Review & Giveaway: Becoming Jinn - Lori Goldstein

Becoming Jinn (Becoming Jinn #1)
by Lori Goldstein
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Release Date: April 21st 2015

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Magic, Mythology

Synopsis:

Forget everything you thought you knew about genies!

Azra has just turned sixteen, and overnight her body lengthens, her olive skin deepens, and her eyes glisten gold thanks to the brand-new silver bangle that locks around her wrist. As she always knew it would, her Jinn ancestry brings not just magical powers but the reality of a life of servitude, as her wish granting is controlled by a remote ruling class of Jinn known as the Afrit. 

To the humans she lives among, she’s just the girl working at the snack bar at the beach, navigating the fryer and her first crush. But behind closed doors, she’s learning how to harness her powers and fulfill the obligations of her destiny. 

Mentored by her mother and her Zar “sisters”, Azra discovers she may not be quite like the rest of her circle of female Jinn . . . and that her powers could endanger them all. As Azra uncovers the darker world of becoming Jinn, she realizes when genies and wishes are involved, there’s always a trick.

As the first line of the synopsis says, you might think you know everything you need to about genies but until you've read Becoming Jinn you definitely don't.

Azra is turning sixteen and this means her life as a Jinn is about to start properly. This is when she comes into her power, becomes beautiful overnight and finds a silver bangle locked around her wrist. Growing up Azra has always known she was different from her human friends but still valued them over her Zar sisters, daughters of other Jinn's that will essentially be her family. Choosing to spend time with Henry, one of the two love interests means that Azra is finding it difficult to discover her role among her Zar sisters and feels isolated by them.

Spending more and more time with Nate, another human boy from the beach where she works, Azra finds herself not only in a love triangle but torn between two cultures.

The way the Jinn lived was fascinating. Separated from husbands and fathers, away from grandmothers and former Jinn who aren't raising daughters, Azra has never known her father and lives with the possibility that if anything goes wrong the Afrit, the ruling Jinn family, could potentially split her family up forever. However, Azra isn't just any Jinn. She's special and as the book progresses makes discoveries that turn everything she has ever known on its head.

There are a great group of characters in Becoming Jinn, especially the other daughters who form Azra's Zar family. Yasmin was definitely the most interesting as she didn't particularly appear to think much of Azra and at times was a complete b**** to those around her. The only other daughter we get to really know is Laila, daughter of Azra's mother's closest friend. Laila is the youngest and the quietest of the girls but also the closest thing to a friend Azra has since losing her best friend Jenny, Henry's younger sister, after a tragic accident. I'm hoping we get to know the other three girls - Hana, Farrah and Mina, in the sequel.

On the whole I really enjoyed Becoming Jinn so can almost overlook the few things that irked me most. The biggest problem for me was the love triangle, or at least the potential love triangle. Things could go in a completely different direction in the sequel for all I know but this was a classic case of boy next door loves girl, girl has crush on different boy so boy next door moves on and girl suddenly realizes that maybe boy next door could be more. The relationship between Nate and Azra was another sticking point. It just seemed far too unrealistic and there didn't appear to be an ounce of chemistry between them but this could be my perception of it. The biggest thing that annoyed me though was that just as things were starting to get interesting the book ended, literally just ended! On one page Azra is getting ready to do something and then the next page you're reading the author acknowledgements and settling in for the long wait for the planned 2016 release of the sequel.

Becoming Jinn is a great contemporary twist on the story of the Jinn so definitely worth reading, especially if you're looking for something a bit different.

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My debut novel, the Young Adult Contemporary Fantasy Becoming Jinn, is a modern spin on the traditional tale of wish-granting genies. It will be released on April 21, 2015, by Feiwel and Friends, an imprint of Macmillan Children’s. The sequel will follow in Spring 2016. I am represented by Lucy Carson of The Friedrich Agency.

Too much of my day involves chatting books, obsessing over The Vampire Diaries, and perfecting the art of efficient writing through Twitter. Find me at @loriagoldstein and follow my blog at www.lorigoldsteinbooks.com or my Tumblr at http://lorigoldsteinbooks.tumblr.com. Like my author page on Facebook for fun book-related photos, tidbits, and happenings as well as news on Becoming Jinn.

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