The Golem and the Jinni is a fantastic novel about the two title characters: a Golem and a Jinni. Both fantastic creatures, the Golem is a Semitic creature born of Earth and Clay, while the Jinni is an Arab creature from mythological lore, a fire spirit, like a genie. Through a turn of events, both find themselves in early 1900s New York, and both must come to terms with their natures in a bustling city full of characters. The Golem, Chava, was built to be a servant, a wife, and a protector, but as she is without a master, she struggles to find peace. Ahmad, the Jinni, is a creature of fire, and just as flickering and changeable. He has to come to terms with his enchainment, and the confines of being human, in a human city. The book is full of enchanting characters and beautiful, engrossing writing. The reader will be swept into the magic of nighttime New York with the two beautifully supernatural beings as they struggle to balance their natures with their own desires.

I very much enjoyed this book, because I loved the characters, which were beautifully crafted, and everyone was multi-faceted and very detailed. The whole novel had a mysterious aura of nighttime New York, lit by streetlamps and crawling with people finding themselves, both rich and poor. The writing was engaging, but once again, I enjoyed the book mostly because of the characters. The plot wasn’t incredibly engaging because I felt like we were waiting for the action to happen until the last 20 pages. It was somewhat slow-paced (the two protagonists don’t meet until almost halfway through the book) but if you appreciate the writing style, you won’t notice it. The only reason I didn’t give this novel 5/5 stars was because of the slightly anti-climactic ending. The only action occurred in the last few pages, and I felt that it was a kind of disappointing end to a good read, although you might not feel the same way.

I would recommend this book to those who are in it for a slow-paced, pleasant read, with good prose and semi-advanced literature. I feel that you can delve into the novel as far as you wish—it would make a good literary commentary or school essay read, or a teen could read it on their own and enjoy it. Overall, it is a really good book.