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

3.0

I enjoyed the conceit, which set up some character study stuff you could certainly talk about in a book group. The first thing I read was the "About the Author" note, where she talks about how she's Jewish and her husband is Arab American, and when she started writing she was exploring stories from both of their family histories, and this pairing of the golem and the jinni is a very cool way to explore that, so I was psyched. And I really appreciated the author's research, especially having lived in southern Manhattan. I can see why people love it, but it stayed a little flat to me, and I was disappointed with what felt like a forced/orchestrated/clunky ending to tie it all up.