A review by husnaibrahim_
Djinn City by Saad Z. Hossain

5.0

I absolutely adored this book, and it’s such a shame that we might not get a sequel because it ended on such a thrilling cliffhanger! I’m a Muslim, so I grew up hearing stories about djinns, so the whole ‘half-bred djinns and humans’ fantasy concept really captivated me. It was fascinating to see the author integrate these familiar concepts with science and technology.

Now, these djinns in the book aren’t your typical ones. They’re portrayed as unique fantasy creatures with advanced technology and apparently even airships! They exude fierceness, yet it’s like there’s a melancholic undertone to their being. The setting in Bangladesh added a delightful feeling to it all, and I appreciated how the author humanized the story by exploring the relationship between djinns and their mutant human attributes. However, I must confess that I’m uncertain about where the story will go next, given the ambiguous ending for literally all the characters.

Speaking of the ending, it was truly all so sudden! There was no closure at all. It felt as if the author simply reached the end of a chapter and decided to call it a day. Just when we were reaching the high point , everything came to a halt. Like, chaos just seemed to consume everyone and everything! Indelbed spiraled, his cousin Rais spiraled, control was lost, the Givaras found itself trapped once again, Matteras also actually emerged victorious, Aunt Juny met her demise, and Kaikobad remained in a coma. It’s all bewildering, and strangely enough, some of my problems with the book and the concepts only added to its intriguing nature. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Although I did find myself struggling with the story at times due to it becoming  overwhelming at times, I came to realize that those were integral to the concept and didn’t remove from the characters. Personally, I wished for more exploration of Indelbed’s perspective, as other storylines felt somewhat untouched after his spiral. But despite these concerns, this book has an abundance of captivating things. It’s imaginative, well-written, and just full of wit. Some The characters are also really fantastic, though I must acknowledge there were a few offensive moments from them that could have been excluded.