Reviews with content warning for Racism - The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years

I saw this recommendation on a list made by my library and don’t think I truly understood what was coming. This story is about grief and love. While there is a djinn, they essentially represent (and reflect) different stages of grief. The focus is more on the main character, Sana, and the cast of characters around her in her new home. She searches for the concept of love and battles demons (both literal and figurative). While it focuses on a teenager, this is much deeper than any YA book and I would not consider it such. The writing is beautiful, but it is a heavy read. Everything, even buildings, are given life. If you don’t have a lot of prior knowledge about Indian, Muslim, and East African culture, you may find yourself looking up the meaning of some words. But I appreciate the author integrating so many facets of life in an obviously diverse area and showing a glimpse of (fictionalized) history. My only critique is a lack of commas that interfered with comprehension sometimes, which could’ve just been my digital edition from my library.

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angcar's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious

3.75

I think this book is mis-marketed as horror when it is closer to gothic horror or even speculative fiction. The Djinn is also a background character who only plays a role in the story at the very end, so the title doesn't do it much justice either.

That being said, I thought this was a solid story with a bittersweet ending. The audiobook narrator is really really good. Her narration enhanced the mysteriousness and the worldbuilding, which kept me invested.

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cosmiccutie's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad slow-paced

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

5.0

Between the oddness of the house and garden and the cast of characters within this story reminds me so of Coraline.

"Like the start of a rash, one can never say exactly when it began, except to say that it always seemed to this way."

" She told me girls couldn't have weaknesses, that the moment they did someone would take advantage, 'A girl has to be strong if she's going to survive this world', she said."

" She was a strange one. I know we don't talk much about her, but it was difficult for her, you know? She wasn't like us. Sometimes. I feel she was like a wildflower in the velt and I picked her up and tried to put her in a vase. She found it hard to... exist. But she tried for a long time, for you, for me. I know she didn't show it always, but she loved us and her own way. We just didn't always understand."

" She can see now that a person can be more whole with broken parts."

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chelsaat's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A beautifully written gothic tale set in South Africa, featuring Indian immigrants both in the 1930s and 2010s. In the modern timeline we follow 15-year-old Sana, newly moved to the dilapidated and haunted Akbar Manzil estate, which houses a bickering community of tenants who are all a little broken. As Sana explores the estate and uncovers its heartbreaking history, we then see this history through the eyes of a djinn, who has haunted this house for at least a century.

I loved reading about both timelines and peeking into a subculture I didn't know much about. While both stories (the 1930s one especially) are emotionally devastating, dealing heavily in themes of loss and grief, I thought it was balanced from being TOO depressing by showing the small ways we can also make one another's lives better, and how love can be a balm against darker forces. The ending was poignant and bittersweet.

I did think the titular djinn was maybe too superfluous to the overall narrative. There are other ghosts and supernatural forces at play, and it seemed one element too many. But overall this was a really lovely debut from Khan and I can't wait to see what she writes next.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group Viking for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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fkshg8465's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.0

A haunting story with a few Jane Eyre-like elements. Really enjoyed it, though I kind of feel guilty for liking it.

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jasminegalsreadinglog's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years by Shubnum Khan is a story that transports a reader into a house with a mind of its own. It reveals what it wants, when it wants. It carries a secret, and the protector of this secret is invisible.

Set in South Africa, this book revolves around Sana, a 15 year old girl who lives with her father. They move into a palatial mansion, where she gets to meet interesting neighbors. The house itself is an enigma, though. Sana starts exploring, and the house starts revealing its secrets to her.
9
Sana and the Djinn have something in common. Though the Djinn is not exactly the main character of this book (sadly), Sana and the Djinn have parallel metaphorical stories. There's a lot underneath the layers of this story. It's sad in a lot of parts, but also beautiful when you read the whimsical friendship of the Djinn with Meena. I am not sure if this book exactly fits the bill of horror genre, and that's where a reader might struggle.

Thank you, Penguin Group Viking, for this book.

CW: Death, classism, racism, colorism, betrayal, suicidal thoughts, manipulation, infidelity, medical trauma, ghosts

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sarahyjackson's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

A gothic tale of Desi ex-pats in South Africa infused with mystery and meditations on love and how we fit together.

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