Book Review: Becoming Jinn by Lori Goldstein

Image (c) Feiwel & Friends/ Macmillan

Becoming Jinn (Becoming Jinn #1) by Lori Goldstein
Publication Date: April 21st, 2015
Format: eARC for Review

Forget everything you thought you knew about genies!

Azra has just turned sixteen, and overnight her body lengthens, her olive skin deepens, and her eyes glisten gold thanks to the brand-new silver bangle that locks around her wrist. As she always knew it would, her Jinn ancestry brings not just magical powers but the reality of a life of servitude, as her wish granting is controlled by a remote ruling class of Jinn known as the Afrit.

To the humans she lives among, she’s just the girl working at the snack bar at the beach, navigating the fryer and her first crush. But behind closed doors, she’s learning how to harness her powers and fulfill the obligations of her destiny.

Mentored by her mother and her Zar “sisters”, Azra discovers she may not be quite like the rest of her circle of female Jinn . . . and that her powers could endanger them all. As Azra uncovers the darker world of becoming Jinn, she realizes when genies and wishes are involved, there’s always a trick.

The best comparison for this book that I can think of is this: think of how a hurricane works. At the beginning it's torturous. With all the heavy rain and wind, it makes you wonder why you decided to stay where you are in the end. After all, you expected it to be like the usual storm. Then there's the calm in-between. Everything is normal. Everything is alright. For now. But then the storm returns, the worse returns, and suddenly you wish it would disappear again.

Alright, so, I've never actually been through a hurricane in my life, but you guys sort of get the jist of what I'm talking about I hope.

This book will break your heart. A lot. Oh gosh, does this book hurt. But it's a good sort of pain- at least in my opinion. I love a book that actually makes me feel for the main character and makes me feel sympathy for them. That has been done and more. There has been many times where I just wanted to hug Azra so many times.

You'll feel this sort of sympathetic pain at the beginning and the ending of this book. The middle is a sort of relaxation period. Important stuff still happens, needless to say, but it gives your heart a time to rest.

There's a little bit of a love triangle in this book. Normally, I don't care much for these sort of things, but this time I don't mind it that much. It was subtle and natural enough for me to care for it. Even so, it didn't overpower the storyline in my opinion. It fit the story like a perfect puzzle piece.

Not to mention that you get to learn a little bit about Azra's world as the story goes along with her. You get to learn how her magic works and everything alongside her and I love that. It's an important part of this story and, honestly, I want to get a hold of the actual book so I can see if there was a bit more added to it. I want to see if there's even just a little bit more added to the book that'll make it that much better.

Without any spoilers... I humbly recommend this book to anyone who loves fantasy, always wanted to read about genies and want to see a fresh perspective on them. This is also for people who love to have their heart broken into pieces because, yeah, that'll happen.

Highly recommend this book. Read it. READ IT!

(Originally posted on A Court of Ink and Paper, previously known as Cosying Up With Books)