Amazon.ca:Customer reviews: The Golem and the Jinni: A Novel (Harper Perennial Olive Editions)

Top positive review

Masterful storytelling

Reviewed in Canada on February 26, 2022

I read the sequel (The Hidden Palace) before discovering this book. I found the author's writing style to be excellent and her story-telling skills compelling. Taking key elements from the mythic histories of Judaism and the Middle East, she uses her profound research skills and prodigious imagination to create a story that kept me turning pages, reluctant to put the book down. For those who love historical fiction and cultural mythologies, this is a must-read. Thank you, Helene Wecker; keep writing!

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A.P.

Nice Writing - Boring Story

Reviewed in Canada on May 14, 2020

The writing is good. So, at first, it's interesting to read about a host of characters and their backstory while waiting for the story to begin. But then you get another character's background, then again another... and nothing much happens... then nothing much keeps happening... In the end, the writing may be good, but I got bored waiting for the story to start, or for the characters to evolve. I gave up midpoint and skipped to the end to find that nothing much did happen; the golem and the jinni remained much in the same state as they were 200+ pages earlier.

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From Canada

Jessica North-O'Connell

Masterful storytelling

Reviewed in Canada on February 26, 2022

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A.P.

Nice Writing - Boring Story

Reviewed in Canada on May 14, 2020

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One person found this helpful

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marcus

lonely myths in a cold world

Reviewed in Canada on February 8, 2019

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There is a real sense of magic and wonder in this book. Yet it's also somehow very down to earth. The juxtaposition of two mythical/magical beings having to survive in the hard realities of 1800's New York was unexpectedly great.

It's a story of outsiders struggling to find their place. The portrayal of New York at the time period feels well researched. The city really comes alive in the writing. Because the story is character driven it can get a little slow at times. The book is about mythic beings struggling with their inner natures and the constraints their situations place on them. I found the character's struggles interesting enough that it wasn't an issue though. They were oddly relatable somehow. There is an effective antagonist who shows up to add some drama at the right moments.

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A. Soares

Can't believe this is a debut

Reviewed in Canada on September 15, 2013

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Helen Wecker creates her own type of fantasy in her debut novel "the Golem and the Jinni". I shudder to classify this as urban fantasy (perhaps it is historical fantasy?), but it takes place in early day New York and weaves together the story of two unlikely characters Chava (the Golem) and Ahmad (the Jinni). This is not the "urban" fantasy that we know through the standard vampire and werewolf literature, but something more tender, more rare.

Chava, the Golem, is created to be the perfect wife to Otto Rotfield who specified that she be intelligent, curious and modest. He dies on the voyage to America and she is masterless and lost in the face of everyone's desires pounding against her like weapons. An old Rabbi recognizes her for what she is and saves her, guiding her in how to interact in the world.

Ahmad, the Jinni, is trapped for a thousand years inside a metal flask by a wizard, emerging to find himself in modern day New York instead of his beloved Syria.

As the two meet, so do earth and fire and Israel and the Middle East. What emerges from the pages is touching and beautiful.

I loved this novel. The plot simmers, rather than boils along, slowly unfolding before you. The characters are interesting and their interactions with each other and those from America even more so. The Golem and the Jinni learn to form affections and friendships, each driven by their intrinsic natures. Of course no book is complete without a antagonist, but I will leave that to you to discover on your own.

Verdict: A must read. This was a beautiful debut and I look forward to seeing more from this author. Not for those who are looking for a quick, action filled plot. This story is akin to a broth simmered for hours to achieve the complex mix of flavours and intensity.

3 people found this helpful

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Quiet Mind

Fascinating from start to finish

Reviewed in Canada on December 6, 2013

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This novel captured me from the first sentence to the last. The images Ms. Wecker has created have stayed with me long after finishing it. Dazzling images and very believable characters and yet it is a fantasy novel. I'm not attracted to fantasy fiction usually but this really caught me off guard with the beautiful writing and imagery, understandable deeply 'human' characters. Even if you have never been to New York City - you will feel as if you know every inch of the ground covered in this absolutely delightful, fascinating story. Definitely goes to my top 10 of favorite books ever.

5 people found this helpful

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David R. Yates

A refreshingly written tale set in a fascinating time

Reviewed in Canada on January 17, 2014

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I found this book to be one of the more clearly and cleanly written novels I've read in a while. In fact, it has spoiled me for some of the other books I've recently sampled!

While the author doesn't delve quite as deeply into the main characters as I might have liked, this didn't really bother me all that much because I was hooked on almost every chapter, and I finished the whole book in a couple of days. I love the idea of bringing both a Golem and a Jinni character to New York in 1899. The end result was a lovely mix of historical settings and social challenges and mythic/magical ideas.

There are a lot of fantasy novels that feel like a rehashing of old Tolkienesque stories, but this is definitely something different and fresh!

2 people found this helpful

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Cait Sidhe

Really cool story!

Reviewed in Canada on February 22, 2017

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I thought this book had a really cool premis and was pretty interesting. But from the pitch I was expecting more of a supernatural romance story. It still was a bit of a light romance story, but not what I expected. That didn't make it any less of an interesting read though, for the most part I enjoyed it even though it wasn't what I had been expecting.

The only real problems I had with it were the perspective changes and how draggy things could get in terms of pacing. I do enjoy perspective changes in stories occasially because they give the reader a better view of events and insight into the behaviour of multiple characters. I felt, however, like these perspective changes were too frequent and from too many characters besides the leading man and woman to really be enjoyable. I think they could have been better used to further flesh out the characters of the Golem and the Jinni, rather than the perspectives of characters that were less relevant to the main story line. I also thought that sometimes the story got more caught up in describing the world and perspective of characters that were not the main focus than furthering the plot. It probably could have been one or two hundred pages shorter than it was for all the - neat but unnecessary - secondary perspectives and event descriptions that didn't particularly add anything to the story.

That said it was a good read and I would and have recommended it to other people.

2 people found this helpful

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Brian

Slow but Worth It

Reviewed in Canada on February 28, 2021

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This book is slow to start, but that just makes you more attached to the characters as you go. It picks up about two thirds of the way through. A great book.

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Tessa-Marie

Mystical

Reviewed in Canada on August 28, 2013

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I love the story and it was more than I expected. I knew about both those myths in the two opposing cultures but it was great that the author brought them together and the way she wove the tale was amazing. I could not put the book down and read it in one week. I know this is a book I will read again. I am hoping to read more books by this author.

One person found this helpful

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AdiposisDolorosa

Amazing novel

Reviewed in Canada on January 21, 2022

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This story winds together many strands beyond the Golem and the Jinni. Hard to put down, kept me up too late last night.

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The Golem and the Jinni: A Novel (Harper Perennial Olive Editions)

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The Golem and the Jinni: A Novel (Harper Perennial Olive Editions)

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