Read This Book…

I have a huge regret about reading this book, which is this: I will never again be able to read it for the first time.

This book is set in a steampunk Cairo in 1912, where djinn and other magical creatures live side-by-side with humans and have for the past 40 years. The world-building of this book is so incredibly intricate and luscious. A man named al-Jahiz changed the world when he ripped open the veil between the magical and the human world. When that happened, he vanished. Now, in 1912, there is a secret brotherhood of wealthy British men in Cairo dedicated to worshiping al-Jahiz, thinking they have the right to the power he had. In the very first chapter, a man in a mask shows up at a meeting of the secret brotherhood. He claims to be al-Jahiz and then slaughters them all.

Fatma el-Sha’arawi is an agent working for the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities, and she is one of only two women who work there. She also wears fantastically tailored suits. Feminism has not come very far in Cairo in 1912, and she has had to work incredibly hard to get the respect she deserves, but she is damn good at her job. She is now tasked with finding and apprehending this al-Jahiz impersonator, but every time she thinks she learns something new, a dozen new questions pop up. Nothing is what it seems to be, and she has to deal with some amazing characters, both human and djinn alike.

This book has everything: magic, murder, mayhem, sapphic romance, badass women, clever twists and turns, and some absolutely hilarious comedy. I was shocked at how funny this book was because I wasn’t expecting it. I laughed out loud multiple times, and it just endeared me more to P. Djèlí Clark’s writing.