Reviews tagging 'Gore'

A Dead Djinn in Cairo by P. Djèlí Clark

29 reviews

ko_rax's review

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No
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unjaded's review

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adventurous dark funny mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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emily_mh's review

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

I’m so impressed by this novella! Standing at less than 60 pages, Clarke managed to incorporate imaginative world-building, memorable characters, and a speedy investigation. I was so pleased with the steampunk, alt-history Egypt this story took place in. It was cool learning about the inventor who changed the course of history by bringing the supernatural to earth. The world-building was wholly tied into the mystery, which sought to strengthen both. The mystery itself was the perfect level of complexity for such a short novella, and thankfullly our MC detective actually DOES detectieve work - nothing falls into her lap. As our MC, Fatma was great, being incredibly capable without the tiresome ego, and dynamic due to the references to her past. The SCs were also interesting, ranging from a gun-slinging acolyte to literal angels.

I always think that the-world-is-ending stakes play out a little shallowly in a novella, and unfortunately this was also the case here. However, it didn’t hugely impact my enjoyment or the impression of quality this story gave. I’m picking up the next novella straight away!

Rep: sapphic Muslim Egyptian MC, sapphic Sudanese-Egyptian LI
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takarakei's review against another edition

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dark mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I was told to read this first for some world-building before reading The Master of Djinn. It was a quick listen that is really packed with information about this world and follows the plot at a pretty quick pace. At it's core it's a mystery as you follow detective Fatma on a hunt to discover why some other worldly beings are being killed. Fatma is a cool main character to follow and I would've happily read more about her!
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jhbandcats's review

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adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I should have read this novella before reading Master of Djinn, the novel that takes off where this ends. This story introduces the characters  of Fatma, the inspector who works with the Cairo department that regulates magic, and Siti, a woman who has magical strength and agility. They work together to protect the world from an influx of evil from another … world? dimension? - and Siti mysteriously disappears just before the police show up after all the action is over - but not before making a date with Fatma. Action, romance, djinns, angels, ghuls - what’s not to like? Well, honestly, no one likes ghuls….
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rafacolog's review

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mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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scrubsandbooks's review

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

After reading A Master of Djinn, this little story was a delightful dive back to a world that I absolutely fell in love with. Besides wishing it was longer, I can't complain about anything. The characters, the dialogue, the plot, chef's kiss, entirely.
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rorareads55's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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surdiablo's review

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Interesting short-story about a detective and her investigations, relating to djinns and otherworldly entities, located in a steampunk Cairo in the 1910s. Considering the page count, it was a rather well-written, self-contained story for the most part. The world-building or the setting itself was the strongest point, the plot itself is interesting enough ( maybe a bit predictable but that's not necessarily a con ) and the characters were alright but didn't have much depth. Apparently it's part of a series of short-stories with a full-blown novel at the end so color me intrigued nonetheless!
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anni_swanilda's review

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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