The Golem and the Jinni
RECOMMENDED: The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker is $1.99! This is a fantasy historical and reader favorite. Carrie reviewed this book in June 2013 and really liked it. She says it doesn’t have romance as its primary plot, but it’s a beautiful read:
I loved this book, but not so much for the love story. I loved the mythologies, the settings, and the characters. The neighborhoods were incredibly detailed and vivid and interesting. The cultural and religious communities felt real and fascinating. I love books that let me see into another world, and this book gave me that feeling many times. The characters were all mesmerizing. I felt like I was in each setting, meeting these real people.
Chava is a golem, a creature made of clay, brought to life by a strange man who dabbles in dark Kabbalistic magic. Ahmad is a jinni, a being of fire, born in the ancient Syrian Desert. Trapped in an old copper flask by a Bedouin wizard centuries ago, he is released accidentally by a tinsmith in a Lower Manhattan shop.
Struggling to make their way in 1899 New York, the Golem and the Jinni try to fit in with their immigrant neighbors while masking their true selves. Meeting by chance, they become unlikely friends whose tenuous attachment challenges their opposing natures, until the night a terrifying incident drives them back into their separate worlds. But a powerful menace will soon bring the Golem and the Jinni together again, threatening their existence and forcing them to make a fateful choice.
Marvelous and compulsively readable, The Golem and the Jinni weaves strands of folk mythology, historical fiction, and magical fable into a wondrously inventive and unforgettable tale.
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RECOMMENDED: Done Dirt Cheap by Sarah Nicole Lemon is $1.99! Though I didn’t review this one, I read it and really enjoyed it. Lots of girl power, themes of racism and classism, danger! One word of warning, not all of the plot threads have a “happy” resolution. However, it definitely was a book I was thinking about for days after I finished it.
Tourmaline Harris’s life hit pause at fifteen, when her mom went to prison because of Tourmaline’s unintentionally damning testimony. But at eighteen, her home life is stable, and she has a strong relationship with her father, the president of a local biker club known as the Wardens.
Virginia Campbell’s life hit fast-forward at fifteen, when her mom “sold” her into the services of a local lawyer: a man for whom the law is merely a suggestion. When Hazard sets his sights on dismantling the Wardens, he sends in Virginia, who has every intention of selling out the club—and Tourmaline.
But the two girls are stronger than the circumstances that brought them together, and their resilience defines the friendship at the heart of this powerful debut novel.
Sons of Anarchy meets Thelma & Louise.
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A Tyranny of Petticoats edited by Jessica Spotswood is $1.99! This is an anthology with fifteen stories by YA authors. I’ve read this anthology and if I recall, the first few stories are pretty depressing. You have been warned! But the writing is top notch and I always recommend anthologies for when you’re in a reading slump.
From an impressive sisterhood of YA writers comes an edge-of-your-seat anthology of historical fiction and fantasy featuring a diverse array of daring heroines.
Criss-cross America — on dogsleds and ships, stagecoaches and trains — from pirate ships off the coast of the Carolinas to the peace, love, and protests of 1960s Chicago. Join fifteen of today’s most talented writers of young adult literature on a thrill ride through history with American girls charting their own course. They are monsters and mediums, bodyguards and barkeeps, screenwriters and schoolteachers, heiresses and hobos. They’re making their own way in often-hostile lands, using every weapon in their arsenals, facing down murderers and marriage proposals. And they all have a story to tell.
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Single Malt by Layla Reyne is $1.99! This is a gay romantic suspense novel with an age difference and a workplace romance. Hello catnip! I will warn that there appears to be a cliffhanger in this book, but the next one is available for $3.99. Reviewers had mostly good things to say about the pacing and characterization, and it has a 4-star rating on Goodreads.
The heart’s a resilient beast
Eight months after the car crash that changed everything, FBI agent Aidan Talley is back at work. New department, new case and a new partner. Smart, athletic and handsome, Jameson Walker is twelve years his junior. Even if Aidan was ready to move on—and he’s not—Jamie is off-limits.
Jamie’s lusted after Aidan for three years, and the chance to work with San Francisco’s top agent directly is too good to pass up. Aidan is prickly—to put it mildly—but a growing cyber threat soon proves Jamie’s skills invaluable.
Jamie’s talents paint a target on his back, and Aidan is determined to protect him. But with hack after hack threatening a high-security biocontainment facility, time is running out to thwart a deadly terrorist attack. They’ll have to filter out distractions, on the case and in their partnership, to identify the real enemy, solve the case and save thousands of lives, including their own.
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I really liked Single Malt, though it’s really more of a four book series about the couple. There are mysteries in each book, with the overall mystery of the car crash being slowly solved. I believe this book ends in an HFN, and with the HEA in the final book. So use that when deciding whether to purchase or not, I guess. I really liked the writing, but didn’t know that the story was continued across several books when I first picked it up.
Absolutely ADORED Golem & Jinni. A delight for anyone interested in NYC history, immigration, folklore & mythology. Lush without being overwritten.
Also loved The Golem and The Jinni. Though I didn’t really consider it a love story. I guess it’s open-ended enough for us to decide whether or not Chava and Ahmad got there.
I gave Single Malt two stars on Goodreads. I remember nothing about it, but this was my review:
Somehow, I just really struggled to care about these characters or their story. And I’ve come to realize that I don’t find megawealthy people who fight crime as a hobby nearly as compelling as realistic law enforcement characters who live in crappy apartments and drive basic cars and trucks.
YMMV!