Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark

12 reviews

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

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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, imprisonment

asahome's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious

3.5

TL;DR: A young woman must solve a mass murder case where she discovers the supernatural is closer than she thinks. In the end, people challenge the status quo and they are not wrong when discussing the way power is distributed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Religious bigotry, Violence, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Blood, and Colonisation

Moderate: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Slavery, Alcohol, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Cultural appropriation, Body horror, Classism, Drug use, and Gore

jhbandcats's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.25

This is an entertaining tale of three strong women in a time of casual misogyny and racism (with a hint of homophobia), when chauvinism and nationalism made life frustrating at best for anyone not an Egyptian male or wealthy white Englishman. 

It opens with a chapter demonstrating Agent Fatma’s bravery and skill in dealing with an angry, powerful djinn, and goes on to give her a far more challenging assignment. She’s initially paired with an unwanted partner but very early on they work well together, with none of the squabbling common to Hollywood buddy movies. Fatma’s lover Siti rounds out the trio. The descriptions of Cairo a century ago add realism to the steampunk aesthetic. 

I would probably have given this five stars but I was so frequently flummoxed by unknown words that I would really have appreciated a glossary. The words I didn’t know have to do with politics, religion, clothing, food, and magical beings. While the meaning was usually clear from the context, I spent way too much time on Google trying to find out more information. 

Overall, though, I really enjoyed this. I’ve liked Clark’s novellas and like this full-length novel even more. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Blood, Classism, Violence, Alcohol, Police brutality, Racism, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, and Gore

kappafrog'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!

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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

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

anni_swanilda's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative 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: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Gun violence, Cultural appropriation, Death, Body horror, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, and Gore

Moderate: Classism, Blood, Slavery, Police brutality, and Colonisation

Minor: Addiction and Alcohol

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.

ashwaar's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted mysterious 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

2.0

Set in 1912 in Cairo, A Master of Djinn follows Agent Fatma el-Sha’arawi, who works for the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities. Ever since the great mystic, Al-Jahiz, opened the veil to the magical world 50 years ago, Cairo has become a central hub of both technology and magic, and Fatma must navigate this new world as she investigates supernatural mysteries.

I have read Clark’s previous novel, Ring Shout, and his short stories set in the same universe as A Master of Djinn. You don’t need to read the short stories before this novel, but there are recurring characters and callbacks to previous events. I always find Clark’s worlds and ideas to be incredibly interesting, but I always end up feeling a bit left out, as it seems that everyone else adores this book and his stories, and I always end up disappointed.

My main issue with this book is the writing style. Although the premise is interesting, the descriptions and dialogue are wooden and uninspiring. Some fantasy novels I’ve read don’t provide any information about the world and still keep you hooked. In comparison, Clark feeds you spoonfuls of exposition at every opportunity, and it's just too much. Fatma describes every aspect of Cairo as we go through the novel, and it's so unrealistic. It's like if I walk past St Pauls Cathedral and say ‘ah yes, St Pauls, a Baroque-style structure built in the 17th Century by…’. Literally, no real person thinks the way Fatma does in this novel, and it really threw me off being able to connect with her.

I also found a lot of the themes to be very poorly explored. Clark brings up issues of wealth gaps, inequality, feminism, discrimination and social divides and it doesn’t seem like any of our characters really care about addressing that. It's like Clark is throwing everything at a wall and seeing what sticks and again, it's just too much going on. I know the story is about magic and djinn and investigating crimes but still... I expected more.

Overall it's a really interesting, original story, but it was just too poorly executed for me to recommend it. Clark clearly has a lot of this world thought out, not just in Egypt but across multiple countries, and he tries to introduce some of that in A Master of Djinn, but it just leaves too many loose threads. The story doesn’t feel neat, the characters don’t feel developed and Fatma isn’t someone I really want to root for. It's pretty disappointing honestly but I know what sort of fiction I enjoy, and I just couldn’t get on board with this.

Rating: 2/5

Recommendations: Build Your House Around by Body by Violet Kupersmith, Gideon the Ninth by Tamsin Muir, She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Police brutality, War, Sexism, Murder, Blood, Death, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and Racism

Minor: Alcohol

puttingwingsonwords's review against another edition

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Classism, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Sexism, Confinement, Police brutality, Violence, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Murder, and Cultural appropriation

Minor: Alcohol and Lesbophobia

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