As someone who is part Lebanese, I am a sucker for books featuring Middle Eastern folklore/mythology, so I was very much looking forward to reading The Jinn Daughter. It follows a Hakawati Jinn who shepherds the souls of the dead into the afterlife. One day, she wakes to find that there are no souls and it thrusts her whole world into collapse. 

I thought the MC was a pretty compelling character. Her emotions, especially regarding her family were very realistic and portrayed well. I love that she was so loving and protective of her daughter, but was also in some ways a morally grey character due to the lies she tells to keep her child safe. It definitely made her more complex than I initially thought she was. 

I also really enjoyed the incorporation of stories within this book. As our MC eats pomegranate seeds to release souls to the afterlife, she tells their stories. These little stories within the main story were a nice touch. 

The descriptive prose was also lovely and I always had a clear visual of what was going on or where a scene was taking place. It created a really vivid, lovely reading experience. It also helped really bring some of the fantasy elements to life. 

Unfortunately, I felt that this book struggled with its editing. I will try not to be overly critical as this is an Indie publisher, but there were some fairly significant structural issues that affected the reading experience. 

In my opinion, this book has far too many plot lines and not enough space to explore them. I felt a bit like I had whiplash as on one page our MC would say she was going to do something and then on the next page she would do the exact opposite without any time for the reader to understand why she’d changed her mind. This left me feeling emotionally detached and disconnected from the characters for most of the book. 

I also felt like a couple of the plot points (Ex: the whole situation with the grandfather) were included for no reason. The outcomes did not affect the conclusion of the story nor did they enhance the story. Had these unnecessary plot points been trimmed out, the story would have been much more streamlined and effective. 

That said, I did enjoy this book. I think it is an ambitious debut novel that clearly shows Hanna’s talent. I look forward to seeing how her writing grows with her next book. If you enjoy a fast read with Jinn, Ghouls, and other Middle Eastern folklore, you may enjoy this book. 

*Thank you to the author, Rania Hanna, for a free ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.