3.5 stars, I think?

The writing is gorgeous, and I love how everything meanders through and just dives into the setting, the people, the different threads weaving together to form this tapestry of humanity about the Golem and the Jinni, and yet...the ultimate ending (and the climax) felt very unsatisfying. Rushed and incomplete.

Still enjoyable, however, as I love Wecker's writing style and her ability to just wrap so many different things together.

A magical, long-awaited sequel to Wecker ‘s The Golem and the Jinni. In this follow-up, which takes place over the span of 15 years as opposed to the first book’s one year, Ahmad and Chava wrestle with the implications of living among humans while (essentially) immortal and unchanging. Secondary characters from the first book are given more narrative space to themselves and new characters are introduced. Wecker’s delicately but robustly realized world is mesmerizing to spend time in, and readers must hope that the series will be continued with a third book.

Helene Wecker's return to the world of early 1900s New York, Chava, and Ahmad is well worth the wait. She lays enough detail out to remind those of us who read The Golem and the Jinni in 2013, but does it without making the exposition obvious. The characters--new and old--are well-rounded, complete, messy, and complicated. The story is just as compelling and enveloping as her first book. Truly a joy--so happy to be able to recommend this as a series since I cannot imagine this will be her last entry into this world.

This was definitely worth the wait! I re-read The Golem and the Jinni in anticipation of reading the sequel, and I'm so glad I took the time to reacquaint myself with the story and the characters. I admit I was skeptical that the sequel could stand up to the original, but if anything I think it was even better than the first. My library did not previously own the first installment, but I'll be ordering both books now and recommending a wide range of readers in my library. The character development of the two main characters was believable and heartbreaking and inspiring and so skillfully done. In addition, I loved the new characters of Toby and Kreindel, as well as further explorations of Sophia and Anna. Just a wonderful work of literature all around. Had me in tears at the end!

This sequel to The Golem and the Jinni was well worth the 8 year wait. The Hidden Palace is the best of two worlds, historical fiction mixed with some fantasy, early 19th century New York inhabited by a golem, a jinni, their stories and the lives around them. I can only hope it won’t take another 8 years for a third book.

It makes me sad to write this review, but after waiting eight years for a follow up to Helene Wecker’s wonderful novel The Golem and the Jinni, this was a massive disappointment.

I dearly loved Wecker’s first novel and very much wanted a sequel, but now I wish I hadn’t. This isn’t a *bad* book per se. I’m not sure Wecker is capable of writing a truly bad book. But it’s hugely disappointing compared to the original novel.

This is overlong and meandering, devoid of action until the very end, and lacks the magic and atmosphere of its predecessor. The characters are mostly just living their lives now, aside from some clumsily manufactured attempts to create conflict for them, which mostly results in long stretches of mundane daily life peppered with bouts of angst.

Without the wonderful descriptions of our two protagonists learning to make their way in the world and the histories of their kind, we are left this time with their tangential presence to real world historical events. This could have worked beautifully, but alas. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, the Titanic, the construction of the train station. In other words, the exact same events that always get used in novels of this era. Their presence here adds nothing to their story or to the imagined story of the characters. It’s a boring, safe route to go in an era when there are loads of other interesting goings-on to incorporate into a novel.

We also have a new golem and a new jinn, both of whom are half-formed and not particularly likable characters that add nothing to the story. The other secondary new characters are fine, but nothing special or unique.

So maybe this book didn’t need a sequel after all. Wecker writes as beautifully as ever, but the story is slow, unfocused, and ultimately not very interesting or engaging.

If you enjoyed The Golem and the Jinni, you will enjoy this book. Helene Wecker just has beautiful writing that is made for crafting a story about paranormal creatures learning what it is to be human in a historical NYC.

I reread The Golem and the Jinni before reading this, as I remembered it being a solid standalone novel. And while I still think that is true, it definitely does end with more to explore, which is what is accomplished here. It also does a nice job of recapping/reintroducing the many characters that were met in the previous novel. This is helpful since it's been so many years since the first novel's publication, and I think can skip rereading the first if you don't have time to do so.

