Review by Booklist Review
Abtahi (Perfectly Parvin, 2021) makes her fantasy debut in this story of sisters who have to reconnect in order to save their community from incoming disaster. Twins Leila and Bianca have different personalities and lifestyles, especially regarding their mixed heritage: they're Argentinian and Iranian, and Biana celebrates their two cultural backgrounds while Leila is reluctant to embrace them. On their eighteenth birthday, their small town suffers from an inexplicable series of strange fires--fires started by a dangerous djinn. The twins embark on a journey to save their town from the vicious djinn, struggling to learn how to work together in the process. The story offers classic YA fantasy elements while also highlighting the importance of accepting a rich diversity of cultures, not just in a community but in one's self. Leila's and Bianca's emotional journeys nicely demonstrate how many different cultures and backgrounds coming together can lead to true strength. Full of lessons regarding sisterhood and self-acceptance, this cinematic fantasy will appeal to fans of the genre who like their adventures with a grounded emotional core.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Eighteen-year-old twins Bianca and Leila Mazanderani have always had difficulty expressing their multicultural ethnicities in predominantly white Ayer, Va., the rural Appalachian town they've lived in their whole lives. While Bianca revels in her Iranian and Argentinian heritage and uses her goth aesthetic and cosmopolitan dreams to shock their conservative neighbors, Leila seeks to marry and "start a family" with her boyfriend; lacking common ground, they barely speak to each other. On the night of their 18th birthday, Leila is visited by a flame-wreathed djinn who has come to collect on a bargain made by their ancestors. Suddenly thrust into a globe-trotting paranormal plot, the twins must reconnect to save their home and survive the onslaught of sinister forces beyond their understanding. Drawing heavily from Zoroastrian and Islamic mythology, Abtahi uses richly detailed prose to spin a tale about identity, heritage, and self-acceptance. Bianca and Leila's alternating third-person perspectives depict Argentinian and Iranian cultural touchstones that ground the occasionally unfocused plot and deliver a heartwarming story of sisterly connection alongside monsters, romance, and page-turning action. Ages 12--up. Agent: Jim McCarthy, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. (Aug.)
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Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 9 Up--In this New Visions Award--winning book, Abtahi uses fantasy tropes to explore coming-of-age in a multicultural family. Bianca and Leila Mazanderani have grown up together, identical twins in an Argentine-Iranian home, but they couldn't be more different, or so it seems to them. Bianca likes punk culture, while Leila tends toward prairie-chic. Bianca wants to be like their mamá--a career woman--while Leila wants to be like their baba--a stay-at-home parent who specializes in sourdough and pickles. Everything changes on the twins' 18th birthday when djinn show up in their small college town, demanding payback for a long-ago wish. Now the twins have to learn to work together and find their path in life before the world burns down around them. Abtahi weaves Persian mythology with many of the usual challenges of young adulthood--determining one's sexuality, redefining parent-child relationships, and identifying a career path. This book recalls shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, though it incorporates the food, stories, and language of Latin America and the Middle East into the genre of demons-in-small-town-America. VERDICT Recommended for readers of fantasy, this novel incorporates diverse perspectives, including exploration of LGBTQIA+ and immigrant identities.--Talea Anderson
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Sisters must work together to banish the djinn ravaging their small Virginia town. On their 18th birthdays, the lives of Iranian and Argentinian American twins Bianca and Leila Mazanderani are drastically changed when their neighbors' barn mysteriously burns down. A terrifying djinn appears, announcing to the girls that "the promise of your ancestors is your burden to bear." To top it all off, Leila suddenly possesses superpowers, and a voice inside her head starts trying to control her. Bianca and Leila will have to reconcile their differences in order to uncover the mystery of their family's debt--before the monsters pouring into their town completely take over. Abtahi engages readers with a host of interesting dichotomies throughout, from the twins' opposing views on their cultural backgrounds (Bianca embraces their heritage, while Leila tries to fully assimilate) to their plans for the future (Bianca longs to leave their small town as soon as possible, but Leila hopes to stay close and marry her high school boyfriend, Foster). Their sisterly reconnection amid the extraordinary threat to their lives is wholesome, and their individual developments are satisfyingly honest: Bianca finds purpose in her hometown and discovers romance in an unexpected place, while Leila explores new feelings and grows in her love of her whole self. A multicultural fantasy that's packed with action and heart. (Fantasy. 14-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
