Reviews

I love the idea of golems and was very excited to read a novel with a golem as a prominent character, and more excited as I started the story and learned why/how this golem was created. However, the book requires a patience for slow character development that I don't normally have. I enjoyed the development of our main characters but kept wanting a bit more things to happen throughout. I found the ending unsatisfying. It felt rushed and unbelievable from all aspects for every character and generally left me a bit unsettled in my reflection of the book.

I would recommend this book to lovers of Golems and Jinnis for a unique view that still sticks to the mythology. But if you're not a lover of either of those worlds, this might not be the book for you.

Spoiler

The main characters seem sad and unfulfilled at the end and I found some of the character responses to be absolutely too generous/kind to be believable.

cypriaturge's review against another edition

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5.0

I feel like any review I wrote of this book couldn't do it justice.

It was like a beautifully painted portrait, where each of the figure's histories elegantly unfurl before your eyes. Each time you glance at it, a new detail appears to you, and you can do nothing but be baffled at the staggering level of articulation in each line and brushstroke.

Maybe it didn't bring me to the depths of emotion or understanding that other great books have, but the Golem and the Jinni's beauty is undeniable - and it's a book I hope to see become an American classic.

I'm bonded to the characters in this novel now, and I'll be thinking about them for a long time.

jacobs25's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

shaankayz's review against another edition

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5.0

A genuinely fantastic novel, and a pleasant surprise to boot.

For a long time i've generally read your atypical fantasy novel or sci-fi novel, but Helene Wecker has written such a phenomenal book without using the standard tropes seen in fantasy.

A realistic fantasy, it really pulls you in and keeps you engaged all the way to the end, giving you just enough of the characters back stories to keep you going.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, and I'm sure many more will.

jaina8851's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

I'm struggling a bit with what to say about this book. I liked the magical realism style of the prose and the characterization of the title characters, but struggled a LOT with the pacing. It felt so slow until past 80% of the book, with new character threads being introduced constantly, the narrative back-tracking to give us multiple perspectives of the same event, and just a lot of daily minutiae that felt like it could have been edited more tightly. I also felt unsatisfied by the ending, I made a face that was a combination of 😒😠☹️ in the last few paragraphs before the epilogue. I really wanted to love this book, and there are certainly parts of it that I enjoyed, but overall I just was a bit disappointed.

heidi_mcj's review against another edition

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5.0

A very well written book with an original story. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

tjh23's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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