Nura and the Immortal Palace

Product Information

A magical adventure rooted in Muslim culture and tradition, Nura and the Immortal Palace follows a young girl's journey from modern-day Pakistan into the world of the jinn. Nura has worked all her life in the mica mines, earning just enough to keep her family afloat - and enjoy the odd delicious gulab jamun from the market. Some day she's going to find the Demon's Tongue, a legendary treasure buried deep in the mines, and her family will never have to worry about money again. An enchanting portal fantasy full of hope but one that also brings to light the harsh realities of poverty that are present around the world. Disclaimer: I received this E-ARC via the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review and this blog tour post. Author MT Khan takes us on a magical journey through the contrasting worlds of a mica miner to the bountiful world of the jinn palace. Her main character clearly wants what she can't have and her journey to claim it is fraught with problems for her to overcome, until ultimately, she discovers that what she needs is not what she thought that she wanted. The story was so beautiful and sad at the time. I wasn't expecting a middle grade to touch on so many sensitive and important topics. This book advocates the importance of education at every chance it gets along with the opposition to child labor. The world-building of the palace was magical and can easily transport a reader, on the other hand, the way Meera bagh was portrayed transported me to a calm and small village in Pakistan. It made me think that sometimes simple is enough if done brilliantly.

Nura and the Immortal Palace was said to have shades of the Studio Ghibli movie Spirited Away. (Which, of course, meant that I scrambled to get an ARC as soon as I could.) And let me tell you, it absolutely delivered on this promise. We see what happens when the veneer of beauty and magic is peeled away, revealing the darkness within. This was a theme that was very much present in Spirited Away. Nura and the Immortal Palace, I’m happy to report, does it justice. The standout worldbuilding strikes an impressive balance between realism and fantasy, presenting the harrowing experiences of child labor while also joyfully describing a lavish jinn resort with all manner of curious and memorable details in a way that does not diminish the impact of the former."— BCCB

M. T. Khan Press Reviews

The time and effort the author spent are directly reflected within the world. Throughout the world, there is Desi culture sprinkled in through the clothing, food, and childhood stories of the Jinn. It’s a celebration of M.T Khan’s culture and allows those who aren’t of the same to feel a connection to it. It creates a truly memorizing world for the reader to engross themselves in. Nura and the Immortal Palace follows Nura, a 12 year old girl who is one of countless children working in the mica mines of Meera Bagh to help her single mother support their family. Whispers of the Demon’s Tongue, a priceless treasure that would solve anyone’s money problems have been circulating for some time and when Nura’s mother tells her to stop working, it only heightens her ambitions to find it. Having read this book I can vouch that the Spirited Away comparison is so apt! Nura and the Immortal Palace is a middle grade fantasy about 12 year old Nura, who works in the mica mines to support her family but when the mine collapses and her friends disappear, she finds herself whisked away into a secret world ruled by the jinn. What follows next is Nura’s race to get herself out of the jinn hotel before it’s too late. In this follow-up to 2020’s The One and Only Bob, Ruby the elephant is still living at Wildworld Zoological Park and Sanctuary.

Bestselling author Alexandra Christo, author of TikTok sensation To Kill a Kingdom, introduces her new book, The Night Hunt (Hot Key Books), a dark... Aru Shah and the End of Timemeets Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Awayin this mesmerizing portal fantasy that takes readers into the little-known world of Jinn. But when a terrible accident traps her best friend Faisal underground, she determines to save him - and crosses over into the magical and treacherous realm of the jinn.Nura wants what she can't have: money, wealth and power. Her days are long and difficult, mining for mica; it's a dirty and dangerous job but she does it to help her mum, to bring some extra money into the family, to help give her younger siblings a little extra. But what she really wants is to find The Demon's Tongue. Some say it's a myth, but for Nura and the other child miners, it's the ultimate goal: if they find it, they will want for nothing for the rest of their lives. But Nura takes too many risks and when her digging causes a mine to collapse and her best friend to get trapped, Nura takes it upon herself to save him. But there’s a dark truth lurking beneath all that glitter and gold, and when Nura crosses the owner’s son and is banished to the working quarters, she realizes she isn’t the only human who’s ended up in the hotel’s clutches. Faisal and the other missing children are there, too, and if Nura can’t find a way to help them all escape, they’ll be bound to work for the hotel forever. Set in a rural industrial town in Pakistan and full of hope, heart, and humor, Nura and the Immortal Palace is inspired by M.T. Khan’s own Pakistani Muslim heritage.