Format: audiobook 🎧 | 🎙️: Suehyla El-Attar | Genre: Steampunk Paranormal Historical Fiction | 📍 Tropes/Themes: Mysticism and Alchemy; Droid-like Robots; Muslim Cast; Hijabi SCs; Witty; Disability Representation; Sapphic Sub Plot; Set in Alternate 1912 Cairo, Egypt; 3rd person POV | ⚠️CW: racism, colorism, mention of eunuchs, gambling, magical drugs and addiction, misogyny, discussions of Jim Crow era American South, police brutality graphic violence | 🔥: 🌶️🌶️ | 💭Thoughts: | What an incredible story! From the Intense first chapter to the final twists, I was enraptured! P. Djèlí Clark delivers such intricate world building framed around a Gun-Wielding, Sapphic, Egyptian Sherlock Holmes. And I loved every second of it 🤌

I've visited Egypt not long ago (definitely still under the spell of it's charming atmosphere). And reading this book gave me a sense of familiarity as I enjoyed every bit of it "wallahi"!

This book kept me up at night and I finished it in two days. I truly loved it, the perfect blend of detective fiction and fantasy inspired by early 20th century Cairo, filled with djinns, magic, political intrigue, and one of the coolest protagonists I’ve read in a long time. It completely swept me into its world, and now all I want is to spend more time in this universe. I’m already hoping P. Djèlí Clark writes a sequel someday, but thankfully there are already three novellas set in this world, and I honestly can’t wait to read every single one of them.