Reviews

The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker

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jennyvetvik's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

3.25

booksandcatsgalore's review

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adventurous dark medium-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

jenhurst's review against another edition

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4.0

4.5.
I’m not sure why I put this off for so long. It’s still fantasy, but it read a lot more like historical fiction with magical realism mixed in. I loved the Jewish and middle eastern mythology at play here. There was so much depth to the world snd characters in a fairly short fantasy book. I’ll definitely be reading more by this author!

joyce409's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

4.75

blairsatellite's review against another edition

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adventurous dark sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

gnatie's review against another edition

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4.0

This is really well written! I loved all of the different POVs and how the story covers multiple different time periods. I especially liked getting the background for the main cast of characters, it really shows how you can’t tell what someone’s been through based on where they are now or how they act. It’s really interesting to see how all of the different lives intertwine and unfold.

The beginning and the last 100 pages or so are very interesting but the majority of the middle is pretty bland. It’s like regular life with a few minor differences, there’s no big conflict other than the singular anxiety of other people catching on to their secrets. But other than that, it’s just regular life. While it’s all well written and I didn’t even notice how bland the story was in the middle (but then I described it to someone else and realized that there’s not much going on right now), it’s still mostly kinda boring. It’s a slow paced book for most of it. And then the ending makes you not want to put the book down for the last 100 pages. So if you’re okay with a bit of regular life thrown in, it’s a really good book!