The Jinn Daughter by Rania Hanna sounded like such a beautiful concept. The writing is beautiful, as are the stories told within by jinn Nadine. While it was a lovely read, it did fall a little flat for me toward the end but that might just be due to who I am, or am not to be more specific.
First, I want to say that when I first heard about this book, my expectation had been that this would be almost like an Orphic type tale. That something horrifically tragic happened that should not have and we’d have to traverse through the Underworld, completing numerous tasks before leaving hopefully victorious. That is not what this was and that’s okay! I still really enjoyed it, despite it being so different than what I imagined. The Jinn Daughter is incredibly prose heavy. There is dialogue, there is action, but most of it feels like a lot of exposition. We follow Nadine telling us things instead of seeing them for ourselves. She tells us the stories. She tells us of her relationships. And, while I enjoyed it because I got to learn little stories within the greater one, it might not be for everyone.
This was honestly sitting at a solid 4 stars for the majority of the story. It faltered, unfortunately, at the end. Without getting into spoiler territory, I felt incredibly let down. It seemed liked there was so much trouble and work for it all to be for nought. When I said the ending fell flat for me because of I am or am not, I meant because I am not a parent. I think that a mother might view the ending differently or might rate this higher. I’m not sure.
If you’re looking to expand your reading, The Jinn Daughter by Rania Hanna is a beautifully written story that features numerous little tales within. It is also fantastic for those looking to read more on the relationship mothers have with daughters, the sacrifices made and the fury at having being the recipient of that sacrifice.
