Official Review: The Hakima's Tale by Dedra Stevenson

ananya92 · Post by **ananya92** » 21 Jan 2015, 13:56

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Hakima's Tale" by Dedra Stevenson.]

4 out of 4 stars

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The Hakima’s Tale: The Revenge of the Blue Jinni by Dedra L. Stevenson, is the first book in the trilogy of The Hakima’s Tale. The book revolves around the story of a young Arab-American girl who is destined to carry forward her family’s legacy of protecting the world from the attack of the ancient Blue Jinni. The book is in the line of fantasy fiction.

Phoenix Kasim, the descendant of the Great Hakima, has to shoulder the responsibility of battling with the Blue Jinni and his followers, the Marid. The Blue Jinni, is the most powerful and evil Jinni in the world, who was trapped centuries ago in a golden lantern at the bottom of the sea. While he is biding his time, waiting for the lantern to rise up to the surface, his followers are doing all they can to eliminate the little Hakima before she can fulfill her destiny.

Stevenson has created the world of the Jinn in her book with immense precision. The description of the various kinds of Jinn and their mystical world is so imaginative that I was completely enveloped in the story from the beginning. Another impressive fact about this Jinn world is how Stevenson connects the Jinn to supernatural occurrences, which are usually attributed to other factors.

There are various themes running in the background of the book. The author explores the theme of expatriates losing touch with their country of birth, through the story of the Arab-American family of the Hakima that decides to move back to the Middle East. The feeling of losing touch with one’s relatives and ancestors is well portrayed by the characters, especially when they try to discover their roots. The author seems to be lamenting the loss of local history, folklore and heritage in her book. I think the book in its own way tries to encourage people to bridge the gap with their past.

Another impressive aspect of the book is how the author crafted the emotions of Ben and Leila Kasim (Phoenix’s parents). Throughout their struggle to understand this mystical world of the Jinn (which they believed to be non-existent), they do not stop trying to normalize life for their little daughter. The author has expressed their sentiments quite well throughout the book, especially when they are trying to protect their daughter from shouldering the burden of her destiny.

Along with creating an atmosphere resembling the Arabian Nights, the author manages to point out the practical realities of living with the Jinn, for instance plucking hairs from one’s upper lips in the presence of an unknown, invisible Jinn. The author manages to sneak in such bits of humor throughout her book. Apart from the humor the author also focuses on the distinction between good and evil, courage and cowardice, selflessness and greed.

The only faults I could find with the book are that it could have gone deeper into the emotions of the characters and the characters were mostly divided into good and bad, with very few grey shades. That aside, this book makes for a very enjoyable read and I rate it 4 out of 4. Though I greatly enjoyed reading the book, I think it is best suited to teenage audience.

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The Hakima's Tale
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ALynnPowers · Post by **ALynnPowers** » 26 Jan 2015, 09:04

You get the most interesting books to review! This looks so good as well! I should check it out!

Lisalovecraft · Post by **Lisalovecraft** » 28 Jan 2015, 09:38

Great review! Looks like something I would want to read. I like how you described some of the themes of the book. Losing one's culture when assimilating into another is a very interesting topic and sounds like it was done well in the context of this book.

ananya92 · Post by **ananya92** » 28 Jan 2015, 13:06

Thanks

ALynnPowers · Post by **ALynnPowers** » 29 Jan 2015, 04:49

Lisalovecraft wrote:Great review! Looks like something I would want to read. I like how you described some of the themes of the book. Losing one's culture when assimilating into another is a very interesting topic and sounds like it was done well in the context of this book.

I love this kind of theme! I mean.... I don't like that it happens, but I like to read about this kind of thing... Wait, I am not making sense anymore.... Sorry!