Reviews with content warning for Cultural appropriation - A Master of Djinn

Delightful narration. Djinns, humans, angels, and other beings had distinct (and very entertaining!) voices. I hope there will be more stories set in this world.

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bergha1998's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense 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? No

3.75

I loved the plot and pacing of the mystery. The characters were great and so diverse, but I have a feeling they’ll hit their stride more in the second book.

Historical Fantasy, LGBTQIA+, Diverse

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warlocksarecool21's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

A Master of Djinn was another fun installment in the Dead Djinn universe! I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I hope we get more books in the series. In this book we follow Fatma and her fellow Ministry agents as they try to stop a man claiming he is the powerful al-Jahiz, who opened a portal to the djinn realm and brought them and their magic to Earth, while also exploring important commentary about sociopolitical issues of the early 20th century that are still relevant today.

What I enjoyed most about this book was the world-building. P. Djèlí Clark is very good at pulling on familiar legends and mythology and putting a new twist on it. I really liked exploring this world from Fatma’s perspective and learning more about the Ministry’s role in this version of Egypt.

I think the author writes good characters as well. Fatma is an interesting and engaging protagonist. I like the way her character was developed throughout the story. She’s smart and independent but has to learn how to rely on others and let people in. I also enjoyed Fatma’s interactions with the other characters. I really liked how she had to learn to accept Hadia as her partner and trust her to be competent and reliable and I thought Hadia was very sweet, they balanced each other well.

I appreciated that Fatma was queer, and I did like her relationship with Siti but I wish we got more of a focus on it. I knew this had been labelled as a queer fantasy (and it is, the MC is queer) so I guess I was just hoping that an exploration of queer culture and the sociopolitical implications of being queer during this time period but it didn’t come up a lot beyond the few moments we get dedicated to Fatma and Siti’s relationship (which was cute but I also wanted more of it). Even though it wasn’t the main focus of the story, I felt P. Djèlí Clark was very deliberate in his choices to explore other themes such as race, colorism and class so I was hoping we would also get that same approach applied to Fatma’s queerness and the implications of that in this world, but it was not to be this time (hopefully in another installment!). It wasn’t enough to detract from my overall enjoyment but I did want to share my thoughts about it.

Overall, I think Clark did a good job at weaving commentary about various sociopolitical issues throughout the story (in a way that was relevant to the characters and plot). There were a lot of themes he was trying to incorporate, and while I don’t think all of them were given the time needed to develop a nuanced conversation I appreciate the attention that was brought to them. I think the issues best explored were how racial dynamics in Cairo impacted people depending on

other intersections of their identity, colonialism and how Europe continues to fuck things up in Africa, and discussions of misogyny (internalized and external) and gender biases.

I felt the commentary Clark was trying to make about police and police brutality could have been engaged with more. There definitely was an attempt and we did hear criticisms from various side characters but I wish there was more critical engagement of those themes Fatma, considering her role in the government and how closely she works with the police. A lot of the commentary about the aforementioned topics that was included definitely landed but it almost seemed like there wasn’t enough time to develop everything while maintaining the actual plot. I do recognize this was the author’s first full-length novel so I do have high hopes for future books.

Anyways, I had fun with the plot and the characters and I definitely recommend checking out this series if you’re into Egyptian and Arabic mythology and a historical Egypt setting.

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asahome's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious

3.5

TL;DR: A young woman must solve a mass murder case where she discovers the supernatural is closer than she thinks. In the end, people challenge the status quo and they are not wrong when discussing the way power is distributed.

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jhbandcats's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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? Yes

4.25

This is an entertaining tale of three strong women in a time of casual misogyny and racism (with a hint of homophobia), when chauvinism and nationalism made life frustrating at best for anyone not an Egyptian male or wealthy white Englishman.

It opens with a chapter demonstrating Agent Fatma’s bravery and skill in dealing with an angry, powerful djinn, and goes on to give her a far more challenging assignment. She’s initially paired with an unwanted partner but very early on they work well together, with none of the squabbling common to Hollywood buddy movies. Fatma’s lover Siti rounds out the trio. The descriptions of Cairo a century ago add realism to the steampunk aesthetic.

I would probably have given this five stars but I was so frequently flummoxed by unknown words that I would really have appreciated a glossary. The words I didn’t know have to do with politics, religion, clothing, food, and magical beings. While the meaning was usually clear from the context, I spent way too much time on Google trying to find out more information.

Overall, though, I really enjoyed this. I’ve liked Clark’s novellas and like this full-length novel even more.

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stephanielee's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

This book is set in Cairo in an alternate 1912. There is magic in this universe and Agent Fatma is the youngest woman working for the Ministry of Alchemy. She is also queer and very private. She is assigned a partner, Hadia, who is just as smart but lacks the field experience Fatma has. What starts as a murder investigation becomes much more. There are a lot of non English words but those can be figured out either by googling them or using context, I didn't find them to be an issue.

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lira_the_recluse's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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

4.0

The mystery and world was compelling. I was happy to have correctly guessed the villian about half way through the book, but it was a wild ride to the end. I do feel like a few things near the end of the book were a bit rushed. Like the final few chapters had a lot of ground to cover and make up, but over all I liked the book.

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raptorq's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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