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Not my usual fare, but excellent. The beginning is a bit slow as things get set up, but it is more than worth it. I'm looking forward to the sequel.

See if you catch the classically tragic character. ( )

Very absorbing and entertaining fantasy, though not for skeptics. ( )

This book is amazing. The characters are well-developed, the plot is intricate, and this seamless blend of two completely different mythological figures from two different cultures kept me turning pages until the very end. Powerful and beautiful, and completely unlike anything I've ever read before. ( )

It is hard to believe that this is Helene Wecker's debut novel. There are so many layers to this one and they are all so very well done - there is the immigrant experience told from the point of view of two (literally!!!) immigrant aliens, there are philosophical musings on human nature, there is the contrasting nature of the Golem and the Jinni and overlaid on top of all this is a good old-fashioned rip-roaring yarn involving an evil wizard and his quest for immortality. The novel unfolds quite slowly as it takes its time in exploring these themes. Supporting the main protagonists are a host of secondary characters who are all interesting and substantially fleshed out. Despite its leisurely pace and a storyline that meanders across multiple characters, Wecker is always fully in control. The novel finally gathers pace in the last 100 pages or so when it moves into a more mainstream YA fantasy-like setting. There were some plot points which were jarring and I felt that the ending was a bit of a let down. There was enough ammunition in the multiple plot threads that led up to that point to make it a lot more powerful (ala Bartimaeus trilogy). I kept getting reminded of the Bartimaeus trilogy and Jonathan strange as I was reading this one. It doesn't quite reach the storytelling magic of the former or the grandeur of the latter but overall, still an absolutely great novel. ( )

I picked up 'The Golem and Djinni' in the library as it looked long and promising. Set in late 19th century New York, it's both fantastical and an allegory for immigrant experience. The titular main characters arrive in the city alone and adrift, then gradually learn to live in it before meeting each other. I enjoyed the importance accorded to friendship in the narrative. The golem and djinni make for interesting protagonists and the plot has some ingenious twists. My favourite parts involved consideration of philosophical and theological implications of golems and djinni. Indeed, I would have appreciated more of this. The reader must assume that magic exists and looks different across cultures, yet the fantasy world-building is fragmentary. I wondered where the other golems were and why no-one believed in djinni. Yet the book is already longer than it really needed to be, despite good plotting. It was very readable, although I was never fully immersed in the world and its characters. Something about them just didn't seem visceral. Funnily enough, a quote on the back cover likens it to [b:The Night Circus|9361589|The Night Circus|Erin Morgenstern|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1387124618l/9361589._SY75_.jpg|14245059], which I had a very similar experience with. Both novels revolve around neat conceits that feel somehow insubstantial and in need of stronger grounding to have more impact. A pleasant diversion nonetheless. ( )

I did enjoy The Golem and the Jinni, but I never felt immersed in the story the way I wanted to be. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the novel, just something about the writing style didn’t entirely jive with me. ( )

This was a fascinating book about what makes a person. The jinni and the golem transcend their assigned natures to meet in the middle.

It was also a fascinating book about the clash of cultures, and a fascinating historical novel about turn-of-the-last-century New York, and what life was like for immigrants then. (Again with the clash of cultures).

It was a book about how one man's self absorption had repercussions far beyond what anyone could have imagined.

It was well-written and vivid, and I eschewed several much-anticipated other books in order to finish it. The ending fit perfectly to the story, leaving the reader with hope for the future.

I'm glad I read it. ( )

What a story! Hard to find a word put wrong in this fascinating fantasy tale. ( )

A bit of a slow read, but still an interesting story. I like the characters and the setting a lot, and I'll probably read the sequel. ( )

This historical intrusion fantasy is about a golem without a master created in the form of a woman and a jinni imprisoned in human form both ending up in New York City in the early twentieth century. Their lives intersect and overlap as they each struggle with the freedom and confinement of their new ways of being. For a golem, this is more freedom than she could imagine—or know what to do with. But for a jinni, this is a life of horrifying captivity... even though he can do as much, if not more, than what any human can do.

