Cover Snapshot of Read Books

Sara's bookshelf: read

Crazy Little Thing
A Kiss at Midnight
The Disenchanted Widow
Hollywood Wives - The New Generation
There Goes the Bride
Table for Five
Do Not Disturb
The Husband's Secret
The Ugly Duchess
Help for the Haunted
The Power Trip
Flawless
The Haunting of Maddy Clare
Fame
Summer At Willow Lake
Barefoot
Every Crooked Nanny
The Mystery Woman
The Woodcutter
How to Be an American Housewife


Sara's favorite books »

Saturday, February 15, 2014

Review: The Golem and the Jinni


The Golem and the Jinni
The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Intellectual, Creative, Complex

Finally finally finished! The beginning of this novel is fascinating and wondrous. I loved the idea of the story, one written about a Golem (clay creature) and a Jinni (Arabic Supernatural Spirit) who meet by chance in New York (such a new and interesting premise). The Golem’s Master has died unexpectedly and she must figure out how to live as a human when she needs no food or sleep and has superhuman strength. The Jinni was trapped in a container for a thousand years, he is glad to be out in the world again although this world is one he does not recognize. Because he is drawn to fire, he is a natural metalsmith. Both creatures are restless, frustrated and struggling to pose as humans in a complex world. The Golem and Jinni recognize the non-human in each other and forge an unlikely friendship. Alas, the constraints of the human world may be more than either can survive.

I had thought of choosing this book for Book Club as I read the first few compelling pages in the bookstore, but wow, this is a hard book to finish. A fellow Book club member read this book too and said she was glad that I had not chosen it; it was too lengthy and too intellectual for the book group. Notably, I stopped reading (e-reader) at 50% and set this book aside for months as the middle of the book just could not keep my attention.

Well written, but oh so long!






View all my reviews