Reviews tagging 'Stalking'

A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark

6 reviews

novella42's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious tense 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

This book was beautiful, the worldbuilding was excellent, the characters were multi-dimensional, their problems and responses were believable, and Clark explored social issues with nuance. I loved so much of this book!

The story began a little slow for me because I'm not into mysteries, but by the second half I was having a hard time putting it down as the pacing built more and more. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Gore, Slavery, Racial slurs, Police brutality, Violence, War, Self harm, Gun violence, Murder, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Classism, Addiction, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Animal death, Misogyny, Sexism, Blood, Body horror, and Confinement

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Homophobia, War, Death of parent, Islamophobia, Hate crime, and Stalking

Minor: Kidnapping, Sexual content, Grief, Alcohol, and Death of parent

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

adventurous 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, and Violence

Moderate: Sexism, Gun violence, Classism, Racism, Self harm, Death of parent, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Colonisation, Murder, War, Xenophobia, Slavery, Body horror, Misogyny, and Gore

Minor: Alcohol, Sexual content, Stalking, Cultural appropriation, Addiction, Pedophilia, Kidnapping, and Racial slurs

Suffocation/strangulation. Smoking. Mind control/alteration, mild unreality.

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

whataboutzana's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore

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

Minor: Misogyny, Sexism, and Stalking

mar's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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? No

5.0

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Violence, Gore, and Death

Moderate: Sexism, Racial slurs, and Slavery

Minor: Religious bigotry, Stalking, and Police brutality

ceallaighsbooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective 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? Yes

5.0

“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.” 

 

TITLE—A Master of Djinn 

AUTHOR—P. Djèlí Clark 

PUBLISHED—2021 

 

GENRE—historical fantasy; steampunk 

SETTING—alternate historical 1912 Cairo 

MAIN THEMES/SUBJECTS—djinn magic & mythology, secret societies, ancient Egyptian mythology & religion, colonialism, white supremacy, racism, Islamic, Near East, and East African history, bibliophilia 

 

WRITING STYLE—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️—Everything I ever wanted in an adult fantasy book. 

CHARACTERS—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️—Siti is my new obsessionnnnn... 😍 But Ahmad also really grew on me lol 

PLOT—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️—🤯 

BONUS ELEMENT/S—This book is SO atmospheric—the scene setting is phenomenal! Usually I find myself scanning descriptions of landscapes and architecture etc but in this book I always made sure to linger over Clark’s descriptions because they were SO beautiful!! And there are so many amazing places the reader gets to visit in this book from palaces to libraries to markets to speakeasies to bookshops to cemeteries like it is ALL here. 🥰 

PHILOSOPHY—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️—Literally perfect. Like SO so good. Especially with the nature of one of the types of illusion magic: “An illusion whose magic works by getting you to play a part in your own deception”, omg. Just brilliant. 

 

“Justice comes for the wicked in time. The scales of Thoth demand it.” 

 

Summary: Super sexy queerfemme Muslim Sherlock Holmes who dresses in dapper suits meets Indiana Jones in an early 20th c. steampunk Cairo with djinn magic and various supernatural and mythological creatures with fantastically intricate worldbuilding and SOLID philosophical underpinnings and is also hilarious but like EVEN BETTER THAN THAT. *NEED* I GO ON? 

 

This book kind of blew my mind. I went in expecting this to be one of my top reads of the year but this might be one of my top reads of all TIME. It is everything I ever wanted in an adult fantasy novel. Chapter 21 especially. PERFECT fantasy mystery with great elements of history, academia, and bibliophilia. And the worldbuilding was incredible and solid, the philosophy was solid, and the characters were all fantastic. I can’t think of anyone I wouldn’t recommend this book to, seriously. It’s so so good. 

 

“If you steal, steal a camel, she heard her mother whisper. And if you love, love the moon.” 

 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 

 

TW // violence, gore, colonialism, racism, misogyny, colorism, police violence 

 

Further Reading— 

• everything by P. Djèlí Clark
• Legendborn, by Tracy Deonn
• N. K. Jemisin’s Dreamblood duology
• The Historian, by Elizabeth Kostova

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Misogyny, Murder, Racism, and Sexism

Minor: Police brutality, Slavery, and Stalking