by Helene Wecker

My expectations of this story might have been a little inflated because I kept hearing how good it was, and I did enjoy it, but I didn't love it as much as I expected to. It was a good story and culturally interesting, but I just didn't connect with any of the characters. Of all of them, I think the djinni most appealed to my nature, but his offhand callousness often left me cold.

The whole concept of these two supernatural beings meeting in New York was pretty fascinating. Each of them keeping their secret, living apart from the human society that surrounds them, yet so different in nature. It was interesting to see the comparison between their experiences among humans.

Chava was far too subservient for me to identify with her, yet that is in the nature of a golem so it fit the story. Her circumstances and the unusual chain of events that brought her to her situation made for good reading and a lot of imagination was put into it. I think I was expecting more of magic though, and kept looking for a quality of enchantment that was never meant to be a part of the story. The writing is certainly good and I would read another book by this author.

Towards the end, the answers to unknown are revealed and the connection between the two supernatural characters becomes clear. The ending was satisfying, though the story as a whole stopped just short of that for me. It lacked passion, but seemed to move forward methodically like the golem herself, always close to the earth when I was expecting to see the stars.

An interesting read, but it didn't engage my emotions.

The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker is the story of two mythological characters who find that they are more alike than different and who find acceptance in each other. Within this structure, this book can be read at so many different levels and interpreted for so many different themes – fantasy, love story, immigrant experience, misfits & outsiders, and common ground. This character-driven book is unique and leaves me thinking.

Read my complete review at Memories From Books - The Golem and the Jinni

I heard so much about this book that I couldn't wait to read it. I was expecting a lot of magic and wonderful things, but it wasn't really what I expected. It was an okay story and an interesting concept, but the characters didn't really appeal to me enough to get wrapped up in the story.

The premise is a female gollum is left without a master and has to try to learn to survive in old New York, while keeping what she is secret. A separate thread runs about a djinn who is also hiding his supernatural nature from the humans of the city. Eventually, they inevitably meet.

This part of the story took too long in my opinion. It was like two separate stories running concurrently that has little to do with each other. Then when they did meet, the dynamics between them were interesting, but not interesting enough to salvage the story.

I'm glad I read it, but it's not something I would read again.