Reviews with content warning for Murder - The Golem and the Jinni

This book was unlike anything I’ve read before, but in this case, it wasn’t a plus. Wecker’s writing is expansive, reflective, intricate in nature; the plot of the novel was both more epic in scale and more concerned with minutiae than I expected, and the duality of these elements makes for a drawn-out tale, a little like the layers of the thousand and one nights, where pieces spin out of focus and back to the centre. Every character is important, though many of them aren’t obviously relevant or terribly interesting from my perspective.

I appreciated the story for its careful mapping of New York City through the eyes of immigrants coming to understand, make a home, and find independence in an unfamiliar, growing city. Wecker has great empathy for these characters: for the multitude of reasons that people may travel; the social, cultural, and economic positions they inhabit; the things they recall from other countries, bring with them, and find to comfort and satisfy in the new land. The spiritual characterizations were folded into the setting with skill, and also showed confrontation with the new, though for the Jinni and Golem, there was more to learn and adapt to.

I was drawn to the Golem and Mahmoud Saleh especially. The Golem is painted with a deferent desire to please others, coupled with a struggle to make a full picture of others’ minds beyond their strongest impulses; the balance of social sensitivity and difficulty with social cues was familiar to my neurodivergent way of seeing, as were other events, like Chava’s fear of her own mind, lack of interest in many normative interactions, and her curious experimentation with her body. Saleh, I viewed as an interesting model for depressive mentality—I liked seeing a sick mind without having competing theories about depression or possession, but I also liked seeing some symptoms, notably passive suicidal ideation, difficulty with people, and greyness to the world, show up as marks of a possessed mind. I also liked Myram as a constant and a symbol of Little Syria.

I didn’t like Sophia’s, Shaalman’s, or Anna’s roles in the narrative, and I would have liked a smaller-scale story, one that stayed closer to the titular characters. The historical theory was a drag on the close character study that I anticipated, and I found the dramatic twists increasingly tiresome and not to my liking as they built up and up towards the conclusion.

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noodletheriddle's review against another edition

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medium-paced

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

4.0

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paracosim's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful 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

My man Saleh…love him

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pphector's review against another edition

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adventurous inspiring mysterious reflective tense 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

4.5

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ehmannky's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful reflective 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

4.5

This book is beautiful and one of the best fantasy books I've read...ever. The book starts off slowly, lovingly building the world of late-19th century New York as experienced by Chava, a masterless golem, and Ahmad, a jinni bound with no knowledge of how he came to be so. Their interactions with their fellow characters are funny and poignant, and the stress of being an Other within a community of Others is spectacularly well done. I was enchanted by these characters. And then Wecker takes it to another level once Chava and Ahmad meet, becoming friends and then developing a deep love and attachment to one another. There's a dancing scene that may be the most romantic shit I've ever read? But! There's also the fear of discovery, learning empathy for fellow beings, finding the middle ground between prudence and spontaneity. While I deeply enjoyed the slower pacing and character-heavy focus of the first half of the novel, I could not put the book down after the second half begins. It's so good, I cannot recommend this book enough.
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The second time I've read this and I love it even more. I felt this time that 1) I picked up on so much more of Ahmad's longing and damn, I am a sucker for that. And 2) I think I glossed over how much both Chava and Ahmad both grow so much in terms of taking responsibility for their actions. Whereas Ahmad refuses to care or accept responsibility until forced, Chava wants to push the responsibility for herself onto someone else. It's so good.

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