August 1, 2022
The title of Egyptian writer/illustrator Mohamed's debut graphic novel means "your wish is my command" in Arabic, and the story concerns three people who buy wishes at what looks to be an ordinary kiosk in Cairo. Recently widowed Aziza must battle bureaucracy to claim her wish, privileged Nour must decide whether to use their wish to counter depression, and Shokry tries to help a friend refusing to indulge in wishing. Winner of Best Graphic Novel and the Grand Prize at the 2017 Cairo Comix Festival.
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December 19, 2022
Mohamed (the Qahera webcomic) unspools the complexities—emotional, financial, logistical—that arise when magic meets corporate corruption and bureaucracy, in this splendid graphic novel. A cast representing diverse class backgrounds navigates a fantasy version of Cairo, where wishes are real and are released only for those who can pay their fees. Three characters attempt to change their lives when discounted wishes are on offer at a local kiosk, but their attempts get thwarted in telling ways. In the opening story, impoverished Aziza recently lost her husband, yet manages to save up for a first-class wish. A regulatory agency blocks her from fulfilment; sometimes “what stands between you and your wish could be a government employee with paperwork.” The second piece peers into the internal struggle of Nour, an upper-class student felled by depression; sometimes what blocks a wish is indecision and simply “getting out of bed.” Finally, in the most powerful entry, “nothing at all” stands in the way of a wish offered by the kiosk vendor to his friend, an old Christian woman, in a parable about finding transcendence by accepting limitations. Lithe, brushy black-and-white art is broken with color pages of infographic-style interludes. The volume is designed to be read right to left, in the Arabic style. This grand fairy tale announces Mohamed as a promising new voice amid a renaissance of contemporary Middle Eastern cartoonists. Agent: Anjali Singh, Ayesha Pande Literary
Starred review from May 1, 2023
At an unassuming street stall in Egypt, store owner Shokry has stocked something special: three first-class wishes. The book unfolds across three stories, each revolving around how one of the wishes is bought and used. In a world of commodified and potency-graded wishes, issues of class and privilege take on imaginative, yet grounded, stakes. Aziza's symbolic wish for her late husband Abdo is buried under government regulation and incarceration. Nour, a college student living with depression, grapples with deserving a wish they bought with their parents' money. The third story is a showstopper that shines a new light on a recurring character and will stun readers before they race to share with the nearest person. Each segment uses the fantastical premise to examine human relationships and the choices that shape our lives. Every chapter has its own visual flair belonging to its star characters while sharing a consistent Egyptian setting and cast, including Arabic billboards and expressions defined (sometimes humorously) in the margins. Thoughtful and hilarious infographics deepen the history of this alternate world. Creative paneling, lettering, and symbolism ensure readers will tirelessly explore this book's dense rewards. Content includes swearing, smoking, and drug references. VERDICT Your wish for a successful mixture of high concept fantasy, biting humor, and powerful moral struggles is granted.-Thomas Maluck
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Starred review from November 15, 2022
The debut graphic novel from Mohamed presents a modern Egypt full of magical realism where wishes have been industrialized and heavily regulated. The story opens with a televised public service announcement from the General Committee of Wish Supervision and Licensing about the dangers of "third-class wishes"--wishes that come in soda cans and tend to backfire on wishers who aren't specific enough (like a wish to lose weight resulting in limbs falling from the wisher's body). Thus begins a brilliant play among magic, the mundane, and bureaucracy that centers around a newsstand kiosk where a devout Muslim is trying to unload the three "first-class wishes" (contained in elegant glass bottles and properly licensed by the government) that have come into his possession, since he believes his religion forbids him to use them. As he gradually unloads the first-class wishes on a poor, regretful widow (who then runs afoul of authorities determined to manipulate her out of her valuable commodity) and a university student who seeks a possibly magical solution to their mental health crisis (but struggles with whether a wish to always be happy might have unintended consequences), interstitials give infographic histories of wishes, showing how the Western wish-industrial complex has exploited the countries where wishes are mined (largely in the Middle East). The book is exceptionally imaginative while also being wonderfully grounded in touching human relationships, existential quandaries, and familiar geopolitical and socio-economic dynamics. Mohamed's art balances perfectly between cartoon and realism, powerfully conveying emotions, and her strong, clean lines gorgeously depict everything from an anguished face to an ornate bottle. Charts and graphs nicely break up the reading experience while also concisely building this larger world of everyday wishes. Mohamed has a great sense of humor, which comes out in footnotes and casual asides throughout. Immensely enjoyable.
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Starred review from November 1, 2022
Egyptian artist and writer Mohamed deservedly won the Best Graphic Novel and the Grand Prize at the 2017 Cairo Comix Festival for Shubeik Lubeik, the title explained as "a fairy tale rhyme that means 'your wish is my command' in Arabic." Mohamed herself translates this version, ensuring that lucky English-speaking audiences discover her masterpiece exactly as she intended. Set in a parallel Cairo where wishes can be bought and sold (in bottles and cans, strictly rated for quality), Mohamed presents a trilogy of intertwined strangers seeking perhaps the impossible: young widow Aziza, whose difficult life momentarily shared moments of joy when her lighthearted husband, Abdo, was alive; university student Nour, whose family's wealth and privilege can't buy them lasting happiness; and kiosk owner Shokry, who is desperately trying to resolve his religious beliefs with his need to help a dying friend. While Mohamed's narratives are memorably entertaining ("at this point, it's about time you learned to greet someone in Arabic," she snarks) and particularly insightful--exploring haves versus have-nots struggles, gender inequity, police brutality--even more astounding is her fluid, sweeping art. Each of the three parts opens in resplendent full color, settling into energetic black-and-white panels that never still. The page count, in fact, might initially seem daunting, but Mohamed's stupendously dynamic visuals will prove addictive, moving all too swiftly toward a rewarding, resonating end.
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Starred review from March 31, 2023
DEBUT Originally published in Arabic in Egypt, this debut graphic novel depicts a world in which genie wishes are mined, bottled, and sold. There are first-, second-, and third-class wishes, with first-class being the most powerful and expensive while third-class wishes can only grant minor wishes and are often dangerous: for example, wishing to lose weight could result in losing a limb. The novel follows the stories of Aziza, Nour, and Shokry, all profoundly affected by the set of first-class wishes that Shokry has inherited and is trying to get rid of. By turns funny and wrenching, Mohamed writes clever prose and fills the pages with expressive images, uniquely conveying the overwhelmingness of depression in Nour's graphs or Shokry's sadness as his heart drops out of his chest. Some framing stories and "intermissions," which offer fascinating guides to wishes, are in color while the majority of the novel is in striking black and white. In addition to the compelling personal stories, Mohamed weaves in commentary on colonialism, religion, and ethics, but she also regularly intersperses doses of humor. VERDICT A must-read modern folktale set in an alternate world where wishes come true, but not always as expected.--Melissa DeWild
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