I enjoyed the book but did not love it, though I can see why many others may have loved it. Where it really work is in Wecker's depiction of the immigrant communities of gaslight-era New York, and in the two central characters. There are a lot of great observations, both large and small, of the people and their world. Good character moments, good complications, interesting interactions.

But I did find that at times the backstory of the jinni was delved into more than I was actually interested in, threatening to overwhelm the present-day material that had actually hooked me on the story. The core idea of the title sometimes felt a bit lost in at all.

This book was quite excellent, and I could see myself recommending it a fair bit in the future. It is as close to a work of "pure fiction" as I have read in recent times, and reflecting on it brings to mind the aspects of Murakami and Marquez that I most appreciated. Perhaps the story's only shortcoming is that it takes too few risks - the book is not overly surprising, and could have certainly done with a stronger, more driving plot. It also has an ending that, while not weak, does not amaze the way one might expect given the buildup. In spite of all of this, the book gets full marks because it effectively conveys "wonder" - something that books are often hard pressed to do. It keeps you turning the pages more out of a growing desire to understand more and to watch the characters develop than to understand where the plot is going - the kind of book that you wish could go on forever (or, perhaps, be reality).

Overall highly recommended to fiction buffs, those who like old New York, or fans of "classic" literary excellence. ( )

I wanted to give this four stars because it was really well written. However, I could not because it was a bit too angsty for my taste. ( )

A very unique book. I loved the fairy/folk tale feel of the book and learned much about these tales in Jewish and Middle Eastern culture. Yet the book was so much more than a magical story; it was about finding your place in this world and the importance of free will. I loved Chava and her journey to find her humanity. ( )

I loved this book. Wecker is a master of nuance and the telling detail.

I completely fell in love with the flawed, heart-achingly complex characters of Chava and Ahmed. Wecker's beautiful writing made all the characters deliciously fascinating, and the setting was so vivid, every time I set the book down, I felt disoriented. I honestly feel like I have been living in the old Jewish and Syrian neighborhoods of turn of the century New York.

I hated for it to end, but it did. And it ended in a way that, unlike so many recent books, did not fizzle or disappoint. Five stars.
( )

The Golem and the Jinni goes on and on and on. A lot of the story could have been edited out and still have had a long story. Three stars were given to this book because it left the reader wanting it to end already. ( )

In middle and high school there were book reports that we'd have to present in front of the class. Every time the straight-A honor students would recite a passionless checklist of all of the required beats expected from them on the rubric. The class was divided in between those who didn't read the book and those who read the words but couldn't care less about the meaning. But the latter category could fake enthusiasm enough to earn perfect grades every time. Meanwhile my impassioned and overlong screed against an esoteric and probably half-imagined theme in the book got me a trip to the principal's office. It was maddening. To this day I can still hear the insincere tone, the forced meter and timbre in the voices of those top students and it makes me cringe.
I mention this because The Golem and the Jinni reads like middle school. There was nothing wrong with it in a technical sense, as though the author were given a rubric and a set of instructions and dutifully hit every one. But it used the same plodding, uninspired, and inartistic tone throughout the entire book. The voice didn't change or modulate between different characters, it didn’t convey the excitement or the fear of the fantasy, or the loneliness of the characters. I've read authors who deliberately eschew impassioned or evocative language in order to convey the numbness of their characters. But Wecker clearly wasn't going for something like that. Something is rotten when you describe a genie creating a glass castle out of the desert sands using the same language as a shopping list.
Abigail Nussbaum’s review in Strange Horizons makes some excellent points: Wecker wrote a vapid historical fiction and then a vapid fantasy and then accidentally left the blender on. ( )

I finally read this after it had been talked up to me by friends for years. I may be one of the few people who didn't really think it was that great of a read. I don't know exactly what I didn't like because the characters were well developed and the author clearly has a lot of knowledge of NY in that time period, but at the end of the day it wasn't my cup of tea. ( )

