Lori Goldstein

I liked the book's cover right away. I kept closing the book to admire it when I was trying to decide whether I should continue reading it. Sometimes, the cartoon-style covers are simplistic and yet communicate a lot in the way of small details, as did this one. I misunderstood what this book was about when I placed it on hold, but decided to give it a shot anyway when it came in at the library. It still felt kind of like false advertising. This is a story about three girls who originally didn't like each other, but are grouped together at a tech summer camp so they need to work together, both on their project and to take down a predator. The book jacket kind of made it sound like they would all be fast friends despite their differences and that the book would approach topics in a different way than the writing actually did.

I didn't buy the girls' change from enemies to friends, when I was reading this. I didn't find any of them likeable. I didn't care about who they missed and why, nor about things at stake for them. The writing just wasn't there for me. The characters...weren't naive. Naive isn't the right word. They were operating with the information given to them about life who had lived it in very specific ways. None of these girls set themselves up an Option B if this didn't work out, and readers got to see things fall apart for Lucy. I disliked Lucy perhaps the most. Stereotypes don't exist in a vacuum, and the author, who has a stereotypically Ashkenaz Jewish last name, reached for some of the most harmful ones.

Sooo I've been through this before, and I'm going to make a snap judgment. Lori Goldstein doesn't come up during a two-second "Lori Goldstein ya author Jewish" search at all. Her book does, in a Kirkus Review. She might wail "But I'm Jewish!" if challenged on her portrayal of Lucy. I'm Jewish, too, lady, and I can question your choices. Lucy is a socialite whose mother is a high-powered woman in tech and whose father she only talks to once a year. IIRC, the author um, had him actually live in Israel. She is arrogant, uses flirting to get what she wants, is rude, overbearing, spoiled, classist, willfully ignorant, and will face no real consequences for her actions throughout life. Sure, she doesn't get into an exclusive school, but that's about it. I do not like when characters are portrayed like this. I did like the moment where she hesitates every single time to wear her Star of David, although author, would it have killed you to make it a chai symbol? Looks like a pi symbol, could have led to little math jokes. Anyway, the reluctance to wear her Star of David and the tucking it away on velvet fit very, very well with her character and was a choice I did not hate--I understood. When she finally does wear it, the scene is contrived and it happened at a point when I wanted the book to be over.

Lucy is also sexually harassed and preyed upon by the leader of the summer camp named Ryan, and her ex-boyfriend Gavin makes crude sex jokes about her. Gavin and she have terrible, terrible boundaries. They are teenagers but ugggghhh. Also, these are known, pervasive and horrid Jewish girl stereotypes, these especially. I did -not- appreciate having to sit through them on the page. And yet, I didn't -have- to, but I didn't feel like putting the book down quite yet. There's a moment that's supposed to be endearing with Lucy tossing out her nail polish and her roommates renaming the polish and giving them back to her, but it made my skin crawl. And I've worn nail polish without fail since age twelve. Mostly black, although I used a bottle of blue once very briefly, and had a red phase going in sophomore year of high school for a bit. But I should have related to the nail polish scenes and mentions. I did not.

Lots of mixed-to-negative feelings on every aspect of the story. Not happy, not engaged with much. I wasn't the intended audience, but I did live the real-life version of the story. Went to the right school program (ABA accredited and attorneys would sit up a little straighter when they heard me speak glowingly of it), didn't pick an option B (because paralegal was gonna be the career that finally stuck, dammit, and I was gonna rock at it), landed a competitive internship (I was one of the two people who got it for the seven-month period), worked hard. Everything pointed to me having a bright future and awesome career ahead of me. The actual result was that what few jobs I was able to land over the next five years always ended after four months, often much sooner and for stupid reasons. I live in a state where people can be fired for any reason or for no reason at all. Pay is higher than the minimum wage so the employer doesn't have to pay your healthcare. I wish I were exaggerating. The day I read this book, I had just gotten fired after working at a place for five days. I wondered a lot while reading the book if my opinion would have been different had I a more stable work history and a far less cynical and jaded outlook.… (altro)

I received a copy of this book for free as part of an Instagram book tour (Storygram Tours) I did to promote the book.

I was really excited to read this book since it takes place in the Silicon Valley and that is where I was born and raised.

The book started off on the slow side and it felt a little superficial. It read like a typical YA novel with high school drama and it dragged in parts because of that. However, once the main conflict happened, the book matured and picked up the pace. The empowering message finally managed to shine through.

The book’s greatest strength is its messages about female empowerment, female friendship, women in STEM, sexism, and sexual harassment. The book touched upon and explored all of these topics in a meaningful way. I was happy to see that the book did not shy away from the realities of the (predominantly male) tech world.

On the other hand, the book greatest’s weakness were the characters. I didn’t particularly love any of them because I didn’t feel an emotional attachment towards them.

I typically don’t talk about book covers in reviews, but I have to mention this book’s because the girls on the cover actually depict the girls in the story. They are an exact match, right down to their necklaces. I love that attention to detail!

Overall, if you’re looking for an empowering YA read or are interested in the tech world, consider picking this one up!… (altro)

This review originally posted at The Children's Book and Media Review

Azra knows that when she turns sixteen she will be able to use her Jinn powers. However, since her best friend died when they were younger and magic couldn’t save her, Azra doesn’t want to be a Jinn. She doesn’t get along with the sisterhood of Jinn her age, and granting wishes is more complicated than she had expected. As she gets used to her magic, she starts to learn about the secrets of the powerful Afrit, the Jinn ruling class, and that her magic is different and more dangerous than the magic of her Jinn sisters. She has to learn how to grant wishes, keep the secrets of her magic powers, work at her first job, and decide between the boy next door and the lifeguard. Most of all, she has to learn that there is always a trick to the Jinn powers and living her life the way she wants to will put the people she cares about in danger.

Becoming Jinn contains many YA clichés. The love triangle feels unnecessary, the character is born with unique magic powers that are better than the magic powers of others, and Azra spends a lot of time complaining about her life. Most of the secondary characters who should be more important are not well-developed. In some ways, the book feels like a magical dystopian where Azra tries to figure out the strange rules about why she has to live her life according to the Afrit, but in this book she is mostly angry about it instead of trying to find solutions. The book discusses death and acceptance of death, but the end message of grief being magically erased does not feel accurate or wise, even with the magical perspective of the characters. Although the idea is intriguing and fun to read, it does not stand out in young adult fantasy.… (altro)

Now that Azra is used to being a jinn, it's easier to balance granting wishes and living her human life. But when the brother she didn't know about shows up with rumors of an uprising that would finally bring her family together, Azra is faced with new difficult decisions. Her unique ability to perform magic without being bound to the Afrit's rules make her a powerful player if she can decide how to go about her role in this uprising. If she can succeed, she'll gain everything. But if they lose, everything she loves will be lost. Azra discovers more about the family secrets that make her unusually powerful and works together with her friends and family to put an end to the Afrit's control over the people she loves most.

The first three quarters of the book are dull and difficult to get through, but the last chunk of the book turns exciting and the action starts happening. It is difficult to care about the characters and what is happening before that point because of how slow and uneventful the story is. The jinn world is more developed in this second book, but it the time spent on developing the world takes away from good character development. However, bringing jinn males into the story adds an interesting change from the first book, and the focus on family is refreshing in a young adult book. Fans of the first book will likely enjoy the sequel and how things end for Azra and her family, but the weaknesses make it hard to enjoy the uniqueness of the world of the jinn.… (altro)