A review by discarded_dust_jacket
A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark

adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

I thought this book was very well thought-out. The world that Clark has built is incredibly unique and impressive. The characters are equally dynamic.

I struggled with it perhaps for the same reason that I struggled with The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida: mysteries (especially murder/crime mysteries) that deal too much with politics tend to lose my attention easily.

So the case here is once again not that the book was bad, but more that it was for me.
I also found the “twist” to be too easily predictable. Clark pulled a Big Hero 6 here by setting up a character the reader is obviously meant to be suspicious of from the start as the logical villain, except it was too obvious and too perfect, making it easy to spot as a diversion from a mile away. 

I kind of hoped that I wasn’t right about Abigail and that Clark was going to truly surprise me, but ended up disappointed.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings