Thank you to the publisher, Orbit Books | Orbit, for this eARC to review.

5/5 stars

LORDDDYYYY I love Chelsea Abdullah SO MUCH. She does such an incredible job of making her stories so vivid without it feeling weighed down by descriptors or it feeling like we're only being "told" and not "shown", and she makes her characters feel so real that it's impossible not to get attached to each and every one of them. Also, the audiobook narrators are IMMACULATE and truly bring the story to life. I also love how Chelsea is able to weave humor into the story to provide levity and relief between the *incredibly stressful* moments throughout the story. Catch me frothing at the mouth for book 3.

✨BOOK REVIEW✨

The Ashfire King - Chelsea Abdullah

The Ashfire King is the second book in the Sandsea Trilogy by Chelsea Abdullah. The book starts immediately following the insane plot twist that ended the first book. The first book starts slow and steady but ramps up in the end and continues at a quick pace going into book 2. We continue to follow Loulie and company on their journey across the Sandsea on their quest to see an end to jinn and human conflict. I don’t want to spoil anything from earlier in the series but suffice to say, The Ashfire King ends almost as chaotically as the first leaving readers (and myself) eagerly awaiting the conclusion to this story.

I read The Stardust Thief years ago but didn’t remember enough to confidently jump back into this series so I re-read it before beginning The Ashfire King. I appreciated this series so much more on my second read and I am so glad I decided to continue on. This series reminds me a lot of the Daevabad trilogy and I have already urged friends of mine to give the Sandsea trilogy a chance based on their love of that trilogy. The cast of characters is truly unique, and while there is a romantic subplot it does not dominate the story line, in this series the adventure is the star of the show. I love the middle eastern inspired jinn magic system. I especially loved how complex the jinn’s magic and constraints can be and how in the end, everything the jinn and humans have been taught about each other is far more nuanced than either side can believe.

The Ashfire King, and The Stardust Thief (Book 1) are available, in several formats. Thank you to Orbit Books and NetGalley for my copy; all opinions are my own.

Oh the world-building was so expansive with this second installment. I loved learning more about the world of the Jinn while going along with Loulie and Mazen’s adventures. I liked being able to get to know Aisha better. Over all, such an immersive reading experience

I loved Chelsea Abdullah‘s debut novel, The Stardust Thief, the first in her Sandsea Trilogy. That one ended on quite the cliffhanger! This year book two came out: The Ashfire King. Here, Loulie and Mazen are navigating the realm of djinn underground, with a mission of breaking several bindings before the whole world crumbles. Meanwhile, Aisha is coming to terms with her new existence and shifting loyalties. How can they all save not one world, but two, with so much magic working against them?

What I Liked:
- Djinn perspectives vs. human perspectives on past events and current goals. They don’t agree on who was good or bad, and those feelings of othering and mistrust persist.
- Each of the main characters’ evolving sense of self. They each grow quite a bit as the novel progresses. Aisha, in particular, has a lot to come to terms with.
- Interspersed short stories woven throughout the novel. This especially makes use of Mazen’s storytelling skills! It also adds to the overall world-building beautifully.
- Magic, power, and… birds!

What Didn’t Work for Me:
- This book is pretty long, and some parts could have been condensed. It also has the same issue that most middle books of trilogies have: feeling largely like a connection between the more impactful beginning and end.

Final Thoughts
If you enjoyed The Stardust Thief, you’ll love stepping into that magical world again in The Ashfire King. The magic systems are expanded upon and the characters all grow a lot as they face new challenges and discoveries. This is a book that you can take your time falling into. It ends on some more cliffhangers, and I can’t wait to see how the Sandsea Trilogy concludes.

I received an eARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit for the opportunity.

This is book two in The Sandsea Trilogy by Chelsea Abdullah. Once someone told me that if I liked THE BEAR AND THE NIGHTINGALE, that I'd like this book/series. Once I started reading, I was very confused at the correlation between the two. Now, if someone had said if I'd liked THE ADVENTURES OF AMINA AL-SIRAFI, it would have made more sense to me.

THE ASHFIRE KING picks up immediately where THE STARDUST THIEF ends and I greatly appreciated that. There wasn't a lot of call back to the previous book, but I was okay with that since I'd just finished the other one. I wasn't entirely sure who the Stardust Thief actually was at the end of the first book, and I had my suspicions of who the Ashfire King was when starting this one. Both are made clear as the story goes on. I did feel like THE ASHFIRE KING was a bit slower to start, but reading two different timelines that are co-occurring, helped me get through that slower paced part of the book. I greatly appreciated the continuation of the 3 POVs of Aisha, Mazen, and Loulie. They each have their distinct voice, and I don't think the story would be as good as it is if it was a single or third person POV.

