rorareads55's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Suicide, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, and Violence
surdiablo's review
adventurous
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
3.0
Interesting short-story about a detective and her investigations, relating to djinns and otherworldly entities, located in a steampunk Cairo in the 1910s. Considering the page count, it was a rather well-written, self-contained story for the most part. The world-building or the setting itself was the strongest point, the plot itself is interesting enough ( maybe a bit predictable but that's not necessarily a con ) and the characters were alright but didn't have much depth. Apparently it's part of a series of short-stories with a full-blown novel at the end so color me intrigued nonetheless!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Suicide, and Death
Moderate: Blood
anni_swanilda's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Self harm, and Suicide
Moderate: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Blood, Death, and Gun violence
midnightrubies's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore
wilybooklover's review
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
4.0
Very interesting worldbuilding and characters, especially for such a short story. I am intrigued!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicide, Body horror, and Gore
Moderate: Violence and Blood
Minor: Sexism and Misogyny
thoughtsontomes's review
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This is a short story that got me very intrigued about the main novel in the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore
gothnailcare's review
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Suicide, and Gore
Minor: Cannibalism, Xenophobia, Body horror, Gun violence, Religious bigotry, Sexism, and Classism
magicshop's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
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
4.0
“Djinn. Ghuls. Sorcerers. Never had to worry about this in my grandfather's day.”
i read this very quickly, and not just by virtue of its short length.
you should read this book if...
- 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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Suicide, and Gore
bel017's review
medium-paced
Very heavy on world building. As a short story I would have appreciated more plot and less detail.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Gore, and Body horror
Moderate: Suicide, Murder, and Death
nicnevin's review
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Violence