Again, this is a strong followup so if you like the first, you will like this. You'll know that it is a slow-paced novel that purely character-driven. It immerses you into the historical city setting, and you really feel the life of the city with its many diverse cultures living there.

The Golem and the Jinni has been one of my favorite books for a while, so I was really excited to see that there was a sequel. Besides its being a lovely story, it is such a treat to spend time in Wecker's turn-of-the-century New York City, a place teeming with strangers and outcasts, ethnic neighborhoods crowded with people who came from nothing and were just happy to have a fresh start and limitless opportunity. There happen to be a few magical beings, and some humans with a well-developed sense of wonder. And now there is more.

Wecker's prose is beautiful, haunting, wise, and loving. Her characters are full of humanity, even the non-human ones. Her settings are nostalgic and exquisite, turning tenements into tight communities. It requires suspension of disbelief, of course, to imagine a female Golem formed from clay and then living undetected as a regular woman known for her even temper and hard work. Also the Jinni is a being of fire, but he, too, walks the sidewalks of New York as a metalsmith who has a real knack for working with iron.

Since it had been several years (the first book was published in 2013), I had forgotten a lot of the details, only remembering that I loved this book. The Hidden Palace does not go back and recap a lot of the first book, but it doesn't really need to. The narrative moves forward with some new characters alongside familiar ones like Mr. Arbeely, the big-hearted tinsmith, and Maryam, the coffee house proprietor with the uncanny intuition. I don't want to spoil, but another Golem and another Jinni appear in the sequel.

Since my brother, who loves to walk in New York, had liked the first book so much, I loaned him my device with this ARC on it (I hope that's okay, Netgalley). His reaction was that he had forgotten how much he liked the first one, and after reading the second, he opted to go back and read the first one again. So part of the future deliciousness of The Hidden Palace is going to be that people can start reading The Golem and the Jinni now knowing that if they love it, there is a second helping awaiting them. Also, one can't help thinking this would make a gorgeous movie, if artists could conceptualize the Jinni's fabulous metalwork and the Golem's scrumptious raisin challahs and the look of Old New York. The makeup design and acting would also be Oscar-worthy challenges. Mr. Scorsese, are you up for this?

Thank you Netgalley and Harper for access to this arc.

Having basically come to this novel almost as a newbie – given how many years it’s been since the first book – I can say that readers can start here but will issue the standard caveat that reading the first book will add to the richness of this one. There are little recaps scattered about of what happened but thankfully this is not done in a huge info-dump. Major kudos for that.

Wow, I’m almost not sure I even want to attempt to describe the plot as there are a variety of characters, in a variety of settings, that all dance in and out and around before finally reaching a crescendo then being wrapped up – a bit – in an epilogue. Fifteen years are spanned and lots of major events lightly touched in ways that enhance this story rather than just being added as a backdrop.

Once again the immigrant communities of New York City figure prominently as two supernatural beings seek to live quietly among them. At the end of “The Golem and the Jinni” I had thought they could work out some kind of happy ending and that is where we begin but like all long term relationships, there are ups and downs, misunderstandings and arguments. After trying to blend into the backgrounds of their new world, both the unchanging Golem and the Jinni must adjust as those around them age and the events and inventions of the 20th century start to impact their lives.

The book is longer than I usually take on these days as I have found my liking and tolerance for saga books has diminished. But as I read, I discovered that I was enjoying myself as the story slowly unfolded. Patience will be required as the plot doesn’t proceed at a breakneck pace. Instead it advances at a rate more equal to how life was then – starting gently and gradually picking up steam as everything comes together.

