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emaree 's review for:
The Amulet of Samarkand
by Jonathan Stroud
I think I overlooked this at the time of release due to surface Harry Potter similarities, but it's actually a really fun, unique read -- a middle grade version of JONATHAN STRANGE AND MR NORREL.
The unlikeability factor was strong in this one, though: even when Bartimaeus was showing signs of a character arc, Nathaniel was insufferable, and it bothered me that the society explicitly called djinni "slaves" and kept them in agonising servitude. The story never really dug into how messed up that was, or if this culture of magical servants impacted Britain's *other* history of slavery. I'm hopeful the other books in the series might address this.
The unlikeability factor was strong in this one, though: even when Bartimaeus was showing signs of a character arc, Nathaniel was insufferable, and it bothered me that the society explicitly called djinni "slaves" and kept them in agonising servitude. The story never really dug into how messed up that was, or if this culture of magical servants impacted Britain's *other* history of slavery. I'm hopeful the other books in the series might address this.