The Golem and The Jinni by Helene Wecker

This story is a fairy tale that blends Jewish mysticism and the Arabian myth of the Jinn. The non human characters are strangely believable. I think it is because they are written so humanly and the human characters are not as completely developed. Wecker’s descriptions of setting are fantastic which contributes to the length of the text. It has a bit of a historical fantasy fiction flare to it as well.

This book seems more YA than adult, if she would shorten it a bit. The book was fun to read, and had me saying at bedtime, “just one more chapter”. Since the Golem and Jinni were so believable, the fantasy aspects seemed to be used as a plot device. The plot would have been more believable if there had been additional mythical characters that were written as thoroughly as the two creatures. Some parts of the story sucked me in and enveloped my senses, but others were dry and dull. The ending left me disappointed.

Overall,It is in a well written style and fun. I liked this book a lot, but I can’t say I loved it.

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