Even so, there were some parts that I felt dawdled a bit too long and wandered around a bit too much. The ending relied on a method of conveying information that began to reach extreems and felt more like “telling” rather than “showing.” For all that though, it continued to pull me along and made me want to know what would happen and how it would all be wound together. The characters were interesting, though not always kind, and their interactions were written in ways that made them believable. The book has a strong sense of place and time and even if the ending left me feeling more bittersweet, it was nice to revisit Chava and Ahmad and the others again. B-

I was incredibly nervous to start this book. I adored The Golem and the Jinni, but it has been eight years since I read it and the details were a little fuzzy. What if The Hidden Palace was confusing to me? What if it didn't live up the hype in my mind?

I put it off until I couldn't any more and dove right in.

If you, too, are feeling a bit anxious about forgetting the details of The Golem and the Jinni, fear not. It seems the author anticipated as much and lays a neat trail a breadcrumbs for us to follow, replaying memories for us, explaining prior events, and bringing us back up to speed. I fell right into the rhythm of the story, remembering as I went along, and was entranced.

There are multiple narrators and they took turns being my favorite. There are, of course, Chava (the golem) and Ahmad (the jinni), along with Sophia (the young women whose brief dalliance with Ahmad in The Golem and the Jinni has left her with a persistent physical suffering), Anna and her son Toby (Chava's pregnant friend from the previous book), and two new characters: a young jinn woman in the Syrian desert, and Kreindel, the young daughter of an Orthodox rabbi who stumbles into dark magic. Their stories all weave closer and closer together until they are all drawn together in a climactic finish.

I felt most invested in Sophia's story, oddly enough, as I remembered little of her from the previous book, and loved the new characters. No one is completely good, no one is completely bad - they are all multifaceted and complex characters that we see from different angles, getting better understandings of them as they interact with the others.

I would have read all 480 pages in a single sitting if my life would have allowed it.

I very highly recommend this book, particularly to fans of historical fiction and magical realism. While it is chock-full of mythological elements, the historical and geographical setting are characters of their own and it doesn't quite feel right to call it a fantasy novel. It is a deep look at humanity shown through the lens of the inhuman.

Again -- I VERY HIGHLY recommend this book.

Thank you to the author for writing this.

I absolutely loved the first book in this series and couldn't wait for this one. It did not disappoint. I really hope that Wecker continues with the golem and jinni because they are such fascinating characters and have great stories.

Their mutual enemy vanquished, Chava the free golem and Ahmad the bound jinni try to carve out lives for themselves amidst the bustling humanity of early twentieth century New York City. Meanwhile, Ahmad's one-time lover Sophia roams the world seeking a cure for the affliction he left her; Chava's old friend Anna tries to shield her son from her past; a rabbi's daughter helps shape the golem who will become her protector; and a jinniyeh with a curious immunity to iron is smitten by tales of the iron-bound jinni. Their lives weave together over the years, buffeted by the forces of history and beset by their own natures.

Helene Wecker did a wonderful job giving just enough back story from The Golem and the Jinni to help me remember the plot and characters. I thoroughly enjoyed the continuation of the story. I loved everything about it! The character development was deep and satisfying. The storyline was steady. As different plot lines intersected, the pace picked up. The important historical events interwoven in the story felt natural and lent realism to the fantasy. I am excited to start sharing the sequel.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this arc in exchange for an honest review.

This is the sequel to Helene Wecker's award-winning The Golem and the Jinni. The story picks up with Chava and Ahmad as they navigate early 20th century New York city. As with the first book, Wecker's fantastic characters are larger-than-life, but the story was not nearly as compelling as in the first book. I was thrilled to get my hands on an advance copy, but dragged myself to the finish. If you loved the first book, as I did, I would still recommend you pick up the sequel to see for yourself if the continuing story of Chava and Ahmad is for you.

A welcome sequel! It was lovely to fall back into the world of these characters (although surely half their problems would be solved by moving to Arizona*?).

*I'm kidding. I have no idea about Jewish communities in Arizona in the early 1900s.

I hope there's another book but if not, I am satisfied. Did I agree with every character all the time? Absolutely not. But it was nice to not be in a world of uncomplicated heroes and villains for once.

This was a wonderful continuation/conclusion to the Golem and the Jinni. We see the growth of the characters as well as meeting some new ones who prove essential to the story. Well worth the wait for a sequel!

