Book Review: The Djinn's Apple by Djamila Morani

Historical fiction meets crime fiction in The Djinn’s Apple, an award-winning YA murder mystery set in the Abbasid period—the golden age of Baghdad.

A ruthless murder. A magical herb. A mysterious manuscript.

When Nardeen’s home is stormed by angry men frantically in search of something—or someone—she is the only one who manages to escape. And after the rest of her family is left behind and murdered, Nardeen sets out on an unyielding mission to bring her family’s killers to justice, regardless of the cost…

Full of mystery and mayhem, The Djinn’s Apple is perfect for fans of Arabian Nights, City of Brass, and The Wrath and the Dawn.

GENRE: Young Adult Historical/Crime Fiction

PURCHASE LINK: Amazon

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Djamila Morani is an Algerian novelist and an Arabic language professor. Her first novel, released in 2015 and titled Taj el-Khatiaa, is set in the Abbasid period (like The Djinn’s Apple), but in Kazakh-stan. All of her works are fast-paced historical fiction pieces. She is yet to have a full-length work translated into English.

Review

I've found myself in an unexpected historical fiction kick lately, from Adiel and the Führer to this, and I've enjoyed both of them very much!

The Djinn's Apple is a short, fast read — in fact, I finished it in one sitting. It's written in the style I prefer: clear, easily understandable prose littered with quotable gems and without excessive worldbuilding. (There's a glossary at the back as well as notes about the setting, which I read too.)

The book might be short, but it packs a punch and manages to bring to life an interesting ensemble of characters despite its length. I rooted for Nardeen from the beginning; hard not to, given that she's a smart, strong woman in a society where "men were made to use their brains and women to look pretty," and slavery is still a thing.

The ending was satisfying for me too. I was filled with dread (and excitement, because I like guessing endings) as the pieces came together and I had my conclusions... only to get one more surprise at the very end. Just the way I like it!

Here are some of my favorite quotes:

Family is a necklace; if it comes loose, all its beads will fall.

Just a jangle from our anklets, and people know that we women are around. It announces our presence, and draws everyone's attention to us in this world ruled by men.

This world wasn't ready for a girl with dreams like mine.

How can it be so easy for someone to kill another human, then so hard for them to come up with one reason to explain why?

Doctors evaluate, but death at the end of the day is all in God's hands.

Betrayal sleeps below the shade of trust—if we cut off the branches of this trust, if we uprooted the tree entirely, then we wouldn't be afraid anymore of this treachery that lies sleeping beneath it, waiting for us to take one wrong step: without trust we're safe.

Being alone isn't as bad as people think it is. The true birth of a person isn't when they come out from the womb into the world, but rather when they leave the world behind to look inwards, and that only happens when you're alone.

A mother's heart chokes if it keeps its love inside too long.

Don't tremble, you're the one who decided to help him. Finish what you started. [...] If you don't believe in yourself, no one else ever will.

Everything that awakens uncertainty in us and handcuffs our hopes, and puts limits on us, is fear. Fear over what we own, over ourselves, our family, our reputation, our health. Loss saves us the trouble of looking back. All that is behind us is destruction, and what's to come won't be worse than what we left behind. When you lose everything, you have nothing left to lose, and so you're a winner.

The body may only need time to heal, but the soul needs more than time. The soul needs another one like it to heal.

Pain gives birth to hatred, which grows, puts down roots. Its features form like a foetus in the womb of pain. When such hatred comes out into the light of day, you can't say that it's ugly, because the pain that gave birth to it is uglier. People only see the pain that burns them—how selfish they can be! They don't feel the pain that rages inside each of us... they don't know that what has burned them are the flames that live in us every hour of every day.

But waiting is a large stone that not every back can carry. It needs more than a strong back, it needs a heart overflowing with faith.

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️️⭐️️

---

Hi! I'm Marie, a Filipino fantasy author and book reviewer currently based in the UK. I’m the co-author of The Prophecies of Ragnarok, a Norse myth new adult urban fantasy trilogy, and I also have several short stories published in anthologies and literary journals.

You can find more info about me and my books, and also subscribe to my newsletter for more content, here. And if you like what I do, please also consider supporting me on Ko-fi! 🩷 https://ko-fi.com/mariesinadjan

Also check out my upcoming release, Among Thorns and Stardust ✨