I think this just wasn’t for me, unfortunately. Full disclosure, I skimmed the last 10% or so because I wanted this to be OVER. Even though this book is short, there were moments that dragged and felt quite repetitive. 

I really liked the premise of this one and the writing was lyrical and beautiful, but the magic system and plot felt too muddled for me. I appreciated that Nadine was imperfect and sometimes unlikable due to her desperation to keep her daughter safe, but I didn’t feel like she grew from this and because of that Layala always felt like a plot device instead of a fully fleshed out character who had an arc throughout the story. 

I wanted more development of the world and the nature of the jinns’ magic. Just a bit too underbaked for me, but I think this author’s strong prose points to her having some real potential for future novels.