From the Bookshelf of 2025 Reading Challenge…

The Golem and the Jinni (The Golem and the Jinni, #1)

Helene Wecker

Start date: December 1, 2013

Finish date: December 31, 2013

Discussion leader: Brian

Why we're reading this: For our December Group Read
[close] For our December Group Read

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What Members Thought

Jul 28, 2013 Emily rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy-sci-fi, historical-fiction

I thoroughly enjoyed this tale of a Golem and a Jinni who both find themselves in 1899 New York City and their journey to understand each other and what freedom really is. There were twists and turns that surprised me and the author did some things with some of the secondary characters that had me flipping back to remember when we first met them and HOW did they get HERE in the story. But overall, it's our main characters that shine. I loved them both and adored this story. (And can we talk abou ...more

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Jan 29, 2022 Angela Jones rated it really liked it

This book is the story of two unlikely and impossibly matched supernatural creatures that find friendship and love in a world they aren't really a part of and one in which they struggle to get along. Chava, a clay golem arrives in America without a master and very little knowledge of the human world, let alone the world in 19th century New York, but even so, with an innate curiosity and the ability to sense the emotions of people around her. She is taken in by a Rabbi that knows what she truly i This book is the story of two unlikely and impossibly matched supernatural creatures that find friendship and love in a world they aren't really a part of and one in which they struggle to get along. Chava, a clay golem arrives in America without a master and very little knowledge of the human world, let alone the world in 19th century New York, but even so, with an innate curiosity and the ability to sense the emotions of people around her. She is taken in by a Rabbi that knows what she truly is and he teaches her how to live and to stay safe (generally speaking...not letting anyone else know who or what she really is.) At the same time a Jinni is freed from a copper flask by an Arabic immigrant named Arbeely. Turns out that the Jinni was imprisoned with Iron bands which has not only forced him to remain in human form, but has enslaved him to an evil wizard and he has no recollection of any of this happening or how long ago it happened. The rest of the story is what follows after that.

Helene Wecker has crafted a beautiful story which encapsulates not only the immigrant experience, but the human experience. She is a wonderful storyteller and has created such a rich backstory for each and every character in the book. I loved watching Chava and Ahmad learn from each other and experience an entire gamut of emotions that neither was created with and the way they affect all the lives of their friends and acquaintances in their respective communities.

She also includes such detailed descriptions of New York at the end of the 19th century, that I found myself searching for the locations mentioned to compare what they really looked like to her amazing descriptions. Of course neither of their journeys is without a few bumps and it turns out that someone is after the key to eternal life, which low and behold, either the Golem or the Jinni may have that key and this person will stop at nothing to possess it. It is a novel full of rich descriptions and beautifully written characters that I fell in love with and didn't want to leave behind when the novel was over...I guess it's a good thing that she ended up writing a sequel, and I can't wait! ...more

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Oct 23, 2013 Kara rated it really liked it

Shelves: wwe-2013-wogf, fantasy, book-club, religion

Maybe 4.5 stars? I'm going to need to think about this one and write a review later.

I thought this was beautifully done. Chava is a golem without a master, and Ahmad is a jinni who doesn't know who enslaved him. They find themselves in New York City at the peak of immigration in 1899. They themselves are immigrants, but more profoundly so than the humans around them.

I love the mythological elements woven so seamlessly into this novel. It doesn't feel forced; it doesn't even really feel magical. ...more

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