The Hidden Palace

A Novel of the Golem and the Jinni

hardcover, 480 pages

Published June 7, 2021 by Harper.

ISBN:
978-0-06-246871-0
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4 stars (21 reviews)

Chava is a golem, a woman made of clay, able to hear the thoughts and longings of the people around her and compelled by her nature to help them. Ahmad is a jinni, a perpetually restless and free-spirited creature of fire, imprisoned in the shape of a man. Fearing they’ll be exposed as monsters, these magical beings hide their true selves and pretend to be human—just two more immigrants in the bustling world of 1900s Manhattan. Having encountered each other under calamitous circumstances, Chava and Ahmad’s lives are now entwined—but they’re not yet certain of what they mean to each other.

Each has unwittingly affected the humans around them. Park Avenue heiress Sophia Winston, whose brief encounter with Ahmad left her with a strange illness that makes her shiver with cold, travels to the Middle East to seek a cure. There she meets a tempestuous female jinni who’s been banished …

7 editions

Review of 'Hidden Palace' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Because this is book 2, I'm going to hide some of my review in spoilers for people who haven't read the first book. I never know how to review books in a series so as not to spoil things for people who never read the first book...

Going into this book, I was incredibly afraid it wouldn't live up to what I remember feeling after reading the first book. The first book was delightfully warm, had an interesting cast of characters, and a sufficiently intriguing plot that felt self-contained as it wrapped itself up. When I read there was going to be a sequel (several years after the first had come out), I was skeptical and dragged my feet at giving it a chance. I'm so glad I did.

Chava and Ahmad, unlikely lovers brought together under a unifying stressful situation in the first book, now have had time to …

The unlikely romance between lonely mythical beings from different traditions continues

3 stars

The Golem And The Jinni has a sequel that resolves some things, but not all of them. See my review of the first installment: lire.boitam.eu/book/8848

Both characters are more human, but don't want to lose what made them "them". Both are confronted by a being similar as them (but of the opposite sex), which doesn't make anything easier. The new cast of human characters are more interesting than the main couple, which is a nice change.

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