This book is unique and certainly stands out in a crowd, providing a diverse perspective for a historical thriller, as well as peppering in some myth and magic from Jewish culture.

"The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros is a haunting and immersive journey into the dark heart of Chicago's history. Set against the backdrop of the World's Fair of 1893, Polydoros weaves a gripping tale of murder, mystery, and the supernatural.

Daniel is a troubled young man haunted by his past and grappling with his identity as an immigrant in a city filled with ambition and danger. As he becomes embroiled in the hunt for a serial killer targeting the Fair's attendees, Daniel's own secrets and desires are brought to light, adding layers of complexity to the narrative.

Polydoros's writing is atmospheric and evocative, capturing the grandeur and grittiness of Chicago at the turn of the century. You can tell that Polydoros spent a lot of time researching, lending authenticity to the historical elements while also allowing room for the supernatural elements to flourish.

What sets "The City Beautiful" apart is its exploration of themes such as identity, belonging, and the nature of evil. Through Daniel's eyes, we witness the collision of cultures, ideologies, and desires, forcing us to confront our own prejudices and assumptions.

The pacing is relentless, with twists and turns that keep the reader on the edge of their seat until the final page. Polydoros masterfully balances tension with moments of introspection, allowing the reader to delve deep into the minds of the characters while never losing sight of the overarching mystery.

Overall, "The City Beautiful" is a gripping and thought-provoking read that will linger in the mind long after the final chapter. Polydoros proves himself to be a master storyteller, effortlessly blending history, horror, and human drama into a captivating tale that is as beautiful as it is chilling.

Thank you for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I always love to see Jewish rep in fantasy books, and the fact that we were given queer Jewish rep was the icing on the cake. I also found the world very lush and beautiful, and it drew me in really quickly.

The only books I've read that have centered Jewish identity and culture this heavily have been Holocaust novels or memoirs, and I truly loved this book for giving me something outside of those parameters. I love fantasy and historical books, and I loved that this book takes place during the 1893 Chicago's World Fair AND focuses on fantasy elements based on Jewish lore - the possession of a dybbuk. My heart really feels for Alter, who is hurt and scared of the world (and his sexuality) but just so deeply wants to do good. Without spoiling it, I loved the murder mystery element - especially the two part structure - and how everything flows out. I also loved the little details (like the call out about arsenic green cloth and the oblique HH Holmes reference) while the book is utterly steeped in Jewish culture and identity.
Highly recommend for those who love books set in Chicago, historical fiction, or are looking for a new type of "world building" for fantasy (particularly urban fantasy).

What an adventurous journey about racism, acceptance, love, and revenge. I loved the characterization and storyline. I could not put this down between the action, revelations, and determination of the characters. You are rooting for them as they press onward.

*Thank you so much to the publisher for an EARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*

Chicago, 1893.
There's a killer on the loose- but it seems only to target Jewish boys. Immigrant boys, to be precise. Poor boys.
Alter Rosen, of course, had no idea of the link in this spree of killings. A young, poor Jewish boy hinself, he feels betrayed by the once-promise of an American dream. Disillusioned by the crime, poverty and heartbreak that the Jews of Chicago cannot escape from, all he wishes is to be left alone to work, make enough money to bring his family over from Romania. To save them from the ever-present pogrom threat.
But then his best friend is killed.
And soon it seems like Yakov just won't stay dead.
Aided by old enemies and new allies, Alter is thrown back into the web of the dark side of the city once again.

"𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘠𝘢𝘬𝘰𝘷?"

AAARGH.

I wish I'd read this book sooner, and I'm so happy to have finally read it now. The City Beautiful has won many awards, and in my opinion it absolutely deserves every single one.

I cannot emphasize enough the importance of reading books with Jewish protagonists, and to have a book with solely Jewish cast is just incredible. Also, the focus of Jewish folklore and traditions and actually having a more frum Jew as the focus is BRILLIANT and I love finally being able to see myself represnted in entirety, (even though I'm not the most religious of Jews) down to the last kugel.