That hurt.

All of the characters are lonely, even our golem and jinni, even though they're in a romantic relationship. As the story goes on, the characters become more lonely no matter how much their circumstances change. In the end, people are less lonely, but the journey is painful.

This is an excellent book. The characters are three-dimensional to the point that when they argue, you can see both sides of the argument. The setting is gorgeous with showing all the parts of New York and the Middle East before and during World War I.

The middle part's pacing did stall, but once the storylines started intersecting, the pacing picked up.

This review is based on an advanced reader copy provided through Netgalley for an honest review.

The Golem and the Jinni was one of my top reads in 2013 and I still recommend it to readers in my library. I was excited to discover this sequel and dove in right away.

That was a couple months ago.

As with Golem, Wecker takes her time introducing characters and floats the various storylines along a gently running river. Normally, I would find this a lovely and welcome difference to the suspense stories I usually read; in March 2021, I found it impossible to keep my attention on the story and had to put it down. This had nothing to do with the book - it was everything going on in both the world at large and my own little corner of it.

Fast forward to May and a slightly calmer environment. I picked this up again and spent a wonderful weekend immersed in the world of Chava and Ahmad. It was my time to read this, I guess.

I thoroughly enjoyed the stories of Chava, Ahmad, and all the people who touch their lives, as well as the way Wecker ties in the significant historic events of the times, To be sure, there are lots of stories here, but Wecker keeps them all bound together, much in the way that people interact in real life. She presents a view of community and caring among people who are very different and shows that human decency can transcend differences - a message we all need right now.

Recommended.

What a lovely sequel! I snuggled right back into these characters’ lives, and I loved the additional points of view. Sophia, Kreindel, and Toby’s perspectives added nicely to the intersecting stories, and they enriched the overall narrative. I probably cared least about Dima, but she was still important to the story, and I liked that the other characters were more gracious towards her than I was.

It’s been eight years since I read the first book, and the story could have ended there. The author gracefully worked in review of important plot points to ease the continuation of the story after so long away from it. The complications addressed in this sequel made sense for how things would continue, but it was still hard to see beloved characters struggling. Like the first book, it was a beautifully written, slow build to the culmination of these struggles, and Wecker marked important events in history along the way—the Triangle Shirtwaist fire, World War I, the Russian pogroms, the sinking of the Titanic and the Lusitania—incorporating them into her characters’ lives both directly and peripherally. Once the story hit the climax, it was very hard to put the book down or think of anything else.

The kindness of the immigrant communities and the individuals who guarded Chava and Ahmad’s secrets is part of what makes the books so wonderful. The golem and the jinni’s experience of living among humans—being changed by them, as well as affecting them—is a nice metaphor for the immigrant experience of both adjusting to a new country and enriching it.

The book ends on a hopeful note that, like the first, could be left alone as a completion of the story, but leaves room for more if the author decides to pick up these characters again. I hope she does.

I truly believed this book would never come out, but if it took this long to get it right, I understand why. The Golem and the Jinni is my favorite fantasy book of the decade — a rich historical drama as well as a complicated and winding set of plot threads involving many people with tangled pasts, and a philosophical yarn about different fantasy traditions in different cultures. The Hidden Palace does it all over again — introduces more characters and further develops past characters, lays out a variety of different completely separate plots and brings them all together, moves the action forward rapidly while looking at the historical changes in turn-of-the-century New York City. And it still finds time for the eponymous golem and jinni, Ahmad and Chava, to spend long conversations coming to understand each other — and to understand how little they understand each other, and how complicated their relationship is.

I love that this book doesn't go in for easy answers or quick reconciliations, and I love the way Helene Wecker uses new characters to further highlight how Chava and Ahmad are unusual for their kind, and to show what they could have been, or are in danger of becoming. I hope the series continues — it feels like at this point, we know the characters better than ever, and want more than ever for them to figure out how to live with each other, and within the world they've wound up in. (less)