Lori GoldsteinKirja-arvosteluja

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.

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!

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.

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.

This review is posted on both my personal account and the account for Crossroads Public Library.

It’s a good book. It’s a necessary book. It just wasn’t my favorite book that I’ve read about women in the tech industry. (Every time I read any statistics about it I get sad and mad all over again, so this book definitely serves its purpose in that aspect.)

Better than the first, but not by much.

Loved the concept, and the world-building was pretty good (although i kept having more and more questions), but the ending was way too abrupt and unsettling.

I am a big fan of Lori Goldstein. I own a lot of her clothing from QVC. I picked up this book solely because I like her clothing so much.

This is a nice coffee table book, with many beautiful photos from her career as a stylist. The photos were pretty amazing. I don't usually take the time to scrutinize fashion photos, but in this case, I looked carefully at all of them. The photos were like works of art. Beautiful and interesting. There is some text, but not much. Most of the book is given over to the photographs.

A stunning anthology of the work of visionary stylist Lori Goldstein, whose interpretations of fashion and beauty have produced some of the most groundbreaking and iconic images in fashion and popular culture.

I read the first 50 pages of Becoming Jinn and decided it wasn't for me, but I can see that it would be fun for certain readers. The girls are pretty bratty and immature, but the jinn magic system seems pretty cool and there is a sweet romance budding right away. The tone is pretty young, but if you don't mind protagonists that are in that awkward stage of high school, it could be fun.

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: I really wanted to like this book, but it ended up being a really boring read for me. I did eventually finish it, but it took way too long and I kept putting it down for other books that looked more intriguing.

Opening Sentence: A chisel, a hammer, a wrench.

The Review:

It is Azra’a sixteenth birthday and for most girls this is usually a wonderful day. But for Azra it means that her whole life is about to change and not for the better. You see Azra is a Jinn and when you turn sixteen you get a huge makeover, receive silver bands around your wrists and most importantly you get your powers. Most Jinn can’t wait to come of age, but Azra has never wanted to be a genie. Instead of being able to use her powers however she wants she has to use them to grant wishes to humans deemed worthy by the Afrit. The Afrit is a group that controls all the genies and their word is law. If you break their rules the consequences are dire, so Azra will basically become a slave to people she has never met.

Not only does Azra have to deal with becoming a fully fledged Jinn, she also has to figure out how to work her magic, which seems to be much stronger than normal. One very important rule of being a Jinn is to never reveal yourself to any humans. Yes, you grant wishes, but you are supposed to do it in a way that they don’t know what you are doing. It has been difficult for Azra to hide her strong powers and if she’s not careful she could get herself and those she cares about in a lot of trouble!

Azra is a strong, independent girl with a spunky personality. She was pretty easy to connect with and for the most part she was a great character. But there were a few things about her that really frustrated me. She had such a negative attitude about things at times that made her voice come across as really whinny. Another thing she did was it seemed liked she made way too many dumb mistakes that didn’t really go with how smart she is. I get that mistakes happen, but they seemed to be put in the story to cause drama and it didn’t really go with her character at times. Besides that, I actually really liked her and thought that she was a fun character.

Nate is a total hottie. He is the jock type with a charming personality that everyone likes. The thing I liked most about him was that he is so different from what you would expect. Instead of being a cocky jerk like most guys in his social circle are, he is actually a really nice guy. He cares about the environment and would do anything for his family. He treats Azra with a lot of respect and they have some really great chemistry between them. I thought that they were cute together, but I just felt like there was something missing. I think Nate is a great character, but I’m not sure he is a good match for Azra.

Henry was such a sweet guy. He is loyal to a fault and someone that you can always rely on. He is there when you need him most and he is such a great listener. At first I wouldn’t say I found him attractive, as I got to know him better the more I fell in love with him. He is kind of nerdy and awkward at times but that just added to his overall charm. He has a sad past, and honestly he has a slightly bleak future, but he doesn’t complain about it. He is always so positive which was a good counter to Azra’s slightly pessimistic personality. His relationship with Azra is really cute and while not a whole lot happened between them there is a lot of potential. If I had to choose to be on a team, I would pick team Henry.

Becoming Jinn had a lot of potential but it ultimately didn’t deliver. I was really looking forward to reading this book. I love the whole idea of genies in the modern world and the author is a total sweetheart, so it makes me really sad to say that this ended up being a really rough read for me. I can’t tell you how many times I picked this book up and read a few chapters then put it back down for something that looked more interesting. The only reason I kept picking it back up was because I thought that eventually it would get better and while it did finally pick up towards the end of the book, it just was too little too late. While the story in general was boring there were some things I liked about it. I thought the cast of characters were interesting and for the most part all of them were very likeable. The romance was cute, but I wasn’t a huge fan of the love triangle. Like I stated earlier, the ending of the book was actually really good and it left me intrigued enough that I might pick up the sequel. Obviously this was a pretty rough read for me, but if it sounds good to you give it a try. Hopefully you have better luck with it then I did.

Notable Scene:

It is happening. My first assignment arrives, sealed inside a gold envelope with my name embossed on it in an ornate script across the front.

Azra Nadira.

It doesn’t fall from the sky or anything, just from my mother’s hand.

My bowl of chocolaty cereal no longer holds my interest. The soggy mess and I stare at each other for so long, my mother gets fed up.

“Oh, come on, Azra. Just open the damn thing.”

The lightness of the envelope belies what’s inside. I wedge my nail in the small gap at the corner. Sliding my finger across, I jerk my hand back. Paper Cut. Apropos. I stick my finger in my mouth, sucking the blood. Who cares what Henry thinks? Vampires would be cool supernatural being. Grass is always greener, right?

FTC Advisory: Feiwel & Friends/Macmillan provided me with a copy of Becoming Jinn. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.