I was thrilled with the sample for this book. It hooked me from the beginning, had a lovely, literary voice, and the characters seemed to come to life before me. Unfortunately, that same literary quality that I loved so much made the book fall apart for me in the later chapters. It felt slow and self-indulgent at times, and there were dozens of pages upon pages where nothing happened. The story became tedious, and I had to force myself to finish. It's such a shame, because I adore fantasy, and the occasional literary novel. I thought combining the two was brilliant. It's just too bad it couldn't hold my interest. ( )

I love love loved this book. It's about a (Jewish) golem and an (Arab) jinni (genie) who meet in turn of the century NYC. It's beautifully written and full of historical detail. The various backstories of the main characters wind loosely around each other and get connected and intertwined bit by bit until the story comes to a climax. I was so sad for this book to end! ( )

This is the slowest novel I've read in a long time.
I liked following the lives of the protagonists but I couldn't stand waiting endlessly for the obvious to happen.
This is the reason I dropped the book. I got sick and tired of waiting for the plot, which is obviously being set up, to happen. I would've loved reading the same world, same protagonists but without this painfully slow plot.
I haven't actually seen much of the plot itself yet but the basic setup is incredibly obvious and I found the suspense very tiring beyond a certain point.
It felt like dying of thirst while only being able to drink through an absurdly thin straw.

The main bad guy was introduced early on and revealed as the antagonist sometime later, but up to the 50% mark there didn't actually happen ANYTHING. We know who he is, we know what he wants, and a few very cheap plot conveniences have been put in place early on to provide him with the means. I've listened to 10 hours of very enjoyable nothing but I am not willing to wait another 8 hours for the plot to finally happen.

Something I loved about this book is how things are complicated. This is something most books I've read fail at miserably and which is one of the main reasons a lot of writing appears so cheap and clichéed.
Even if the only way of saving the universe is to accomplish some impossible task, things just seem too simple, too neat most of the time.
The world is messy and convoluted. Things just don't align nicely.
On one hand, this book nails this in regards to the cast and their individual backstories but on the other hand, it very much fails at this exact hurdle in regards to the actual plot.

The protagonists are complex and flawed enough to be interesting and the author managed to give an amazing sense of time and place.

I enjoyed the various philosophical discussions that characters had with each other and the author had with the reader or whatnot.

Maybe I am just damaged by the fast-food of fantasy I'm reading most of the time. ( )

My actual rating is a 3.5. Entertaining, and I would like to know what happens next. I had trouble liking the Golem. ( )

The Golem and the Jinni, Helene Wecker’s debut novel, earned a Nebula nomination but missed out on the Hugos in a tough year. Ann Leckie’s Ancillary Justice was a lock, and there were two popular fantasy novels in the running: Wheel of Time and Warbound. A sequel to G and J did not appear until 2021.
The first novel is set in 19th-century New York and features the two title creatures cast adrift in the big city without masters to tell them what to do. It is not exactly a heaven-blessed romance, but it is an intriguing magical take on the Lower Manhattan immigrant story.
Wecker’s plot is more complicated than necessary, but I do admire the clarity of her prose. Her history is well-researched, and her storytelling reminds me of Rothfuss at his best. ( )

Solid fantasy book with a fun style and good characters. I liked the ending although there were many ways it could have gone that I would have been happy with. ( )

The Golem and the Jinni is immensely readable. The research for Jews living in New York City is fascinating although one wonders about the accuracy. For instance, when a character asks rabbi about volunteering, the thrilled rabbi described the virtues of their congregation and how they fought against secularism and unhealthy modern influence. Congregations began allowing snuff during sermons. I hadn't realized in the orthodox world a woman is forbidden for initiating sex as the golem did with her husband Michael. Atheist Michael runs a Jewish type shelter and when discovers he is married to a Golem questions his non-belief in God. If A golem could exist, there must be a god. The last section of the book becomes convoluted and takes a good deal of acceptance by the reader in search of logic. You do end up caring about the Golem and Jinni and maybe that’s enough to get you through this page turner. ( )