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emily_mh's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This graphic novel had a fantastic art style with a brilliant stylised colour palette, full of purple and reds. The way in which Otta drew the world of the djinn in particular was amazing. I was so intrigued and wished we had spent more time there.
The key focus of the plot of the novel is the friendship between Nayra and Rami. They first came together because of the Islamophobic bullying they experienced but as the novel opens, Nayra has been drifting apart from Rami and this is creating conflict between them. Nayra is also still experiencing bullying from her classmates and pressure from her family, so we are in the set up for a lot of development when she encounters Marjan, the Djinn (who has his own problems, including friendship ones).
I did like how Otta wrote the friendship conflict so that Nayra and Rami’s mirrored Marjan’s with another djinn. However, I was really frustrated with this plot line overall. I was annoyed at Rami, because she thought Nayra owed her her time and thoughts at all times. I agree that Nayra needed to be honest with Rami about needing space and about how she was feeling, but I don’t think she was in the wrong for wanting some privacy in the relationship and time to sort through things by herself first, and the story kind of painted her as wrong for wanting this. As I said, the friendship is the main element of this story, so disliking this meant my reading experience was tainted. It also meant I didn’t fully agree with Nayra’s character development (I liked where she ended up with her family, I think), because it was around her realising she was “wrong”.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Islamophobia, Bullying, and Racism
Minor: Violence, Vomit, Physical abuse, and Ableism
Minor: dizziness
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