Reviews

The Hidden Palace, by Helene Wecker

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rebeccawolfe's review against another edition

5.0

Almost as good as the first. Maybe upon second reading I’ll consider it just as good. I saw that she hopes to write a third one. I’m just sad that we’ll probably have to wait a few years for it.

emmashutup's review

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3.5

For a book that didn't need to exist, I'm really not mad that this book exists. The Golem and the Jinni was a favorite book of last year for me, and I loved that it was a standalone. I loved that it told a contained story, not leaving a single character out in its conclusion. And it ended on a note of relative optimism, so I wasn't sure how I'd feel about that optimism being overturned.

This book, which picks up in 1900 where the last left off, is best when it's digging into the nuances of Chava and Ahmad's relationship. They start off with a sedate companionship that slides into uncertainty: is Ahmad's interest in Chava driven by the fact that he'll cause less damage to her than to the human women he's flirted with before? Will Chava's intense interest in humanity chafe against Ahmad's looser standards of morality? This is probably the most thought anyone has ever given to a relationship between two immortals, and I'm here for it.

The other plotlines feel a bit scattered. I liked spending time with Sophia Winston, who doesn't let her "anemia" slow her down and wanders around the Middle East befriending explorers and learning local languages and cultures, but the way her subplot ties into the others wasn't quite as fulfilling as I had hoped. I didn't love the new jinni character either; she wasn't well developed enough for me to care much about her. Kreindel, the daughter of a rabbi who keeps his biggest secret after his death, is more sympathetic and interesting, but her story still doesn't reach the depths of the first book's characters.

Given this, I was still never bored, and I still won't be mad if Helene Wecker decides to write another book in this series. Even less so if she has something new to say.

rgrace89's review

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

chamblyman's review

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4.0

Helene Wecker revisits her characters from the wonderful Golem And The Jinni for another stellar mix of historical fiction and mythological fantasy that stands on its own, and might be even better than the first one! Dickensian plotting full of intrigue, romance, tragedy and triumph swirls around real life events of early 20th C. New York, and Salman-Rushdie-esque magical realism blending Jewish and Arabic folklore. Splendid!