#ADGIFTED all thoughts and opinions are my own, I received a copy in return for a review

The Djinn’s Apple by Djamila Morani (translated by Sawad Hussain) – Historical fiction meets crime fiction in The Djinn’s Apple, an award-winning YA murder mystery set in the Abbasid period – the golden age of Baghdad.

A ruthless murder.
A magical herb.
A mysterious manuscript.
When Nardeens home is stormed by angry men frantically in search of something – or someone – she is the only one who manages to escape.  And after the rest of her family is left behind and murdered, Nardeen sets out on an unyielding mission to bring her familiy’s killers to justice, regardless of the cost…

Djamila Morani – Author Bio

Djamila is an Algerian novelist and an Arabic language professor. Her first novel, released in 2015 and titled Taj el-Khatiaa, is set in the Abbasid period (like The Djinn’s Apple), but in Kazakh- stan. All of her works are fast-paced historical fiction pieces. She is yet to have a full-length work translated into English. 

Amazon link

Neem press

My Review This book is about as far as possible from my usual reads, but I’m enjoying expanding horizon, and finding new authors, and genres that would have never have crossed my path if it wasn’t for The Write Reads on Twitter/X and for that I’m hugely appreciative. Who doesn’t want to expand their minds. Never before have a read a book of this calibre, nor one that has needed translating too. I’m so so impressed. It’s a tale of a wilful girl full of wit and smarts, told in their perspective. The horrors and grief spoken about in a very well written way, where you acknowledge it, but there is no dwelling on it, or graphicness for younger readers. It has a great sense of hope, of adaption and love, it’s truly incredible given the topic of being sold to slave traders. An eye opening book for sure, and though short as it’s a small book. It packs a perfect punch and ends exactly as it should, without ever waffling on to fill a void.