Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

A Dead Djinn in Cairo by P. Djèlí Clark

18 reviews

emily_mh's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide

Moderate: Gore, Murder, Death, Physical abuse, Gun violence, Body horror, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual content, Ableism, Colonisation, Vomit, Blood, Sexism, Classism, Confinement, Racism, Kidnapping, and Misogyny

Minor: theft

takarakei's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Suicide, and Death

Moderate: Blood, Violence, and Body horror

Minor: Sexism

suicide

one of the other-wordly beings dies by apparent suicide

rafacolog's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Blood, Body horror, Suicide, and Violence

trollmila's review

adventurous dark 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Blood, Xenophobia, and Suicide

scrubsandbooks's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide and Death

Moderate: Body horror, Gore, and Sexism

rorareads55's review

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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Suicide, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, and Violence

gothnailcare's review

adventurous lighthearted 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Suicide, and Gore

Minor: Cannibalism, Xenophobia, Body horror, Gun violence, Religious bigotry, Sexism, and Classism

bel017's review

medium-paced

Very heavy on world building. As a short story I would have appreciated more plot and less detail.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gore, and Body horror

Moderate: Suicide, Murder, and Death

nicnevin's review

adventurous mysterious tense medium-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

4.75

I am in love with this wordbuilding, steampunk magic Egypt with tantalising hints of other worlds. I gotta read the rest of this series. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Violence

madarauchiha's review

adventurous medium-paced

3.0

 ❤️ 🧡 💛 💚 💙 💜  my about / byf / CW info carrd: uchiha-madara 💜 💙 💚 💛 🧡 ❤️

I think I'd love this if I could stand steampunk. The setting was great, the writing fantastic, I don't care for the steampunk, but I enjoyed the plot nonetheless.

I really did hate the whorephobia though, stop shitting on sex workers you assholes.

content warnings
medium suicide,  body horror,  

major gore,  murder,  death,  gun violence,  body horror,  unreality,  anti sex worker sentiment,  whorephobia,  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Murder, Death, Gun violence, and Body horror

Moderate: Suicide and Body horror