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mycupoftealcsw's review against another edition
DNF at 54%
I tried, but was constantly having to make myself read this one, and that’s not how I like to enjoy books.
I really liked the world, the magic system, and the main mystery of this one. And if the story had been tighter and focused on this, I think I would have enjoyed it. However, when it focused more on the characters, I lost interest. They are very generic, stereotypical characters I’ve seen a million times - a unconventional, loner detective who doesn’t think she needs a partner and has an unnecessarily complicated/on again/off again romantic relationship, a plucky and eager partner that just wants to prove herself, and the on again/off again love interest who has slightly more personality than the main character but is primarily there just to be horny for the main character, and so on. If I had to describe the characters (especially Fatma) in much more detail than this, I would be hard pressed to do so because they are so forgettable (Fatma does wear English/American style men’s suits as a personality, so there is that, I guess). This book is the equivalent of if you took a potentially interesting, flavorful main dish and served it on a limp, paper plate with a lot of vaguely related side dishes- still a good main dish, but hard to appreciate because the overall meal doesn’t really make sense and the presentation is so blah. If I wasn’t such a character reader, I could have powered through, but I am so I had to quit.
willamae's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
kumaio's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
nclcaitlin's review against another edition
3.5
In Cairo, Djinn live among humans, work with them. Fatma el-Sha'arawi, first and youngest woman special investigator with the Egyptian Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments, and Supernatural Entities investigates the murder of 24 members of a secret occult Brotherhood full of influential figures.
This is fascinating as it poses the question of oppression, corruption, and police violence from the other side. Fatma works for the authorities and the come-again prophet is sowing discontent and strife, yet is supported by the public and appears to be speaking the hidden truth.
Per usual, Clark offers relevant and poignant commentary on gender, expectations, and foreign relations. He highlights the historical significance of foreign men committing theft. Pilfering what they would from other lands and make themselves a new power.
There are strong characters and fascinating steampunk world-building. Whilst not a five star as I hoped for, this was a riveting read!
“Usually the secrets we keep deep down, ain't meant to hurt other people," he said. "Not saying they won't, but not through intentions. Those deep secrets, we hide away because we're afraid what other people might think.
How they might judge us, if they knew. And nobody's judgment we scared of more than the one we give our hearts to.”
I would recommend reading the two novellas first!!
This is fascinating as it poses the question of oppression, corruption, and police violence from the other side. Fatma works for the authorities and the come-again prophet is sowing discontent and strife, yet is supported by the public and appears to be speaking the hidden truth.
Per usual, Clark offers relevant and poignant commentary on gender, expectations, and foreign relations. He highlights the historical significance of foreign men committing theft. Pilfering what they would from other lands and make themselves a new power.
There are strong characters and fascinating steampunk world-building. Whilst not a five star as I hoped for, this was a riveting read!
“Usually the secrets we keep deep down, ain't meant to hurt other people," he said. "Not saying they won't, but not through intentions. Those deep secrets, we hide away because we're afraid what other people might think.
How they might judge us, if they knew. And nobody's judgment we scared of more than the one we give our hearts to.”
I would recommend reading the two novellas first!!
neevh'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? No
5.0
debthebee's review against another edition
4.0
⛔ Content Warning | Violence, injury and death, racism and colorism, misogyny, slavery.
⚠️ Spoiler Alert | This review does not include any major spoilers, but if you want to keep the plot completely a mystery before you read this book, skip the second section.
⭐Overall Rating & Book Introduction | 4.2/5 stars
This book was a strong 4/5 star read for me, mostly because I was mesmerized by the world that Clark has created. Although the plot revolves around a murder investigation, his 1912 steampunk Cairo also explores racism through the relationship of humans towards magical beings. These supernatural beings were recently released back into the Eastern world by al-Jahiz and even though they made Egypt a political superpower, humans can't comprehend their powers and then try to use laws to control them out of fear - which is a great parallel to real-world racism. The second thing I liked is that the story is dynamic and plot-driven, so aside from a few lengthy descriptions of the place or politics to set the stage at times, it kept my attention quite well. The third thing I liked is that the book features numerous strong female characters. They are not all necessarily deeply developed, but they exist and that's already something when you look at the majority of fantasy works.
⭐Plot & Structure | 4/5 stars
As mentioned, this book is plot-driven and dynamic, where the investigation of the mysterious murder of a full room of cult members just keeps moving forward and getting disentangled. Detective-style stories are not my usual go-to genre, so mixing this with a steampunk magical world was a win, where the interesting world made up for any possible shortcomings or predictability of the story itself. I didn't find it as predictable as some other reviewers, but they might be more experienced in detective stories than me. I liked how the culprit was portrayed and disagree with some reviews that claim that their motivation was not sufficiently backed up, because I am sure that the way it was proclaimed by the culprit themselves made quite a strong statement towards misogyny - and I think that flew over the head of some of the reviewers. I do agree with the critique of some other reviewers that the book could have been a bit shorter, as Clark displays much more compact and streamlined writing in his short stories, which made this book seem like a collection of interconnected short stories where the transitions might not be the smoothest.
⭐ World-Building & Magic System | 5/5 stars
The world-building is the strongest aspect of this story and it is what will get most readers interested to pick up the book and then get them hooked. Even though there is a hint at a richer world of supernatural beings, you might have suspected from the title that the djinn are the most influential for the plot. Several kinds of djinn are introduced, but besides them, some beings that call themselves angels are the only other beings significantly influencing the storyline. I like how there's just a little hint towards different beings with magical abilities in other parts of the world as well that the extent of their magic is not fully explained to the reader - which adds a nice touch of mystery and excitement, as you're never sure how much you truly know.
