on a journey through an Arab-inspired fantasy world where our protagonists take on a perilous quest fraught with danger. This fantasy debut is inspired by One Thousand and One Nights and uses storytelling as a theme throughout, weaving the stories and myths the protagonists know with the truth of the jinn they come to discover.
It took a little while for me to really get into this book. However, I enjoyed it more as the story progressed. There were some great twists in the second half which left me terrified for my favourite characters, as well as exciting and magical action. The novel focuses on the quest and the characters’ journeys, so if you are looking for fantasy without romance, I’d recommend giving this one a go.
Read More » Fairyloot recently launched a book only option for their YA subscription, something I have been hoping they would do for a long time. As I’ve now switched to the book only option, the April 2022 box was my last full box. It might miss out on some great future items, but I just didn’t want my space getting cluttered with so many things, so I think the book only is the right option for me.
Fairyloot is a UK-based YA fantasy subscription box. If you subscribe, you get a box a month which includes a hardback book and 5-6 exclusive goodies around a theme.
The theme for April was ‘Bittersweet’! Let’s see what was inside…
Read More »
The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake
Genre: Adult, Fantasy, Dark Academia
Publishing Info: Audiobook, March 2022, Tor, narrated by Steve West, Siho Ellsmore, Munirih Grace, James Patrick Cronin, David Monteith, Damian Lynch, Caitlin Kelly, Andy Ingalls
Star Rating: 4/5
Back Cover Summary:
When the world’s best magicians are offered an extraordinary opportunity, saying yes is easy. Each could join the secretive Alexandrian Society, whose custodians guard lost knowledge from ancient civilizations. Their members enjoy a lifetime of power and prestige. Yet each decade, only six practitioners are invited – to fill five places.
Contenders Libby Rhodes and Nico de Varona are inseparable enemies, cosmologists who can control matter with their minds. Parisa Kamali is a telepath, who sees the mind’s deepest secrets. Reina Mori is a naturalist who can perceive and understand the flow of life itself. And Callum Nova is an empath, who can manipulate the desires of others. Finally there’s Tristan Caine, whose powers mystify even himself.
Following recruitment by the mysterious Atlas Blakely, they travel to the Society’s London headquarters. Here, each must study and innovate within esoteric subject areas. And if they can prove themselves, over the course of a year, they’ll survive. Most of them.
The Atlas Six is one of 2022’s most talked about releases. Originally self-published, the novel was picked up by Tor Books and rereleased. With the intense amount of hype around this book, I felt a little wary going in as I didn’t want to be left disappointed. Dark academia is also not my usual genre of choice, but I was intrigued by the premise and decided to take a chance on something outside my comfort zone.
The opening intrigued me and the smooth writing style drew me in. It did, however, take a while to introduce all six point of view characters, and the formula of Atlas approaching each of them to make offers to join the Alexandrian Society felt a little repetitive after the first couple.
Having multiple POVs worked really well in this novel. It was fascinating seeing everything from different perspectives and getting to see how all the characters viewed each other, building tension very nicely. They are basically all morally grey in some way and each have an interesting backstory. There was a different narrator for each POV which was really effective, making it easier to distinguish the characters and feel immersed in each viewpoint.
Read More »
I’m not sure what happened to May but it seemed to go by in a blur and I only managed to read one book. It’s been a difficult month as I’m still not feeling that well. I got diagnosed with a new chronic illness and haven’t started treatment yet. So I will probably still be blogging only occasionally for a while until I start feeling a bit better again.
The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake (audiobook) ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Dark academia is not usually my thing but I actually really enjoyed this one! It was great having a different narrator for each POV and I loved all of the intrigue. Full review coming soon!
I added a couple of gorgeous new books to my shelves this month – A Lady’s Guide to Fortune-Hunting by Sophie Irwin and The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah.
What books have you enjoyed this month? Chat with me in the comments!
The Last Book On The Left 