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telcontar2901's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
amdame1's review
3.0
sequel
I really want to like this series more than I do... it's got so many elements going for it: interesting era for setting, alternate history with magic, famous people for characters. And yet, the writing just does not grab me. There will be a third book, but I don't think I'll bother reading it.
I really want to like this series more than I do... it's got so many elements going for it: interesting era for setting, alternate history with magic, famous people for characters. And yet, the writing just does not grab me. There will be a third book, but I don't think I'll bother reading it.
beccak's review
4.0
Sacha Kessler, still working as an Inquisitor, must figure out who killed a much admired, and much hated, klezmer musician, while on stage before a crowd. Does it have anything to do with his sudden fame? With Sacha's dybbuk, still on the loose from his last adventure. And can he escape the clutches of evil mastermind and magical genius, J P Morgaunt?
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this second supernatural mystery set in an alternate history where magic is controlled and questioned in 1900-ish New York City. The adventures of the flawed main character, Sacha Kessler, with the NYC Inquisitors entertained me, and it was fun following the threads of what was real (gangs of Jews, Italians, and Chinese keeping their communities relatively safe, separate, and in-line, the development of vaudeville and movies, the movement to unionize factories) and what wasn't (dybbuks, witches, and so on).
However, this book really, really needed a sensitivity/accuracy reader for the Jewish content. Despite the name, I suspect that Chris Moriarty might be Jewish--she often depicts Jewish characters, and with sympathy. Usually, Jewish characters are culturally accurate. But while there were just a few slip-ups in the last book in this area, this book contained so many, it would take pages to write them out. Characters who are strictly Orthodox are fed meals cooked on Shabbos by other Jews (which is pretty much as bad as eating non-kosher), the afikomen is on the table from the beginning of the seder, as opposed to being created when the second matzah on the table is cracked in half, dessert is served after the afikomen and the fourth cup, there's a scene where Rabbi Kessler gets into a car on Shabbos at a point when it's not clear that it's a life-or-death emergency, there are words used ever so slightly wrong, there are kashrus bits that make little sense. I could go on.
It's funny, because other bits were really resonant. Depicting the time accurately is complex--then, as now, it was common to have someone only attend an Orthodox synagogue and eat only kosher, yet work on Shabbos. I feel like that part of the depiction of Sacha is accurate. There's this great scene with non-kosher food all around a hungry but resolute Sacha. But there are so many details off about Rabbi Kessler, for example, and their neighbor, Mo, I found myself laughing during scenes intended to be tense.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this second supernatural mystery set in an alternate history where magic is controlled and questioned in 1900-ish New York City. The adventures of the flawed main character, Sacha Kessler, with the NYC Inquisitors entertained me, and it was fun following the threads of what was real (gangs of Jews, Italians, and Chinese keeping their communities relatively safe, separate, and in-line, the development of vaudeville and movies, the movement to unionize factories) and what wasn't (dybbuks, witches, and so on).
However, this book really, really needed a sensitivity/accuracy reader for the Jewish content. Despite the name, I suspect that Chris Moriarty might be Jewish--she often depicts Jewish characters, and with sympathy. Usually, Jewish characters are culturally accurate. But while there were just a few slip-ups in the last book in this area, this book contained so many, it would take pages to write them out. Characters who are strictly Orthodox are fed meals cooked on Shabbos by other Jews (which is pretty much as bad as eating non-kosher), the afikomen is on the table from the beginning of the seder, as opposed to being created when the second matzah on the table is cracked in half, dessert is served after the afikomen and the fourth cup, there's a scene where Rabbi Kessler gets into a car on Shabbos at a point when it's not clear that it's a life-or-death emergency, there are words used ever so slightly wrong, there are kashrus bits that make little sense. I could go on.
It's funny, because other bits were really resonant. Depicting the time accurately is complex--then, as now, it was common to have someone only attend an Orthodox synagogue and eat only kosher, yet work on Shabbos. I feel like that part of the depiction of Sacha is accurate. There's this great scene with non-kosher food all around a hungry but resolute Sacha. But there are so many details off about Rabbi Kessler, for example, and their neighbor, Mo, I found myself laughing during scenes intended to be tense.
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