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4.19 AVERAGE
4.19 AVERAGE
This was better than expected. The characters are well done, the story has wonderful layers, and the perspective is unique. Having recently read Devil in the White City, the Chicago World Fair setting was extra interesting. Definitely recommend this to anyone who likes dark themes and minority perspectives.
challenging
dark
emotional
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
DNF about halfway through. This started so intriguing and I quickly lost interest. The murder mystery aspect was so good and then it got way too paranormal or urban legendy or whatever you want to call it I just lost interest.
adventurous
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
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:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Antisemitism, Religious bigotry
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Sexual violence
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
This debut really surprised me! I expected to like it, but I didn’t expect to feel as fully immersed as I did. It is set in Chicago during the Chicago World Fair but not focused on the fair itself for the most part / also around the time of the Cold Storage Fire. Young boys are disappearing and their bodies are showing up around the city—clearly murder is afoot. Alter is a gay, Jewish immigrant from Romania working hard to raise money to bring his mother and sisters over to America. As Alter’s friends start disappearing he gets caught up in the treachery and becomes in danger himself.
I’ll warn you this book deals with HEAVY topics with mentions of child molestation, rape, and antisemitism and homophobia. But because of this integration of some ‘lost’ topics for the time period (or intentionally buried), I am so glad this book exists. I had no idea of the intense antisemitism of the era especially around immigrants. It’s horrifying and needs to be examined more, acknowledged - especially in this setting. There are so many books on the Chicago World Fair and the city in general at that time that focus on famous murders but (in my reading experience) have failed to integrate a lot of what marginalized people had to deal with at the same time.
I’m neither gay nor Jewish but my impression, as an outsider reading about these identities, is that they have been portrayed very well, based on the author’s own identity/history/research.
Really looking forward to more from this author.
I’ll warn you this book deals with HEAVY topics with mentions of child molestation, rape, and antisemitism and homophobia. But because of this integration of some ‘lost’ topics for the time period (or intentionally buried), I am so glad this book exists. I had no idea of the intense antisemitism of the era especially around immigrants. It’s horrifying and needs to be examined more, acknowledged - especially in this setting. There are so many books on the Chicago World Fair and the city in general at that time that focus on famous murders but (in my reading experience) have failed to integrate a lot of what marginalized people had to deal with at the same time.
I’m neither gay nor Jewish but my impression, as an outsider reading about these identities, is that they have been portrayed very well, based on the author’s own identity/history/research.
Really looking forward to more from this author.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Violence, Antisemitism
Moderate: Gore, Xenophobia
Minor: Sexual violence
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
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:
Complicated
4/5 stars.
This book was a nice surprise.
I wasn't expecting to like this book so much, especially when I started reading it and found out that it was basically historical fiction. I'm not the biggest fan of historical fiction, it either tends to lose me with way too much detail on history that tends to not pull me in but drive me away from it - namely, when the "history" is mainly white. I already learned about what white supremacists want people like me to think history is like. I don't need to read it when I'm trying to get entertained. Or when the plot seems to be non-existent for most of the book and then comes full force at the end, which makes everything until then incredibly dull and like I'm just reading to finish it.
This book was a nice surprise since it felt like a slow burn. The truth is that the beginning was incredibly slow - in between reading sessions, I went to Goodreads and saw one of the BookTokers I follow, Ayman (@aymanbooks), reviewing this book and mentioning it could get somewhat close, so I was like, OK, at least I'm sort of warned. The first chapter is way too long for its own good, for starters. I didn't feel like I was reading a thriller, as I'm used to having a cold open (the thrilling event that the plot will spawn from or revolve around).
But I kept reading. If you DNF a book without even finishing a chapter, then you're clearly just looking for an excuse to DNF it when you could simply read something that could satiate your reading needs. I wasn't expecting this book to satiate mine, but it did.
The lows of this book are the slow moments and, honestly, the reveals. I felt like the reveals, while definitely thrilling in the way they were executed and how they played out, weren't really that jaw-dropping. I wasn't really invested in the characters revealed to be scum, so in that department, the reveals didn't hit. What did hit, however, were the fight scenes and the whole action that happened around these reveals. Incredible. Sweat-inducing, to be honest.
There were also some moments where the tension felt a little bit fabricated, just to either make characters clash or simply have a sort of thrill. Not even close to the reveals, just some moments that happen when some characters are introduced.
Speaking of characters, the way these characters have me on a chokehold, especially the main character and what I would consider the main love interest - the pining, the yearning, incredible. I didn't really like the ON/OFF approach after the first big moment, but I do think it's a very positive and soft romance, which is ironic because this book is incredibly dark. Check trigger warnings, please!
But all and all, just for the fact this surprised me, I consider this a great book. The Jewish references were extremely interesting, and a glossary is included. Even if it wasn't included, no excuses. This is a great book. READ IT.
This book was a nice surprise.
I wasn't expecting to like this book so much, especially when I started reading it and found out that it was basically historical fiction. I'm not the biggest fan of historical fiction, it either tends to lose me with way too much detail on history that tends to not pull me in but drive me away from it - namely, when the "history" is mainly white. I already learned about what white supremacists want people like me to think history is like. I don't need to read it when I'm trying to get entertained. Or when the plot seems to be non-existent for most of the book and then comes full force at the end, which makes everything until then incredibly dull and like I'm just reading to finish it.
This book was a nice surprise since it felt like a slow burn. The truth is that the beginning was incredibly slow - in between reading sessions, I went to Goodreads and saw one of the BookTokers I follow, Ayman (@aymanbooks), reviewing this book and mentioning it could get somewhat close, so I was like, OK, at least I'm sort of warned. The first chapter is way too long for its own good, for starters. I didn't feel like I was reading a thriller, as I'm used to having a cold open (the thrilling event that the plot will spawn from or revolve around).
But I kept reading. If you DNF a book without even finishing a chapter, then you're clearly just looking for an excuse to DNF it when you could simply read something that could satiate your reading needs. I wasn't expecting this book to satiate mine, but it did.
The lows of this book are the slow moments and, honestly, the reveals. I felt like the reveals, while definitely thrilling in the way they were executed and how they played out, weren't really that jaw-dropping. I wasn't really invested in the characters revealed to be scum, so in that department, the reveals didn't hit. What did hit, however, were the fight scenes and the whole action that happened around these reveals. Incredible. Sweat-inducing, to be honest.
There were also some moments where the tension felt a little bit fabricated, just to either make characters clash or simply have a sort of thrill. Not even close to the reveals, just some moments that happen when some characters are introduced.
Speaking of characters, the way these characters have me on a chokehold, especially the main character and what I would consider the main love interest - the pining, the yearning, incredible. I didn't really like the ON/OFF approach after the first big moment, but I do think it's a very positive and soft romance, which is ironic because this book is incredibly dark. Check trigger warnings, please!
But all and all, just for the fact this surprised me, I consider this a great book. The Jewish references were extremely interesting, and a glossary is included. Even if it wasn't included, no excuses. This is a great book. READ IT.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Antisemitism
dark
mysterious
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
adventurous
dark
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
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes