Becoming Jinn by Lori Goldstein (review)

Azra has dreaded turning sixteen her whole life, because that is the age when she will become a Jinn, bound to grant wishes for humans and comply with the many rules of Jinn society. Because she’s always resisted her ancestry, Azra is behind on the necessary reading, cultural understanding, and even social bonds that will help her be successful, in spite of all of her mother’s efforts to get her on board. Birthdays wait for no one, however, and now Azra is sixteen; her abilities spring from somewhere deep within her, and she is given her first assignments. Along the way, she uncovers secrets about Jinn history and her own parentage that could shake up the traditions that she has spent her life loathing. The Jinn, all female (male Jinn are not permitted to live among humans), are a fascinating group; there’s a refreshing absence of catty frenemies and instead a strong focus on the sisterly connections and deep woman-friendly bonds. Unfortunately, Azra is extraordinarily hard to like: she was predictably gorgeous even before her transformation made her flawless, she rejects the Jinn girls who have tried to befriend her for years, and she’s unsympathetically selfish and angsty. Even so, genie fans may be intrigued by the complexity of Jinn society and ponder what the future might hold for it.