The Djinn Curse Book Review

THE DJINN CURSE BOOK REVIEW

What if the story of Aladdin is retold through a different protagonist – this time the genie in this genderbent story? But is love and freedom possible for the magical slave of the lamp?

Synopsis

How far will you go to reclaim your freedom? My name is Roxelana, and my human life was stolen from me. Turned into a djinn, I’ve waited for 100 years for a shot at freedom. My current assignment in Istanbul presents an opportunity to break the connection to my lamp and escape my eternal slavery. There’s just one problem. Doing so means sacrificing the sultan prince to the king of djinns. I shouldn’t care about the prince, but I can’t stop myself. He has a pull on me I can’t explain. Coupled with his kindness and the care he shows his people, I’m in deep trouble. When push comes to shove, who will I choose? Him or myself?

Filled with adventure, love, magic, and a strong heroine, this clean YA fairy tale is the perfect read! If you like K.M Shea, Melanie Cellier, and Kiera Cass, you’ll love this!

I’ve always loved retelling classic stories through a different perspective, whether it be a secondary character, a villain or even a throwaway character. So I was hooked with the premise of telling the story through the eyes of the djinn (genie). And I think Roxelana and her tragic story was a great drive for the story.

A lot of Aladdin retellings don’t really talk about the history of the djinn/genies or much about them. What I loved about Margo Ryerkerk’s The Djinn Curse was how they delved into the world of the djinn from the evil monstrous king of the djinns, to their rankings, and how they create new enslaved djinns like Roxelana. The history, and the mystery around the djinns as Roxelana looks for a way to break free from her enslaved life, captured my curiosity and kept my excitingly turning the page to find more answers.

I also enjoyed the characters. Roxelana was a good heroine. Though kind and compassionate, Roxelana was consistently forced to make difficult decisions. I liked her struggle between saving herself and helping others. I thought her choices felt realistic as she didn’t usually take the heroic path but chose to protect herself. But who wouldn’t do the same considering 100 years of enslavement to a genie lamp and the horrific future of eternal slavery to the king of the djinns?

Her love interest was the sweet and compassionate Prince Nadir. I enjoyed his character and how much he loved and cared for his people. I thought at times he might’ve been a little too innocent/trusting but thankfully he had a best friend who was watching out for him, Alla. Smart and sassy, Alla is a street thief who helped Nadir with info from the city. Genderbending Aladdin as well was a fun twist – especially with Alla and Nadir not having any romantic relationship.

The story builds very well as it progresses and I thought the climax was epic and exciting. However, I was confused at a person’s wish that seemed to contradict the rules of the genie’s powers stated earlier on in the story. Perhaps there was a reasoning behind this that wasn’t explained in the story, at least that I could see. Also there were some typos and errors scattered throughout the story.

I thought the romance was sweet, though I think I was really in the story for Roxelana and her attempt to free herself from the lamp. Like Ryerkerk stated in her synopsis, the romance itself was innocent and sweet.

Overall, this was really a fun twist on the Aladdin retelling with a fascinating look at the djinn side of the story and their world!

CONTENT CAUTION
Violence, smattering of language, thematic elements (torture, etc)