Review: Shubeik Lubeik by Deena Mohamed.
Pantheon, January 2023. 528 p. ill. ISBN 9781524748418 (h/c), $35.00.
Reviewed July 2024
by Maggie McDonald, MLS and MA Curatorship Candidate, Indiana University, mcdonamg@iu.edu
Shubeik Lubeik is Deena Mohamed’s debut graphic novel and the first installment in a planned trilogy, though the author is already known for her webcomic Qahera.
Shubeik Lubeik quickly draws readers into an imagined version of Cairo where magic exists and wishes are real, alongside very real consequences resulting from their use. Its narrative follows three intertwined stories, which play out across the backdrop of the tale of kiosk owner Shokry. Shokry is in possession of a case of three first-class wishes; as a Muslim whose beliefs forbid wish use, he struggles with the ethics of using or selling them. Readers also follow two customers who purchase wishes and subsequently face depression, grief, and disillusionment with the Egyptian government during and after their use. Shubeik Lubeik’s final story spotlights Shokry himself, as he learns more about his longtime customer Shawqia, who began the novel as his sidekick and frequent comic relief.
Mohamed seamlessly melds the conflicts and challenges of wish use with real-world issues like government corruption, mental health, poverty, illiteracy, and classism. Her purposeful use of color versus black-and-white helps to delineate between stories, and her artwork is particularly effective when depicting action, the passage of time, and strong emotional moments through clean and expressive linework and creative use of sequential panels and structure. The magic system is also explained without pulling readers out of the story via documents from wish-related organizations detailing wish history, extraction, and classification.
The book follows its original formatting–it was first published in Arabic–and reads from right to left in its entirety. The translated version also includes Arabic words and expressions sprinkled throughout, which are explained to readers through footnotes, often taking a cheeky tone.
This graphic novel is recommended for teen and adult collections in middle school, high school, university, and public libraries.
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