Scan barcode
crystalisreading's review
adventurous
slow-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
#23for23
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Slavery, Violence, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexism, Murder, and Islamophobia
Minor: Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Colonisation, and Lesbophobia
lolajh's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Wowwwwww. Now this guy can write women, and let them be powerful ass lesbians at the same time!!! This took me forever to read, but it was worth it. The mystery, the characters, the world, having romance as a side-plot, all made for a truly wonderful read. Also I’m very much in love with Siti 🤭 she has CLAWS COME ON
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Torture, Racism, Violence, War, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Misogyny, Slavery, Sexism, Murder, and Colonisation
to_m's review
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Racism, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, and Police brutality
kseret's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Hate crime, Misogyny, and Racism
bookcaptivated's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Slavery, Murder, Blood, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, and Sexism
Moderate: Classism and Death of parent
Minor: Dementia, Fire/Fire injury, and War
discarded_dust_jacket's review
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.
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 kind of hoped that I wasn’t right about Abigail and that Clark was going to truly surprise me, but ended up disappointed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Slavery, Misogyny, Racism, Murder, Cultural appropriation, and Fire/Fire injury
talonsontypewriters's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, and Violence
Moderate: Sexism, Gun violence, Classism, Racism, Self harm, Death of parent, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Colonisation, Murder, War, Xenophobia, Slavery, Body horror, Misogyny, and Gore
Minor: Alcohol, Sexual content, Stalking, Cultural appropriation, Addiction, Pedophilia, Kidnapping, and Racial slurs
Suffocation/strangulation. Smoking. Mind control/alteration, mild unreality.ashwaar's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Set in 1912 in Cairo, A Master of Djinn follows Agent Fatma el-Sha’arawi, who works for the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities. Ever since the great mystic, Al-Jahiz, opened the veil to the magical world 50 years ago, Cairo has become a central hub of both technology and magic, and Fatma must navigate this new world as she investigates supernatural mysteries.
I have read Clark’s previous novel, Ring Shout, and his short stories set in the same universe as A Master of Djinn. You don’t need to read the short stories before this novel, but there are recurring characters and callbacks to previous events. I always find Clark’s worlds and ideas to be incredibly interesting, but I always end up feeling a bit left out, as it seems that everyone else adores this book and his stories, and I always end up disappointed.
My main issue with this book is the writing style. Although the premise is interesting, the descriptions and dialogue are wooden and uninspiring. Some fantasy novels I’ve read don’t provide any information about the world and still keep you hooked. In comparison, Clark feeds you spoonfuls of exposition at every opportunity, and it's just too much. Fatma describes every aspect of Cairo as we go through the novel, and it's so unrealistic. It's like if I walk past St Pauls Cathedral and say ‘ah yes, St Pauls, a Baroque-style structure built in the 17th Century by…’. Literally, no real person thinks the way Fatma does in this novel, and it really threw me off being able to connect with her.
I also found a lot of the themes to be very poorly explored. Clark brings up issues of wealth gaps, inequality, feminism, discrimination and social divides and it doesn’t seem like any of our characters really care about addressing that. It's like Clark is throwing everything at a wall and seeing what sticks and again, it's just too much going on. I know the story is about magic and djinn and investigating crimes but still... I expected more.
Overall it's a really interesting, original story, but it was just too poorly executed for me to recommend it. Clark clearly has a lot of this world thought out, not just in Egypt but across multiple countries, and he tries to introduce some of that in A Master of Djinn, but it just leaves too many loose threads. The story doesn’t feel neat, the characters don’t feel developed and Fatma isn’t someone I really want to root for. It's pretty disappointing honestly but I know what sort of fiction I enjoy, and I just couldn’t get on board with this.
Rating: 2/5
Recommendations: Build Your House Around by Body by Violet Kupersmith, Gideon the Ninth by Tamsin Muir, She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan
I have read Clark’s previous novel, Ring Shout, and his short stories set in the same universe as A Master of Djinn. You don’t need to read the short stories before this novel, but there are recurring characters and callbacks to previous events. I always find Clark’s worlds and ideas to be incredibly interesting, but I always end up feeling a bit left out, as it seems that everyone else adores this book and his stories, and I always end up disappointed.
