The Jinn Daughter

February 5, 2024
In Hanna’s mixed-bag debut, a desperate mother destroys her family in an effort to keep her daughter alive. As a Hakawati Jinn, it’s Nadine’s duty to “tell the stories of the dead and send the souls to final—and hopefully, peaceful—death.” She does so by collecting pomegranate seeds that each represent a recently deceased soul, pressing them into a juice that gives her visions of their lives, and then turning these visions into short fables. These folkloric stories, scattered throughout the text, are the strongest part of the novel and would have worked nicely as a collection. Unfortunately, the overwrought and repetitive frame narrative is less successful. When the pomegranate seeds stop appearing one day, Kamuna (i.e., Death herself) comes to claim Nadine’s daughter, Layala, as Death’s successor. Layala willingly dies to take on the role, but Nadine refuses to accept this turn of events. In her desperate quest to bring Layala back to life, she sacrifices Layala’s grandfather; Layala’s love interest, Rami; and Layala’s father—and ultimately must take on Mother Earth herself. This choppy plot builds to an abrupt and unconvincing climax. There’s little to make this stand out in the crowded marketplace of dark, folktale-inspired fantasy. Agent: Kaitlyn Katsoupis, Belcastro Agency.

March 1, 2024
Nadine is a hakawati jinn, a storyteller for the dead. Every morning, she gathers the souls of the dead in the form of pomegranate seeds, eats them, and sees their story. Because of her work, the dead pass on, either to Mote or to the eternal suffering of Jehinam. One seed she has kept is the seed of her husband, Illyas. Nadine visits with Illyas often and together they worry about their daughter Layala, a headstrong 14-year-old. Nadine starts to notice there are fewer and fewer pomegranate seeds and soon gets a visit from Death herself. Death is ill and needs a replacement. Death wants Layala but Nadine disapproves. She seeks to outwit Death and battles forces much stronger than herself to try and save her child. This debut novel, rich in Middle Eastern folklore and religion, is a captivating read about the desire parents have to shield their children from the world as well as a child's desire to forge their own path. Lyrical language and descriptive world building make this a good recommendation for book discussion groups, and literary and fantasy readers.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.