A review by jaina8851
The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker

emotional mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

I'm struggling a bit with what to say about this book. I liked the magical realism style of the prose and the characterization of the title characters, but struggled a LOT with the pacing. It felt so slow until past 80% of the book, with new character threads being introduced constantly, the narrative back-tracking to give us multiple perspectives of the same event, and just a lot of daily minutiae that felt like it could have been edited more tightly. I also felt unsatisfied by the ending, I made a face that was a combination of 😒😠☹ī¸ in the last few paragraphs before the epilogue. I really wanted to love this book, and there are certainly parts of it that I enjoyed, but overall I just was a bit disappointed.