A review by kayteeem
Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson

5.0

Really enjoyed this one. It's rare that I find a book involving computer hackers in it that doesn't strike a wrong note somewhere, but this one made the programming metaphorical instead of concrete, which helped a great deal. It's not all about the tech, of course. Alif sums up his adventure late in the book, "It seemed absurd that in his attempt to put a few simple things right he should have made such astronomical miscalculations. A girl he loved had decided she did not love him--at least, not enough. How was such a problem usually addressed? Surely not with the clandestine exchange of books and computer surveillance and recourse to the jinn."

The book is at turns philosophical and an action thriller, with a dose of levity to balance the heavy bits. Recommended.