The City Beautiful by Aden Polydoros

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 Chicago, 1893. In the midsts of the World Fair, Alter Rosen's best friend, Yakov, is found dead. He is the latest in the long line of murdered Jewish boys. While the rest of the city is still celebrating, Alter is living a nightmare. He is possessed by Yakov's dybbuk. The only way to free both him and Yakov is to find who really killed him. Alter is thrust into a world of secrets and danger only to find himself once more in the arms of Frankie, a boy who means more to Alter than he could ever admit. With the days dwindling down until the dybbuk takes over Alter completely, the boys race to track down the killer before he kills them first.

Wow, this is the best historical fiction I've read in a while. I love reading gay romances set in the past! And to make it even better, The City Beautiful included a serial killer mystery. If that's still not enough to convince you to read this book, it's also gothic! Aden Polydoros definitely delivered on this one!

I loved the setting of this book! When I first picked it up, the World's Fair backdrop mixed with the serial killer stuff reminded me a little bit of H. H. Holmes. Polydros literally transported me to the Windy City with this book. This spooky mystery is great for October.

I loved that there was a pharanormal aspect in this book too. I thought the folklore of the dybbuck was super intresting. 

I loved Alter, Frankie, and Raizel so much! Alter had some really great character growth. Alter and Frankie had such a cute romance, though it wasn't the main focus of the story. As for Raizel, she was simply amazing. I loved her friendship with Alter!

I wouldn't recommend picking up this book if you are squeamish since it was pretty gory. The bloody scenes in this book could rival The Hunger Games. 

The pacing for this book was a little strange. Some moments were really slow but then the story would stay moving pretty quickly. The start of this book was really slow, but the pacing definitely evens out in the last half.

Page count: 480 pages

Published: October 5, 2021

Genre: historical fiction, mystery

My rating: 4 stars

Trigger Warnings: homophobia, mention of rape, gore, murder, drowning

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