This book-this series really-is full of adventure, of finding out secrets, learning to trust and opening your heart, magic, adventure, and lore. I am hoping that book three has a little bit more romance that this book hinted at more heavily. It does happen to end on a cliffhanger, but that just left me with so many questions that I can't wait to find out.

4.5 ⭐️ rounded up

This was such a fun sequel. With where book 1 left off I was ready to learn so much more about the lore of this world and this book DELIVERED on that front. The new locations and mysteries I was just eating up. If you are more of a character driven reader I could see this not necessarily being your jam because from start to finish it was one adventurous time with little time to reflect in the crazy things happening. But if you’re like me and wanted to learn so much more about the lore…this is going to be your JAM.

I immersion read this and the cast of the audiobook, yes I said cast because each main POV gets their own narrator, adds so much to the reading experience. This book has such an emphasis on oral story-telling in the world building that this amazing audio performance really just breathes such extra detail wonder into. I would highly recommend.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me a review copy via NetGalley.

The plot picks up right where the stardust thief ends, so watch a video or do a reread of the first book if you’ve read it. Since I forgot most of what happened it took me a minute to get into but as the story went on I understood what was happening and really enjoyed it.

Writing and world building was paced really well. If you like action, magic and storytelling read this series.

I really enjoyed this book, it was a great sequel! I love this Middle Eastern inspired fantasy with it's lush and fascinating world building and unique magic! The characters are well written and I enjoyed the hints of romance in this one! After the ending, though, I can't wait for the next book!

The best middle book in a series I have ever read. The action in this one topped the first book. Read this a few months ago and I am still shocked at the ending.

As Loulie al-Nazari and Mazen bin Malik are fleeing Omar, they find themselves in the jinn realm. And to their shock, they find that the cities are sinking into the Sandsea. The magic that keeps the cities afloat is failing as the Queen tries to find a solution. When brought before her, she initially thinks they are a part of the rebellion that has been brewing. They find themselves right into the middle as Loulie can use the magic of the former king. And Loulie will have to decide the best way forward for her legacy.

The long awaited sequel to The Stardust Thief, I couldn't wait to dive into this book. Unfortunately for me it came to me at a bad time and it took me so long to get through this. So I ended up with quite a disjointed reading. But I did like the book. The first half was a bit slow as it built up the politics, rebellion, and the realm itself as Loulie was trying to find out why she has access to Qadir’s powers. But once the story got going it was action packed. Both in the jinn realm and the desert with Aisha. I love the budding relationship between Loulie and Mazen and can't wait to see more in the next book. I would also like to thank the author for the recap and wish more authors did that in series. Looking forward to the next book.

Rating 4 stars
*I received a review copy from NetGalley for my voluntary and honest review

Like the first work, there were many stories included as interludes throughout the primary plot. There were also a lot of flashbacks incorporated. And the characters get pulled in different directions, creating multiple plotlines that eventually do converge. All of this led to the work feeling less engaging than the first, without enough time to really get immersed in one plot before we jumped to the next or into a flashback and really highlighted some plot holes and weaknesses.

I thought it was a bit odd that Qadir was sidelined for the whole book despite the setup from the previous work and some of the reveals in this one. And I realized that Loulie and Mazen are kind of bland as characters. In a middle book like this, I expect character growth and evolution and a strong set up to keep you invested for book three. But instead, characters just kind of knew how to do things suddenly in this book that were out of character (since when would Mazen the pacifist be good at fighting?).

This book was fine and sets up for what sounds to be a promising and entertaining close to the trilogy. I almost feel as if this should have been turned into a duology rather than a trilogy, but we’ll see how the next book goes. My thanks to NetGalley and Orbit Books for allowing me to read this work. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

A wonderful follow-up to The Stardust Thief. I wish it were a duology, because that would mean I wouldn't have to wait for the third.

The character arcs for each of the main characters were both somewhat surprising after the first book and exactly right for their trajectory. I can't wait for how things fall in the third.

The merchant and the prince fell through the sand sea as a last resort for protection. Instead of protection, they find themselves in a lost jinn city, drafted on yet another quest for another royal court against their wishes. Loulie and Mazen must fight against these jinn factions in order to save themselves and attempt to return to the surface.

I was disappointed to find that this one fell a little flat for me. There was not much action going on and felt like another repeat of the plot of the first novel in the series. I appreciated the extra background information provided in this installment but over felt like it suffered from the second book syndrome - meant to bridge the first and third.

