Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark

65 reviews

horizonous's review against another edition

adventurous funny 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Murder, Racism, and Sexism

Minor: Injury/Injury detail and Colonisation

bisexualwentworth's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Loved the worldbuilding and the characters and the themes. The pacing was a bit off at times and the mystery plot was a bit obvious, probably as a symptom of the author moving from novellas to novels with this book. I liked all of the choices. I just think the execution could be polished a bit more in future books (which I definitely plan to read).

The narration for the audiobook was kind of odd. If they were going to do accents for the entire book, surely it would have made more sense to find a narrator with an actual Egyptian accent?

If you enjoyed the Kane Chronicles or the Bartimaeus Trilogy as a child and want something that draws from the same mythologies but has a better understanding of imperialism and other issues, A Master of Djinn is definitely a great choice for that. 

And it's sapphic!

One other thing: I was under the impression that Islam and magic don't mix and that it's bad to mix the two in fantasy writing, but I haven't seen anyone say anything about that aspect of the book, so it's possible that I was misinformed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Violence

Moderate: Gore, Cultural appropriation, Slavery, Colonisation, and Racism

Minor: Police brutality and Sexism

idksamiguess's review

adventurous mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Colonisation

whatcassiedid's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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

5.0

Wow I loved this so much! Excellent world building (although it seems like reading the novellas set in the same universe first might have helped with some backstory) and great characters all around. I don't think I've ever read anything set in Egypt and certainly never anything like this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Colonisation, Racism, Slavery, and Racial slurs

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. 

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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

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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

lilypad537's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Colonisation and Racism

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.

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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.

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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

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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