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A review by harmonictempest
The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker
4.0
Don’t expect a fantasy novel. This is more about a meeting of cultures in 1890 NYC, and the challenges of living according to your nature.
I’ve been loving books recently about characters who feel that they are flawed and struggle to know how to be their best. And I’m never tired of books that know the importance of kindness, because we have to write the world as it should be, rather than as it is. (Side rant: I don’t need Black Mirror or Breaking Bad, because I already know the world is dark. I need The Goblin Emperor, to remind me that kindness is transformative.)
Four stars instead of five because I found the ending unsatisfying. Spoilery elaboration a few lines below (because it’s really silly that Goodreads reviews don’t support spoiler tags within a review and instead force you to mark the whole review…).
Spoilers below…
Basically, the ending uses Saleh as a deus ex machina so that the characters can both make the ultimate choice they’ve been building towards, but be saved from the negative consequences of that. That’s not the worst thing in the world, but left an overly saccharine taste in my mouth.
I’ve been loving books recently about characters who feel that they are flawed and struggle to know how to be their best. And I’m never tired of books that know the importance of kindness, because we have to write the world as it should be, rather than as it is. (Side rant: I don’t need Black Mirror or Breaking Bad, because I already know the world is dark. I need The Goblin Emperor, to remind me that kindness is transformative.)
Four stars instead of five because I found the ending unsatisfying. Spoilery elaboration a few lines below (because it’s really silly that Goodreads reviews don’t support spoiler tags within a review and instead force you to mark the whole review…).
Spoilers below…
Basically, the ending uses Saleh as a deus ex machina so that the characters can both make the ultimate choice they’ve been building towards, but be saved from the negative consequences of that. That’s not the worst thing in the world, but left an overly saccharine taste in my mouth.