It is really hard to be better than a fantastic book one, the Ashfire King felt like a solid middle book in a trilogy.
One of the things that I found incredibly unique about the book and absolutely loved as someone who reads a lot of books and has trouble keeping the plots straight was the entire book one recap that happened at the start of the story. It felt natural to the story in the way that it felt like the characters of the book were recapping everything that had happened to them. I wish more fantasy authors would do this!
I love the world building throughout this series, pulling from mythology and folklore and turning into new stories and plots. The subplot romance of Loulie and Mazen, will they, won't they!
This book felt like a lot of filler information, which at times was not as interesting to get through as book one, book one was an introduction to a bright new world and book two felt like the textbook background information book. It was weird reading Qadir's pov and characters interacting with him as he was just a shell of his book one self.
I will definitely be reading book three.

Such a long awaited sequel for me! So glad to finally be back in it. Really appreciated the recap at the beginning because it had been a while and I really didn't want to have to re-read the first book. I was obsessed with the first one when it came out, sadly I think I lost some of that passion for this story in the years since, and I didn't enjoy it as much as I wanted to. I think it was a great second book, I just don't know that my heart is in it anymore to continue with this series after this. I'm devastated that I seem to have fallen out of love with it because I have such fond memories of my experience reading the first one. I still definitely recommend for anyone who loved the first one and wants to continue.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

After sinking beneath the Sandsea, Loulie and Mazen find that the world below was not left as pristine as they had been led to believe. As they attempt to find a way back to the surface, Aisha battles with the consequences of her survival from Omar.

I FLEW through the first 85% and then I panicked because I was so scared of how it would end…so I put it off for TWO MONTHS before finally ripping off the band aid. If that isn’t a well-written story with characters you genuinely worry for, I don’t know what is. Ugh, this series has my heart!

I loved The Stardust Thief and I couldn't wait to get back into this world again. I don't understand people who thought this book had middle book syndrome, because I truly forgot this was a trilogy and was surprised when it wasn't wrapped up at the end. There was such great growth from the characters, and while there is so much action, I do think this book is more about the characters themselves than the story. Abdullah does a great job of writing different voices for her characters, and the stories throughout are a delight. Loved this and cannot wait for the final installment!

Thank you to Netgalley and Orbit for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you so much for the chance to read this book. Sadly, I was not able to finish it before its release.

While I loved getting to know the history of the jinn and more of the world in this novel, it also seemed to be a lot. This made the book feel very slow and almost tedious to read. It was odd at times as there seemed to be several scenes of “action”, but if asked, I would say the book was moving slowly while reading it. The final third of the book did pick up considerably. If not for the audiobook, I might not have made it to that point, though.

The world and ideas for the story are so beautiful. Since there is only one book remaining, I will most likely still be reading it to see how everything wraps up.

I absolutely adored this book and I NEED THE FINAL PIECE TO THE PUZZLE! I am so in love with these characters and this world. The Ashfire King picks up right where book 1 left off and sets us straight on a fast paced adventure with so many reveals. Middle book syndrome? NOT HERE. I can't wait for the final book.

The Ashfire King is the second installment of the Sandsea Trilogy, a loose spin-off of the Arabian Nights that follows the adventures of the next generation after Scheherazade. This book picks up where the first ended: Loulie al Nazari, notorious merchant of djinn relics, and Prince Mazen bin Malik, idealistic storyteller, have found the magic lamp that imprisons a legendary ifrit. But they are forced to escape the usurper King Omar bin Malik in the djinn world, leaving behind their respective bodyguards — Qadir, the eponymous ashfire king of the djinn, and Aisha, one of Omar's forty thieves turned ifrit host. Now Loulie and Mazen must navigate the political minefield of the djinn world to return for their comrades, while Aisha attempts to get revenge for Omar's betrayal and save Qadir from his dungeon. In the meantime, the djinn and human worlds hurdle towards war with one another.

Pros
- world building: Abdullah adapts elements of the Arabian Nights to fit her own original story, which I love after too many uninspired retellings about Scheherazade. The relationship between the human and djinn worlds is also wonderfully nuanced and realistic, which is rare in English language publications.
- character development: The POV characters — Loulie, Mazen, and Aisha — start to work through their traumas and make positive connections with the people around them. It's quite clear how they've grown since the start of the series.
- romance: An epic slow burn across multiple books and a grumpy / sunshine pairing where the male is the cinnamon roll for once!

Cons
- side characters: I loved Prince Hakim, but all the djinn side characters acting like petulant teenagers drove me crazy! There were hints of back story and relationships that might have fleshed-out these characters. But it didn't happen here and I was left with the thought that this is why I rarely enjoy YA books.
- plot: The overall story arc was predictable. This was somewhat of an issue in the first book as well: Will they find the magic lamp? Is Omar up to no good? Yes of course! But the final revelation of how / why was satisfying. Not so in this second book. It just plods along exactly where you expect it to go, with no big twist or huzzah at the end.

In summary: 3.5 stars — I would comp this book / series as the YA cousin of the Daevabad trilogy by SA Chakraborty. It has solid world building and MC character development. But the plot is a bit too predictable for me. I likely won't read the third book.