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emily_mh's review
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
5.0
I was absolutely thrilled, 100% of the time, to be reading this book. It literally felt like I was Fatma and Hadia’s cat sidekick (which they don’t actually have in the story), rubbing my paws together after investigating a lead and asking “where to next, ladies?” I was just enthralled. I absolutely adored the alt-history, steampunk, supernatural Cairo the novel’s events are set in. You’ve got mechanical, thinking buildings, airships and aerial trams, secret bars, and in the midst of it all, a Ministry that is trying to keep all hell from breaking loose (literally). What is so compelling is that general knowledge of the existence of magic and its spread in society only happened 40 years prior to the events of the novel; it is still super new to everyone and not everything is known, so this Ministry doesn’t really know what it’s doing or what it’s up against - kind of like the reader!
I also loved the characters. Our MC Fatma is this prodigal agent who is super capable and practical, and goes around wearing outlandish English suits. She’s in a relationship with SC Siti, who is this unpredictable, confident woman with some mysterious otherworldly powers. Fatma is assigned a partner at the Ministry, Hadia, who is steadfast, passionate, and kind. Fatma’s development is about her relationships with Siti and Hadia; in the former they aren’t communicating well, while Fatma wants nothing to do with the latter. Both relationships end in a much, much better place than they began.
The fault with this book lies partially in some lines of cliche dialogue, and occasionally some clumsy world-building (”I think it’s X!” “X? You mean [insert exactly what X is here]”), that perhaps indicated the level of craft could have been improved overall. But it mostly lies in the fact that Clark could have introduced more suspects and hidden the perpetrator better, as the writing of the clues was heavy-handed for an adult mystery. The combination of these factors meant I guessed who the perpetrator was very early on. HOWEVER, I didn’t guess the motive or the mechanics of their crimes, which ended up being interestingly tied into the world-building. I would say I’d rate this book 4.25 for quality (still super solid!), but overall I couldn’t rate it less than 5 stars because I enjoyed it so damn much. I can easily see this series as a whole making my top 10 of 2024 list.
Rep: Muslim Egyptian MC, Sudanese LI, Muslim Egyptian SCs
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs
Moderate: Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Confinement, Murder, and Death
Minor: Drug use, Drug abuse, Addiction, Misogyny, Grief, Homophobia, Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, Kidnapping, Classism, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Cannibalism, Islamophobia, Vomit, Pedophilia, Colonisation, Blood, Slavery, War, Sexism, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexual content, Fatphobia, Body shaming, Alcohol, Ableism, Suicide, and Religious bigotry
Major: six uses of the Arabic anti-Black a-slur, self-injury, body control, mind control, blackface Moderate: two uses of the archaic anti-Black n-slur, colourism, bomb Minor: gambling, apartheid, fainting, one use of the archaic anti-Black b-slur, imprisonmentkappafrog's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
informative
mysterious
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
5.0
This. Was. FANTASTIC!! One of the best books I've read all year. I love the setting, the characters, the history, the folklore... Wow!! I want more books like this! A historian writing steampunk that centres entirely different cultures and histories than usual... I love it! Reading this felt like eating a delicious and varied meal you'd never tasted!
Fatima and Hadia made a great detective team, and I loved Siti. There were so many amazing side characters too, from a musician refugee from Jim Crow calling himself Mansa Musa, to a haughty djinn librarian, to a master of thieves feeding hungry children while keeping some wealth for herself. The world building was so rich, with so many strands woven together to make an engrossing tapestry. I'd love to see more of this world!
Fatima and Hadia made a great detective team, and I loved Siti. There were so many amazing side characters too, from a musician refugee from Jim Crow calling himself Mansa Musa, to a haughty djinn librarian, to a master of thieves feeding hungry children while keeping some wealth for herself. The world building was so rich, with so many strands woven together to make an engrossing tapestry. I'd love to see more of this world!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Death, Religious bigotry, Cultural appropriation, Police brutality, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Classism, and Racism
Moderate: Misogyny, Death of parent, Racial slurs, Body horror, Sexism, War, Slavery, Gun violence, Hate crime, Violence, and Xenophobia
Minor: Blood, Cannibalism, Dementia, Abandonment, Alcohol, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Islamophobia, and Mental illness
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