A review by ceallaighsbooks
A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective tense fast-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

5.0

“Usually the secrets we keep deep down, ain’t meant to hurt other people,” he said. “Not saying they won’t, but not through intentions. Those deep secrets, we hide away because we’re afraid what other people might think. How they might judge us, if they knew. And nobody’s judgment we scared of more than the one we give our hearts to.” 
 
TITLE—A Master of Djinn 
AUTHOR—P. Djèlí Clark 
PUBLISHED—2021 
 
GENRE—historical fantasy; steampunk 
SETTING—alternate historical 1912 Cairo 
MAIN THEMES/SUBJECTS—djinn magic & mythology, secret societies, ancient Egyptian mythology & religion, colonialism, white supremacy, racism, Islamic, Near East, and East African history, bibliophilia 
 
WRITING STYLE—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️—Everything I ever wanted in an adult fantasy book. 
CHARACTERS—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️—Siti is my new obsessionnnnn... 😍 But Ahmad also really grew on me lol 
PLOT—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️—🤯 
BONUS ELEMENT/S—This book is SO atmospheric—the scene setting is phenomenal! Usually I find myself scanning descriptions of landscapes and architecture etc but in this book I always made sure to linger over Clark’s descriptions because they were SO beautiful!! And there are so many amazing places the reader gets to visit in this book from palaces to libraries to markets to speakeasies to bookshops to cemeteries like it is ALL here. 🥰 
PHILOSOPHY—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️—Literally perfect. Like SO so good. Especially with the nature of one of the types of illusion magic: “An illusion whose magic works by getting you to play a part in your own deception”, omg. Just brilliant. 
 
“Justice comes for the wicked in time. The scales of Thoth demand it.” 
 
Summary: Super sexy queerfemme Muslim Sherlock Holmes who dresses in dapper suits meets Indiana Jones in an early 20th c. steampunk Cairo with djinn magic and various supernatural and mythological creatures with fantastically intricate worldbuilding and SOLID philosophical underpinnings and is also hilarious but like EVEN BETTER THAN THAT. *NEED* I GO ON? 
 
This book kind of blew my mind. I went in expecting this to be one of my top reads of the year but this might be one of my top reads of all TIME. It is everything I ever wanted in an adult fantasy novel. Chapter 21 especially. PERFECT fantasy mystery with great elements of history, academia, and bibliophilia. And the worldbuilding was incredible and solid, the philosophy was solid, and the characters were all fantastic. I can’t think of anyone I wouldn’t recommend this book to, seriously. It’s so so good. 
 
“If you steal, steal a camel, she heard her mother whisper. And if you love, love the moon.” 
 
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 
 
TW // violence, gore, colonialism, racism, misogyny, colorism, police violence 
 
Further Reading— 
  • everything by P. Djèlí Clark
  • Legendborn, by Tracy Deonn
  • N. K. Jemisin’s Dreamblood duology
  • The Historian, by Elizabeth Kostova

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