⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 4 stars
Thank you to the author for providing me with an eARC of this book via TBR and Beyond Tours in exchange for an honest review!

Nura and the Immortal Palace is a middle grade Fantasy book with Pakistani and Muslim rep. It follows Nura, a mica child miner, who dug to deep and caused a mine to collapse. When this happened her friend Faisal got trapped and she was determined to get him out, only to fall into the realm of the Jinn.

Warning content: child labor

“Educating people, eliminating their ignorance… I believe that’s the best way to keep chaos in check.”

I believe middle grade books are often overlooked because of the rating, but some of them are truly hidden gems! Yes, they aren’t always as deep or complex as YA of NA, but still the story in itself can be amazing with an amazing message, just as this book.

The plot for this book is relatively simple, but very impactful to read. While in the beginning, the impact isn’t really as potent as later on, it does grab your attention from the very first page. The way the heavier topics are tackled is really well done. It isn’t sugarcoated with its dangers or how wrong it is. I really appreciated that.

The writing was really well done as well. It truly brought forth the Studio Ghibli vibes it was said this book had. The book has really vivid and colorful descriptions of the places, clothing, food and everything in between and it made this book so easy to picture! I did struggle a bit with the world. I was confused about the “real world”, as it was confusing if it was in an alternate reality or in our world. The rules etc. of the Jinn realm aren’t also really mentioned, so I didn’t really have an idea what was happening unit it happened. On the other hand, some parts were really predictable as well.

Nura is a wonderful courageous character, but childlike as well. She fluctuates in feeling childlike and mature depending on the situation. While seeing the wonder in the Jinn realm, you really notice she is so young. On the other hand, when working or thinking of her family she shows a really mature sign. It is almost sad she has this side, because the hard circumstances that created it. All characters have depth to them, even the “bad” ones which makes them quite likable and you sympathize more with them.

Another thing that really got to me in this book was the topic of education. Nura believing it isn’t for her, because she needs to work to help her family broke my heart. But her wanting to sent her younger siblings was heartwarming at the same time. It also really ties in with the growth of her as a character, which is subtle but powerful.

A lot of events did seem a bit rushed to me and thus didn’t really gave me the full impact they could’ve had, such as the eating competition, the casino and the ending. That was a pity, I would’ve liked those to be a bit more fleshed out and maybe be given a bit more attention.

Overall, it was a fun and whimsical story with a really strong message about education and child labor, that I enjoyed.