My main issue with this book is the writing style. Although the premise is interesting, the descriptions and dialogue are wooden and uninspiring. Some fantasy novels I’ve read don’t provide any information about the world and still keep you hooked. In comparison, Clark feeds you spoonfuls of exposition at every opportunity, and it's just too much. Fatma describes every aspect of Cairo as we go through the novel, and it's so unrealistic. It's like if I walk past St Pauls Cathedral and say ‘ah yes, St Pauls, a Baroque-style structure built in the 17th Century by…’. Literally, no real person thinks the way Fatma does in this novel, and it really threw me off being able to connect with her.
I also found a lot of the themes to be very poorly explored. Clark brings up issues of wealth gaps, inequality, feminism, discrimination and social divides and it doesn’t seem like any of our characters really care about addressing that. It's like Clark is throwing everything at a wall and seeing what sticks and again, it's just too much going on. I know the story is about magic and djinn and investigating crimes but still... I expected more.
Overall it's a really interesting, original story, but it was just too poorly executed for me to recommend it. Clark clearly has a lot of this world thought out, not just in Egypt but across multiple countries, and he tries to introduce some of that in A Master of Djinn, but it just leaves too many loose threads. The story doesn’t feel neat, the characters don’t feel developed and Fatma isn’t someone I really want to root for. It's pretty disappointing honestly but I know what sort of fiction I enjoy, and I just couldn’t get on board with this.
Rating: 2/5
Recommendations: Build Your House Around by Body by Violet Kupersmith, Gideon the Ninth by Tamsin Muir, She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Police brutality, War, Sexism, Murder, Blood, Death, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and Racism
Minor: Alcohol
ekcd_'s review
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Universe
This book is advertised as the author's debut book, but apparently, he has also written some short stories that are in the same universe. When I started reading, I felt like I had accidentally picked up a sequel or accidentally picked up a book halfway through. A lot of the character's cryptic references were actually major plot points from the short stories that were not addressed at all in the book. It wasn't mysterious and gripping it was pretty confusing trying to piece together who Fatma is, what happened to her, what is important to her, etc.
Setting and Cultural Context.
I was raised in a euro-centric Christian culture, and so this book was not written for me. As such, there were a lot of little things that I missed. Maybe I would have been more invested in the characters if I had been better introduced to the characters and/or known more about the culture. I have to wonder if the short stories established some of the Islamic / Muslim / Religious / Cultural themes that would have made the book more cohesive to me personally. Because I am unfamiliar with this part of the world and its customs, I can't comment if it is accurate or problematic. Just be prepared that if you don't know much about 20th-century Egypt, you probably will feel lost. Had Wikipedia pulled up the whole time and learned a lot, but the book wasn't good enough to warrant doing this again.
I love fantasy, and sometimes being dropped in the middle of the world gives the reader an endearing "stranger in a strange land" vibe, but this was just frustrating.
Writing Style
The prose was so purple that I stopped paying attention to the paragraphs of character descriptions and clothing descriptions. The descriptions were not detailed; they were just long. You could line up all the character introductions without their names shuffling the order and genuinely not be able to identify them.
The dialogue was choppy, and some of the words made no sense - I can't tell if the book was translated, or again, it's just little cultural norms or cues that I am missing, but some of the speaking words made no sense with the situation. I'm normally not picky with this; no one is perfect, but after I noticed it, it was like noticing I had popcorn in my teeth, and I was in a terrible mood until I got it out (i.e., finished the book).
*Spoilers Follow*
Characters
Fatma:
Wearing a suit and tie as a woman is not a personality trait. Quoting your mother's overly metaphorical but ultimately meaningless maxims is not a personality trait. This character has so much potential as a queer WOC, and it was completely squandered. Fatma also is incredibly inconsistent but not in a "loveable unreliable narrator" or "character flaw way" but in a "does the author even know their own character?" way. . In the final two chapters, Fatma mentions being against slavery, yet within seconds of putting on the ring starts to control the Djinn. Then moments later, the Seal compliments her on how pure she is? What??
The ethical dilemmas she faces had the potential to be rich and detailed, but all of her choices are rushed by crisis, and it feels like a cheap narrative tool to avoid discussing bigger ethical and social justice subtleties.
Antagonist (MAJOR SPOILER):
Abigail as the villain is super weird. She's somehow one-dimensional and inconsistent at the same time. The book would be identical if you just removed her completely from the story. The "reveal" is one sentence and not very thought out.