The magic system of The City Beautiful is centred around Jewish folklore, it's beautiful and though complex, still simple to understand in this context.

The romantic tension between Frankie and Alter had me screaming I'm so in love with all of these characters. And the gay romance at the heart of the book was just so sweet. The morally grey, lgbtq, Jewish characters made me so happy.

"𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘯𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘶𝘯."

Basically, The City Beautiful's everything I look for in a book. My one iffy bit was the writing was a bit stilted in places- probably just personal preference though.

"𝘐 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘮."

This is definitely not a 'light read' or a happy book. I've seen people on tiktok describing it as a happy, queer Jewish book and while it's definitely queer and Jewish, the novel explores very dark themes including child abuse and graphic antisemitism. These themes complement the book- they aren't cheap thrills but please be aware before reacing it. It is set at the turn of the century, and all of the characters have survived pogroms and antisemitic attacks.

"𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳."

Another aspect of The City Beautiful I loved was how although discussion Jewish history, it was set around the 1900s Eastern European pogroms. My own family escaoed these, and it was really gladdening to see representation that isn't soley focused around the Holocaust - because while this is an extremely important topic (and many people need to be educated further on it) - Jewish history spans over 4000 years. The author talks about this in his note at the end of the book.

I'm a huge huge fan of gothic novels at the moment, and this has just added to my obsession. Dark and twisty and horrifying and a warped perception of the American Dream, somehow perfectly packaged into a standalone. I am absolutely beyond impressed.

There is so much more. I could talk about The City Beautiful for hours, how it explores the difference between the 'old' and 'new' Jewish immigrants, the concept of a 'good' immigrant, assimilation, culture and identity, biblical analysis, but I won't. Some things you just have to find out by reading for yourself.

I liked the historical and fantastical features of this book. The story drew me in and I felt like I was right there. Love when a writer can do that.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the advanced reader copy. This is my honest review.

I really enjoyed the book. The anti-Semitism was tough (duh), and the Orthodox ragging on the Reform Jews (my peeps) was a different point of view than my experience. I don't know much of anything about the Romanian-Jewish experience, so that was an interesting perspective also.
My reaction as a((n) albeit slacker) Jew: Woohoo! Eastern Europeans and NOT during the Holocaust! So much Yiddish!

This book really is something very special. As a Jewish reader, I find most writers, both Jewish and non- have a difficult time making Judaism part of their story without making it the end all and be all of their story and while their certainly are plot lines that call for it, like any other collective of people, we are so much more than Jewish. We are immigrants, we are LGBTQIA+, we are reporters, we are mystics, we are survivors, we are Orthodox, we are Reform, we are secular, we are honest, we are gangsters… we are everything the characters in A City Beautiful Are and even more. And I love that this is a book about that and about potential and what we were and what we became and what we can become.
I also appreciated that while New York popped up here and there, the majority of the novel was set in Chicago - most of my family came through New York but my great-grandmother was born in Atlanta and so little of the Jewish immigration saga outside New York is acknowledged, let alone studied. Having read another novel that featured the Jewish diaspora in Latin America directly before A City Beautiful (part of my family emigrated to Cuba first), I’ve been thinking about how much BIGGER our story is than most people know and how we should be teaching our children as much about how diverse our collective culture is as much as we do about what we all have in common - it’s something Jewish education doesn’t consider beyond a surface level that it SHOULD and for which A City Beautiful provides a fantastic template (even if the book itself if for older readers.
Definitely a book I wish I could read again for the first time and one I’ll come back to repeatedly.

The City Beautiful was a fascinating dive into a world I don't know much about. The author effortlessly immersed us in that world with the "look at how much research I did" bravado of lesser writers. It all felt organic and genuine. I loved the struggles of the closeted main character, the details of his day-to-day life. A very unique tale told well. I look forward to more of this author's work.

