A review by lrose02
The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker

adventurous emotional reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book was really interesting. The digital version made it a long read, but it wasn’t helped by the fact it has some long chapters anyway. It was hard to see where it was going until at least half way through, which I didn’t mind as the subplots were interesting. There’s more death than was expected especially in the end, and some were more sad than others. I loved Chava, and to me she was a really interesting protagonist. The Djinni was slightly different due to the mess with Sophie but I could understand him. The ending worried me as I thought they would be permanently separated but I was relieved at the final paragraph. The ending wasn’t a full happily ever after, more bittersweet as there wasn’t the full freedom as expected. But both of them made do which was about as human as they could get. I loved the side characters, and the villain was just a bastard. Just a greedy little rat man who was just straight up evil but he was perfect for the plot. The folklore was used really interestingly and I liked the way the religions collided, and how different communities worked together due to Chava and the Djinni. I wish we got to hear the Djinni’s real name and that he gave it to her.