Somehow not what I was expecting, and yet I felt compelled to keep reading it, which I guess is a testament to the writing quality. This is a very introspective kind of book, focused on two characters that land in New York but don't belong there, and how they find their footing in this strange world. I appreciated the way the author tackled those themes, and the exploration of humanity, found family, and belonging. As usual, however, the synopsis makes it sound a lot more dramatic than it actually is. In fact, the titular characters don't even meet until about halfway through the book. A lot of page time is spent on exploring many other characters, some of them more relevant than others.

I did really enjoy the interactions between the golem and the djinni once they started meeting regularly, but the book could've been a lot shorter. There are convenient plot devices to give the characters (and us by extension) all the information necessary to defeat the villain at the end. I also personally felt that, while the book features a variety of characters, Muslims weren't very represented. There was one character who was Muslim in the past but not anymore. There are references to Suleyman, who is a prophet according to Islam, but that part is never mentioned. It's not necessarily an issue, but it felt off to me in a book that talks a lot about Judaism and different sects of Christianity.