Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark

50 reviews

thoughtsontomes's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

This was an absolute delight. The world is lush and expansive. The characters and their interactions are lovable while still being flawed and realistic. There is a sapphic relationship. The mystery kept me on my toes with enough foreshadowing to be satisfying. The villain had every ability to be 2 dimensional but turned out to have some substance. Everything was tied up perfectly. I'm be not so patiently awaiting the next novel in this series. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Fire/Fire injury, and Racism

Moderate: Colonisation and Blood

astropova's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Sexism, Police brutality, Slavery, Religious bigotry, Cultural appropriation, and Racism

Minor: Colonisation, Body horror, and War

bookwyrmknits's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-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? Yes

5.0

I have loved Clark's Dead Djinn Universe since reading The Haunting of Tram Car 015 (quickly followed by the other stories in the universe). This full-length novel is no exception! It was a lot of fun to read, and had the perfect amount of mystery to it. I especially appreciated that I figured out the puzzle (using clues, not guesses) just before Fatma did. It's always nice when an author gives the reader enough clues to solve the mystery, but not so many that the MC seems slow in comparison.

This is a highly enjoyable novel, and while you don't need to read any of the shorter pieces that come before it before picking up this book, I personally liked the little nods to those stories that I found since I *had* already read them. That extra knowledge, though, is a bonus and not at all necessary if you don't want to start with the short stories.

As with the prior installments in this universe, the focus is on setting and plot, and not characters. While we do get some minor character development in this novel, it seems that it's usually plot-driven development and not the other way around. This isn't a problem, especially if you're aware of it going in, but it might help manage expectations about what this novel is going to deliver.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder and Fire/Fire injury

aardwyrm's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny 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? It's complicated

4.0

A mystery is a balancing act, and overall this one does a good job of leaving clues the audience can follow and making sure it all pays off. Also djinn are cool as shit.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Xenophobia, Gun violence, Violence, Sexism, Racism, Religious bigotry, Racial slurs, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Police brutality, Misogyny, Blood, Cultural appropriation, Death, Homophobia, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

schnaucl's review against another edition

adventurous 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? No

4.25

I really liked it, though I think I would have benefited from reading the short story set in the universe first.  I actually liked the fact that certain things (mostly related to fashion) weren't explicitly explained for an audience who may not be familiar with it 

The idea that America would be very anti-magic seems fitting. 

I think the politics will be fascinating since not only is there the introduction of magic about 40 years ago, but it looks like World War I never happened.   Egypt is a great power.   Britain's power is waning for but for somewhat different reasons than happened in reality.

It's always interesting to explore the mythologies, magic traditions, and religions of other places and cultures.  Lots of interesting stuff about colonial power, race, gender and religion to chew on.

I really liked the Jasmine Club.  

I was a little frustrated, that Fatma didn't pick up on the fact that Siwa was trying to give them clues the only way he could the first time.  I didn't understand the clues, but I figured that's what was happened.   I also thought his second attempt where he was literally like here's a story about a woman dressed as a man doing a thing was pretty on the nose.  Then again, I figured out who the true culprit was as soon as the doctor explained about the mask, since Fatma took her information from the person who first described the mask to her.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, and Slavery

Minor: Cultural appropriation

uranaishi's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful inspiring mysterious 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? No

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Colonisation, Homophobia, Murder, Sexism, Slavery, Death of parent, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Blood, Racism, Stalking, Religious bigotry, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Death, and Racial slurs

Minor: Alcohol, Police brutality, Sexual content, Antisemitism, Outing, Violence, and War

mmefish's review against another edition

Neither the characters nor the plot are engaging enough, unfortunately. I’m also not a fan of integrating real world religions into fantasy.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury

szuum's review against another edition

adventurous 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

3.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Murder

Moderate: Slavery and Racism

hanz's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

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

2.0

So disappointed that I didn't really enjoy this, because I've liked everything else I've read in this world. The worldbuilding is incredible, but there are way too much descriptions that halt the plot and it feels like you're not really moving forward. 
Fatma and Hadia are also not very good investigators, which makes progress on the mystery aspect very slow, even when the criminal was obvious less than half way through. Overall, not for me, but I'm clearly in the minority. Back to reading the short stories again! 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Murder, Slavery, and Violence

yavin_iv's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-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

2.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Racism, and Murder

Moderate: Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, Death of parent, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Sexism, and Slavery

Minor: Alcohol