Book review: "The Day of the Djinn Warriors" by P.B. Kerr

SPOIL-FREE SUMMARY

The twins have to save their mother from becoming the blue djinn of babylon. But to do that they need to get a replacement, which leads them on a quest to find her. Meanwhile, Dybbuk has become world famous by becoming a television illusionist. But his mentor may not be what he seems.

OUR CAST OF CHARACTERS-SPOILERS

John mainly resides inside Finlay in this story. Knowing everything about each other makes them uncomfortable, but only for a second. His personality is the same as the last books, not too distinct, but more so than Phillipa, and more likable than her too.

Phillipa still feels unrealistic. Oddly enough, when a character wants to end his life, she doesn't' argue, become anxious, and freak out like most of us would. She just leaves him and is described as crying. It felt so unemotional. And instead of being scarred after witnessing this, she soon forgets it and moves on. It isn't really brought back up again. Also, she stupidly reveals she is a djinn to a random stranger who saves her life and grants him three wishes. Isn't she supposed to be the smart one? He could wish for awful things, but she doesn't even stop to think. Felt uncharacteristic for her. And later we learn it was done to simply result in a plot point with her mother.

Dybbuk is too dimensionally selfish and stupid throughout this book. He starts with some desire to meet his father, and yet this never goes anywhere. Instead we seem his stay his course, without ever hesitating. Which makes it quite hard to feel any sympathy for him when he finally faces consequences.

NEW CHARACTERS

Faustina, Dybbuk's sister is confident and smart. Maybe to the point of being unrealistic. However, she is only in book for half of it, so she has no arc. She fell flat to me and I would have liked her to make another appearance. I thought she would be a love interest for John, but this goes nowhere.

Finlay, who you may remember as the boy who John turned into a bird from book two, is back and is now a friend of Johns. Since he had such a terrible relationship with his father, I expected him to be rather screwed up. But other than one scene where he gets revenge, he seems no different than John. He just never took on his own personality and was a poor replacement for Dybbuk.

IBLIS THE VILLAIN-SPOILERS

Iblis is still rather two-dimensional. I really wanted something between him and his son, but he was just too cartoonish to develop anything. Even villains care for their children. Instead he comes across as stupid and selfish, almost like a child.

RAKSHASAS' DRAMTIC EXIT-SPOILERS

There is a scene where Rakshasas gets absorbed by a djinn warrior. I didn't feel it was dramatic enough. Seeing how Kerr has previously portrayed John in traumatic moments in book two, I was surprised to find that the old djinn wasn't returning. I was like, oh, is that it?

FATHER & SON

I think the story would have been better if Dybbuk had met his father, learned to trust him, and then have been betrayed. As it was, it really had no impact, not that the reader gets to see. Kerr merely states that Dybbyk will discover what has happened to him much later. What should be a dramatic reveal isn't even shown. I wanted to see the shock and disbelief that Dybbyk felt. Maybe he even blamed himself? That would at least have shown some character development.

PACING

The story goes back and forth, giving Dybbyk a few chapters of his own. I have no problem with this format. Kerr was doing what he does best, working a piece of the story into the rest. Unfortunately Dybbuk doesn't develop a relationship with anyone that affects him. He basically just has his manager, who lets him do whatever he wants.

ANGELS WITH CHAUVINSTIC SOULS

Phillipa and Groanin meet an angel, and apparently he is a chauvinist. This just felt weird. I think Kerr was trying to be funny. But really, like the idea of a wrestling match with an angel wasn't goofy enough? We already went over how I felt about the angels being portrayed as less than wise but now they are sexist too. Just a small annoyance. This probably wont annoy most people though.

REVENGE

Finlay gets revenge on his dad for the abuse he has had to endure. But it's supposed to be comical and no seems to care. I expected at least Phillipa to protest, since Kerr is always stating how moral she is. This bothered me. These are the stories' heroes and it crosses no ones mind that revenge might not be a good thing? It certainly isn't closure for Finlay, if anything it may increase his hatred for his father.

MOTHER

There is a side story involving there mother after the leaves for home. I wasn't too interested but it wasn't that long. I assumed it would an important bearing on a future book since I didn't see the point of it in this book rather then a desire to further her character. She didn't really grow so, I don't know what was intended. Its claimed to be a result of Phillipa stupidly granting a wish, but no one ever knows it was her fault, so...there really isn't a point.

EXPLICIT CONTENT

A minor character ends his own life. Nothing graphic is shown.

CLIMAX

Kerr incorporates both John and Phillipa, allowing each to play their own crucial parts. But I felt that Iblis was too cartoony to take seriously and was seriously disappointed by a lack of a climactic scene between him and Dybbuk. Also, the fact that no one seems disturbed by his gruesome end made the twins feel two dimensional. Phillipa is supposed to be horrified, but we're merely told and not shown, by Kerr saying that “she wasn't made of as tough of stuff as John”. There should have been horror and shock on both their parts.

CONCLUSION

The new characters of Finlay and Faustina feel dull, but the story is still interesting and the world intricate. There are more than a few amusing moments and interesting places to see. Kerr takes each part of the story and works it all together in his usual fashion. I give “The Day of the Djinn Warriors” three and a half stars.