Review: The Seven Kings of Jinn by S. Young

The Seven Kings of Jinn by Samantha Young
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was provided a copy of this book to review via the author, all opinions are my own. This is my second time reading this as I read it when it was originally published as Smokeless Fire about 10 years ago. This is a relaunch of the series, my understanding is that it is being relaunched under Samantha's pen name S. Young where she is publishing her paranormal and urban fantasy books and the series. The books are being edited and relaunched under The Seven Kings of Jinn series title. I didn't read them side by side for differences but the general storyline is the same.

This follows Ari in her last few days of high school. As her days of high school come to a close she is having alot of anxiety about her future, her friends are excited about going off to college and starting their futures, but Ari isn't sure college is what she really wants. She is trying to put the puzzle pieces of her life together but something just isn't fitting together just right. Her dad wants her to study business at his alma matter, but that isn't clicking. When she tries to talk about it with him he doesn't want to hear it and he is often travelling for work and she doesn't really have anyone else to talk to about it. Her best friend is still deep in mourning for his younger brother, and all she wants is to save Charlie from himself. Ari's other friends want her to move on from Charlie but she can't let him continue to self destruct. Graduation happens to coincide with her 18th birthday, the biggest surprise for Ari is that she isn't human but a lost princess of the Jinn and her biological father is a King in a world of magic and chaos. He wants to use Ari as a pawn in his plans.

Ari is thrown head first into a world of political intrigue, magic, and complex alliances. To keep her safe she is assigned a Jinn bodyguard, who happens to be broody and complicates her human life. When Ari's human dad falls ill because of a Jinn enchantment, Ari must choose to embrace her heritage or let him wither away.

I really enjoyed revisiting this world. I'm not sure if this series will stay in the YA realm or if it will transition to something more adult as the series progresses. This first book is very much young adult, there are mentions of characters having sex but it is off page and there is some violence but it is not graphic. There is some petulant teenage behavior, which is appropriate for the situations they are in given the age of the characters. This sets the characters up for good character growth throughout the series. We get a taste of the mythology of the Jinn, which you don't often see in books and it sets the scene for the remaining books in the series. There isn't a much romance in this first installment, but there is a hint of a love triangle brewing.

I'm looking forward to seeing what Sam does with the edits for the rest of the books in this series. I really enjoyed them the first time through, and I'm looking forward to revisiting these characters and this world again.

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