Oh man I am not sure what to make of this. On one level it’s a super fun ride, with two old dads, one white and one black, who go on a violent mission to avenge their two murdered sons; the writing is slick and enjoyable, there’s some great social commentary, and the character building is solid. On the other hand, I really don’t like that all the dads’ best character growth comes about because their gay sons were murdered. (This is not a spoiler, it is literally the first chapter.) Can we please not go around casually murdering the gay kids for character growth, it makes me sad.
Tag: genre-crime
A Master of Djinn, by P. Djèlí Clark
This was adorable. It’s a standard setup: a tough, experienced detective has a murder mystery to solve, except in this case the tough detective is the youngest woman working at the Ministry of Alchemy in a magical version of historic Cairo; the murder is of an entire secretive brotherhood; oh, and the repercussions of her investigation threaten to tear down the thin barrier protecting the physical world from the magical realm. Great cast of characters, great progression of plot, really enjoyable read.