The children loved this book, adventure, travel, history and magic, what more could you want. My granddaughters appreciated the strong female lead. Suitable for family reading together.

I received an ARC copy of this title and feel like I won the lottery!
The story is beautifully written, full of action, drama and twists that kept me on the edge of my seat. The characters are loveable and endearing, constantly overcoming personal obstacles that so many young people could relate to.
I will definitely be recommending this to my pupils and reading it to them in the future! It allows for not only an insight into attitudes in London during the Victorian period, but also sharing Indian culture from a variety of perspectives; I strive to ensure that my pupils are exposed to a diverse range of cultural experiences and this will definitely be on the list.
This was a delightful half term read and I will be recommending to colleagues too!

Thank you Netgalley and Puffin for this eCopy to review

I was captivated by Pathak's descriptions of Indian and Victorian London, I really enjoyed the City of Stolen Dreams especially the relationship between Chompa and her mother. Chompa is desperate to use her powerful finger magic and cannot understand why her mother says no. Chompa uses it anyway and is devastated by the consequences. Ultimately her mother is kidnapped by the British. Chompa sets out on a quest to find her mother and this leads to her investigating why people with magic are being kidnapped. She meets lots of new friends along the way who help her.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for allowing me to read this book in advance of it being published. I really enjoyed the story line as it flowed nicely. The way in which the characters developed, was very interesting. I didn't want to put the book down, there was something in which they couldn't help but want to find out what happened next. There was something about the whole thing that it was amazing. For the age range this book is based off, it would be an amazing read for them.

City of Stolen Magic is a fantastic middle-grade fantasy adventure. With a well-imagined magical system, enchanting worldbuilding and compelling characters, I was swept up in Chompa's story. Her journey, from a small village in India to the seat of the Victorian empire in London allows for an interesting exploration of British colonialism for a young audience, with a fantasy twist.

Vivid and fast-paced with a courageous young heroine, City of Stolen Magic is a spellbinding debut and I couldn't put it down.

City of stolen magic by Nazneen Ahmed Pathak is an enchanting story full of magic and adventure.

Chompa is a true heroine travelling from Dacca to London to save her mother and kidnapped children with Djin born magic.

The adventure is described so vividly the reader becomes immersed in the twists and turns of Chompas quest.

Ahmed Pathak structures the story into five parts creating even more suspense and allowing the reader to truly escape into the scene.

In addition to this being a wonderful story with truly memorable characters Ahmed Pathak also includes factual and historical content regarding the history of India and Britain and magical folklore.

Both children and adult readers will enjoy a truly gripping adventure from start to finish.

City of Stolen Magic manages to be both an exciting romp through colonial India and Victorian Britain and a sobering expose of Empire, shot through with a delightfully original concept and some fast paced, twisting plotting and story telling. Chompa lives with her beloved mother in a small village in India, bored by her mother's insistence on slow, subtle charms rather than allwoing Chompa to explore her much more exciting and powerful finger magic, but when Chompa takes matters into her own hands, the results are catastrophic resulting in her mother's capture by terrifyingly pale men - Chompa's first encounter with the British.

Chompa's courageous search for her mother and exploration of her own magical skills, leads her first to Dacca and then over the ocean to a cold, inhospitable London, bloated on the famine engulfing her home, from the houses of the rich to an East End where she realises the kidnapping of magical people extends far beyond her own family, touching all the many immigrant populations eeking out livings in the Docklands. Who is kidnapping these children and, more worryingly still, what are they planning to do with them?

A bedazzling magical adventure with some unsavoury truths at its heart. Recommended.

This is a beautiful middle-grade book that had me hooked the entire time. The magic systems alone are incredibly well-done and thoughtful. Chompa, our protagonist, is very human, flawed, and for the most part, acts as one would expect a child to act - sometimes imperfectly, but always with passion. I really enjoy the aspect of her losing her hair, giving younger kids a heroine who doesn't look 'perfect' by traditional beauty standards, but is bold and inspiring nonetheless.

I initially found the switch in POV a bit jarring, but I think I acclimated to it within a few chapters. I really enjoyed these alternate POVs over time, though there were things I would've preferred to have seen/learnt about via Chompa's point of view.

I do think this is, at times, perhaps too dark for its audience; there is one event (which I won't spoil) that I found quite disturbing myself as an adult reader. Nonetheless, I would highly recommend this to an older middle grade reader.

This was an amazing book from start to finish.

The setting was just amazing and it described India and Dakka with so much passion that it made the reader think they were there.

Chompa is our main female character and she is so strong willed trying to save everyone up until the very end. She's a strong female lead followed by Laurie and Tipu as strong second lead males.

The magic is very original and unique. I've never read anything like it before. Djiinborn and Dijinnspeakers are the main magic users in the book. There's also mentions of charm-writers.

I loved it. Its deserving of a 5 star rating.

This was a really good book full of friendship and family, and reading how far Chompa was willing to go for her mother was so heartfelt! I loved their relationship and I just wish we got to read more of it
I also loved the friendships in the book, and it was nice that Chompa had people at every step to help her
The book was full of magic and took you on a journey, as well as being vibrant as you could see the colour in the pages as you read it
I also liked how the author was truthful about the British Empire too and how it didn’t shy away from things that they have done which were unjust
I do this the book could have been a bit shorter, but overall a great read!

A spellbinding and enchanting adventure. Huge thanks to the publisher for the ARC, in exchange for an honest review. The characters, the plot, the magic just bursts out of this book, it was a joy from start to finish. I truly hope there’s more in this series.

A wonderfully beautiful book, which takes you on a journey full of magic. This was so touching, I loved this unique style of magic and learning about its different nuances. I also think the familial aspect was beautifully written and Chompa has such a deep connection to her mother it really hits you in the heart. Overall this is an amazing book about friendship, magic and the lengths you’ll go for family but with a fun adventure mixed in too.

I fell in love with this book through the writing and the relationships the characters had with each other, it was incredibly special. The magic and world were brilliantly told through the writing, finger magic is definitely an original concept which had me intrigued from the moment it was introduced. The characters were all well-written, and I loved the relationship Chompa had with her mother, Ammi. Their storyline was emotional and had me rooting for them the whole time, they had an incredibly special and loving family bond.

I would definitely recommend this book to younger readers who love magic and imaginative worlds and characters, I was hooked from the beginning.

This book was amazing, nothing less than fantastic, I finished it in one sitting and it’s completely deserving of the 5 star review. The characters were well written, at no point was I wishing that the author would change any aspect of them. The friendships and family bonds between the characters were beautiful to read, the lengths to which Chompa was willing to and did go, for her mother was incredibly moving, and heartfelt, I enjoyed as well that it wasn’t just Chompa’s pov, that we did get chapters from Tipu’s pov. The magic in this book was imaginative and vibrant and kept me enthralled for the entirety of the novel, even though this mightn’t necessarily be a book for older readers, I still enjoyed it immensely and would recommend it to anyone. This book is vivid, vibrant, and just captivated my attention from the start, so as I’ve said already, definitely worth the read. One more thing I thought was important was how this book highlighted, and didn’t shy away from the damage and destruction that were a result of the British Empire, it doesn’t gloss over the atrocities as one might expect, instead it acknowledges them and how unjust the British rule was, and how they stole so much from the countries they colonised, (it’s not especially graphic or anything though, so it’s still suitable for the targeted audience of this book).