⭐ Character Development & Relationships | 3/5 stars
I love Fatma and Siti and their queer relationship, but I must agree with the other reviewers that Fatma falls a bit flat as a main character and that character development is the weakest aspect of Clark's writing. Siti and the relationship do grow throughout the story, but Fatma somehow stays where she was at the start. I also disliked the side of her that tried to be masculine, especially how she declined to accept her partner in the beginning - although this could be interpreted as a critique of misogyny as well, where women have to behave more man-like to be accepted in society. My other critique would be that there are parts where many characters are introduced at once without immediate clarity of their role in the story in a way that seems a bit unnatural and forced. I think this could have been a bit more thought through and weaved into the story better.
⭐ Writing Style & Pacing | 4/5 stars
I listened to this book using TalkBack and following the information-dense parts by direct reading, so with this approach, the pacing was ok for me. The writing style is good and the pacing dynamic most of the time, but there were several times where long descriptions slowed down the pace and created a stark disbalance that I did not particularly like. Perhaps information could have been sparkled throughout the story in a more gentle way.
⭐ Personal Enjoyment | 5/5 stars
No matter some drawbacks, the world and the plot were captivating for me and I enjoyed the steady road to discovering who the bad guy was in this book.
⚠️ Spoiler Alert | This review does not include any major spoilers, but if you want to keep the plot completely a mystery before you read this book, skip the second section.
⭐Overall Rating & Book Introduction | 4.2/5 stars
This book was a strong 4/5 star read for me, mostly because I was mesmerized by the world that Clark has created. Although the plot revolves around a murder investigation, his 1912 steampunk Cairo also explores racism through the relationship of humans towards magical beings. These supernatural beings were recently released back into the Eastern world by al-Jahiz and even though they made Egypt a political superpower, humans can't comprehend their powers and then try to use laws to control them out of fear - which is a great parallel to real-world racism. The second thing I liked is that the story is dynamic and plot-driven, so aside from a few lengthy descriptions of the place or politics to set the stage at times, it kept my attention quite well. The third thing I liked is that the book features numerous strong female characters. They are not all necessarily deeply developed, but they exist and that's already something when you look at the majority of fantasy works.
⭐Plot & Structure | 4/5 stars
As mentioned, this book is plot-driven and dynamic, where the investigation of the mysterious murder of a full room of cult members just keeps moving forward and getting disentangled. Detective-style stories are not my usual go-to genre, so mixing this with a steampunk magical world was a win, where the interesting world made up for any possible shortcomings or predictability of the story itself. I didn't find it as predictable as some other reviewers, but they might be more experienced in detective stories than me. I liked how the culprit was portrayed and disagree with some reviews that claim that their motivation was not sufficiently backed up, because I am sure that the way it was proclaimed by the culprit themselves made quite a strong statement towards misogyny - and I think that flew over the head of some of the reviewers. I do agree with the critique of some other reviewers that the book could have been a bit shorter, as Clark displays much more compact and streamlined writing in his short stories, which made this book seem like a collection of interconnected short stories where the transitions might not be the smoothest.
⭐ World-Building & Magic System | 5/5 stars
The world-building is the strongest aspect of this story and it is what will get most readers interested to pick up the book and then get them hooked. Even though there is a hint at a richer world of supernatural beings, you might have suspected from the title that the djinn are the most influential for the plot. Several kinds of djinn are introduced, but besides them, some beings that call themselves angels are the only other beings significantly influencing the storyline. I like how there's just a little hint towards different beings with magical abilities in other parts of the world as well that the extent of their magic is not fully explained to the reader - which adds a nice touch of mystery and excitement, as you're never sure how much you truly know.
⭐ Character Development & Relationships | 3/5 stars
I love Fatma and Siti and their queer relationship, but I must agree with the other reviewers that Fatma falls a bit flat as a main character and that character development is the weakest aspect of Clark's writing. Siti and the relationship do grow throughout the story, but Fatma somehow stays where she was at the start. I also disliked the side of her that tried to be masculine, especially how she declined to accept her partner in the beginning - although this could be interpreted as a critique of misogyny as well, where women have to behave more man-like to be accepted in society. My other critique would be that there are parts where many characters are introduced at once without immediate clarity of their role in the story in a way that seems a bit unnatural and forced. I think this could have been a bit more thought through and weaved into the story better.
⭐ Writing Style & Pacing | 4/5 stars
I listened to this book using TalkBack and following the information-dense parts by direct reading, so with this approach, the pacing was ok for me. The writing style is good and the pacing dynamic most of the time, but there were several times where long descriptions slowed down the pace and created a stark disbalance that I did not particularly like. Perhaps information could have been sparkled throughout the story in a more gentle way.
⭐ Personal Enjoyment | 5/5 stars
No matter some drawbacks, the world and the plot were captivating for me and I enjoyed the steady road to discovering who the bad guy was in this book.
layallyourbooksonme's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-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
4.0
tatyanavogt's review against another edition
4.0
Okay so I really enjoyed this and I would have given it a 5 if I could remember what happened. I remember some bits and pieces but not enough which means that the story wasn't super memorable for me... I do love P. Djèlí Clark's writing in general and would love to read this again to see if I do actually like it as much as I felt like I did.