Reviews with content warning for Gore - A Dead Djinn in Cairo

you want a quick shot of inspiration (that's what it did to me as an artist at least ⁠— i want to draw every single object and creature described in this book now)
you value worldbuilding above all else. honey, you've got a storm comin'

the good

worldbuilding grabbed me by the throat and bled me dry
likable main character (completely ymmv of course, as with most opinions about fiction, but i liked her candid and matter-of-fact personality despite the stereotypes i'll mention in the bad section)
interesting exploration of religion, if not very in-depth due to being so short. i hope to see more of this in the rest of the series.
badass lesbians!

the bad

main character is a "woman in a man's world," which is an old and tired trope in my opinion
mc's sidekick is pretty boring, though he's probably meant to be so at least in part to make her shine in comparison

the complicated

main character gave me nonbinary/gnc vibes with her whole get-up and attitude toward her society's treatment of gender, but it's not confirmed in any way. had it been so i would probably have bumped it up to a slightly higher rating.
plot was quite interesting but definitely overshadowed by the worldbuilding. not really a negative per se but could've been even better to elevate this beyond its already impressive caliber.

i'm glad i read this little story and i think it's very rereadable as well; i'll keep it close for whenever i need some fresh character design inspiration, cause damn. he did that.

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bel017's review

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medium-paced

Very heavy on world building. As a short story I would have appreciated more plot and less detail.

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nicnevin's review

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adventurous mysterious tense 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

4.75

I am in love with this wordbuilding, steampunk magic Egypt with tantalising hints of other worlds. I gotta read the rest of this series.

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emaretea's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-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

4.5

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tuvz's review

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dark funny mysterious fast-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

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madarauchiha's review

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adventurous medium-paced

3.0

❤️ 🧡 💛 💚 💙 💜 my about / byf / CW info carrd: uchiha-madara 💜 💙 💚 💛 🧡 ❤️

I think I'd love this if I could stand steampunk. The setting was great, the writing fantastic, I don't care for the steampunk, but I enjoyed the plot nonetheless.

I really did hate the whorephobia though, stop shitting on sex workers you assholes.

content warnings
medium suicide, body horror,

major gore, murder, death, gun violence, body horror, unreality, anti sex worker sentiment, whorephobia,

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for_esme_with_love's review

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

An intriguing introduction to Clark's steampunk fantasy Cairo. It went by a little quick but I am interested to dig into the full length book next!

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