Sexism, Colorism, Bigotry, Colonization, Slavery, etc
Once again, I feel like there was a secret book I missed here. Many other reviews laud this book as a great commentary on big social justice issues, and I did not get that impression at all. Bigotry, religious intolerance, sexism, colorism, and racism were mentioned maybe once or twice each (in a 400-page book) and it was always just a small comment from one of the characters. The issues were not addressed or acknowledged otherwise. There were no significant plot issues driven by these themes or plot points that interacted with them. Wasted potential ? False advertisement? Personal opinion? Yes.
Plot Holes
This is not a procedural, it is more of a fantasy call to adventure. There is no police work happening here, no induction, deduction, or sleuthing. Not a good or bad thing, but certainly not a mystery as advertised.
Overall
I will forget about this book the second I submit this review. It left very little impression on me. I am disappointed because this has been suggested to me both by humans and algorithms, so I had high expectations. Not worth 400 pages, I will not be reading it again and will not suggest it to other people.
THAT BEING SAID, it did whet my appetite for Egyptian mythology and folklore, and I already have some non-fiction on the topic being queued up.
This book is advertised as the author's debut book, but apparently, he has also written some short stories that are in the same universe. When I started reading, I felt like I had accidentally picked up a sequel or accidentally picked up a book halfway through. A lot of the character's cryptic references were actually major plot points from the short stories that were not addressed at all in the book. It wasn't mysterious and gripping it was pretty confusing trying to piece together who Fatma is, what happened to her, what is important to her, etc.
Setting and Cultural Context.
I was raised in a euro-centric Christian culture, and so this book was not written for me. As such, there were a lot of little things that I missed. Maybe I would have been more invested in the characters if I had been better introduced to the characters and/or known more about the culture. I have to wonder if the short stories established some of the Islamic / Muslim / Religious / Cultural themes that would have made the book more cohesive to me personally. Because I am unfamiliar with this part of the world and its customs, I can't comment if it is accurate or problematic. Just be prepared that if you don't know much about 20th-century Egypt, you probably will feel lost. Had Wikipedia pulled up the whole time and learned a lot, but the book wasn't good enough to warrant doing this again.
I love fantasy, and sometimes being dropped in the middle of the world gives the reader an endearing "stranger in a strange land" vibe, but this was just frustrating.
Writing Style
The prose was so purple that I stopped paying attention to the paragraphs of character descriptions and clothing descriptions. The descriptions were not detailed; they were just long. You could line up all the character introductions without their names shuffling the order and genuinely not be able to identify them.
The dialogue was choppy, and some of the words made no sense - I can't tell if the book was translated, or again, it's just little cultural norms or cues that I am missing, but some of the speaking words made no sense with the situation. I'm normally not picky with this; no one is perfect, but after I noticed it, it was like noticing I had popcorn in my teeth, and I was in a terrible mood until I got it out (i.e., finished the book).
*Spoilers Follow*
Characters
Fatma:
Wearing a suit and tie as a woman is not a personality trait. Quoting your mother's overly metaphorical but ultimately meaningless maxims is not a personality trait. This character has so much potential as a queer WOC, and it was completely squandered. Fatma also is
The ethical dilemmas she faces had the potential to be rich and detailed, but all of her choices are rushed by crisis, and it feels like a cheap narrative tool to avoid discussing bigger ethical and social justice subtleties.
Antagonist (MAJOR SPOILER):
Sexism, Colorism, Bigotry, Colonization, Slavery, etc
Once again, I feel like there was a secret book I missed here. Many other reviews laud this book as a great commentary on big social justice issues, and I did not get that impression at all. Bigotry, religious intolerance, sexism, colorism, and racism were mentioned maybe once or twice each (in a 400-page book) and
Plot Holes
This is not a procedural, it is more of a fantasy call to adventure. There is no police work happening here, no induction, deduction, or sleuthing. Not a good or bad thing, but certainly not a mystery as advertised.
Overall
I will forget about this book the second I submit this review. It left very little impression on me. I am disappointed because this has been suggested to me both by humans and algorithms, so I had high expectations. Not worth 400 pages, I will not be reading it again and will not suggest it to other people.
THAT BEING SAID, it did whet my appetite for Egyptian mythology and folklore, and I already have some non-fiction on the topic being queued up.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Islamophobia, Murder, Classism, Misogyny, War, Slavery, Police brutality, Racism, Religious bigotry, and Sexism
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Confinement, Gun violence, Violence, and Lesbophobia
puttingwingsonwords's review against another edition
adventurous
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Classism, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Sexism, Confinement, Police brutality, Violence, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Murder, and Cultural appropriation
Minor: Alcohol and Lesbophobia