The world-building is fabulous, with such descriptive and flowing writing that I didn’t even realize how fast I was reading, and settings that I could actually picture in my mind. Arabic terms are sprinkled throughout the text, but they’re easy enough to figure out from context. The story takes place in an Arabian-inspired fantasy world, where jinn and humans interact, but there are tensions. You know, like driving.Ībdullah has taken some of the more well-known Arabian fairy tales, like Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves and Scheherazade, and combined them in a new and fantastic way. Like, to the point where I also got the audiobook ARC so that I’d be able to continue reading when I was doing something else that normally prevents me from reading. And then once I started reading? I couldn’t stop. It’s been calling to me from my shelves for more than a week, and I couldn’t wait to get started. This book is an absolute stunner of a debut, and I’m so grateful to the publisher for sending me a gorgeous hardcover copy of it. 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. 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 Louie’s past. With no choice but to obey or be executed, Loulie journeys with the sultan’s oldest son and one of his infamous forty thieves to find the artifact. 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. 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.Loulie al-Nazari is the Midnight Merchant, a criminal who, with the help of her jinn bodyguard, hunts and sells illegal magic. 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. With no choice but to obey or be executed, Loulie journeys with the sultan's oldest son to find the artifact.

Loulie al-Nazari is the Midnight Merchant: a criminal who, with the help of her jinn bodyguard, hunts and sells illegal magic. 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.

The stardust thief trilogy