4 stars

Wow, this was so good! All the twists and turns were so unexpected. I also wasn't expecting this book to be so dark. Can't wait to see what Aden does next.

This is the queer Jewish historical fantasy I didn't know I needed but would have changed my life if I had read it in high school. Absolutely amazing and one of the best books of 2021

Thank you Netgalley and Inkyard Press for a copy in exchange for an honest review. This novel features Jewish and Queer rep in 1893 Chicago. Filled with Jewish traditions, queer representations and immigrant experience. This novel delivers a rich, fantasy novel with a well described magical system.

I enjoyed the historical and fantastical elements of this story. Being from the Chicago area, the setting was one I am familiar with through elementary school studies of the World's Fair. I'm not big on fantasy but the historical element drew me in and the fantasy elements offered a nice twist.

This story was my best read of 2021. Queer, dark magic, and with wonderful Orthodox Jewish representation! I couldn't ask for a better book.

This novel features Alter, Yakov, and Frankie in a fight for their right to exist in 1893 Chicago. As Jews, they were hated by a section of society, even though they hadn't done anything at all. When Jewish boys start dying in strange circumstances, Alter begins to take notice.

As the dybbuk takes over, Alter's personality changes at times. One thing that's always true, though, is that he's hiding his sexuality. He believes it's wrong and a sin, but the adventure that the city takes him on makes him question everything he thought he knew about himself.

By the end of the book, Alter has come to grips with who he is. Readers will also learn the truth behind Frankie's status as a thief.

The City Beautiful taught me so much about the Jewish faith. The book is filled with Yiddish words, and I had to spend some time looking them up. I was happy to do so, though, and I feel like I've got a better understanding of what it means to be Jewish now.

I was already sympathetic to the plight of Jewish people, but I've come away from this experience even more sympathetic. It's not any living Jewish person's fault that they're seen as having "killed Jesus," and yet they're all held responsible for this singular act. Take it from me, a non-Jew: not only are they not responsible, but they're people just like everyone else, with the same hopes and dreams. We really need to stop all the hatred and start accepting people who can be stuck into tiny, boxed-up labels. They are so much more than their label suggests.

FANTASTIC AMAZING

This was so so so good. As a ashkenazi Jew, I have literally never felt more represented than I did in this book. The few books that do have Jewish rep (non Holocaust) are always so light, the specific rep so minimal, often times just a mention. This book does something really special here. I hope more books follow in this wake.

And on top of that, the mystery plot was compelling, the romance was so cute and angst, and the world building was hella atmospheric and well done.

There are heavy themes here, anti Semitism of course, but also sexual assault/rape, and I thought this too was well done.

An easy five star, one of my favorite books of the year if not one of my actual all time favs.

There is so much to talk about when it comes to this book. I think my favorite part was how Aden does such a fabulous job of including Jewish traditions, Yiddish, religion, and the Jewish immigrant experience.

Alter arrived in Chicago with just the clothing on his back after his father died during the passage from Romania to the US. Now it’s up to Alter to pay to bring his mom and sisters to America.

When Jewish boys start to go missing, of which is Alter’s roommate, he decides he needs to figure out what’s happening.

This book is wonderfully Jewish, and there’s so much in it for everyone to love.

This was a super fun fantasy novel that truly swept me off my feet and into another realm. The magic system made a lot of sense to me and I loved the protagonist's character development throughout the novel. It was really clear to me that the author had a clear plan throughout the book to prioritize the setting and layout of the plot. which really payed off in the end.

The City Beautiful is a queer, Jewish historical thriller. The synopsis drew me in, and I wanted to find out what the mystery was going to be. I also liked the idea of learning more aspects of the Jewish culture. The book was also atmospheric and I liked the characters. You wanted to root for them even though possession was a real thing at one point. However, the pacing wasn't the best and I ended up not loving this book completely. It was still a good read and I'm glad I got to this new release!

(Thank you for letting me read and review an ARC via Netgalley)