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Oct 01, 2018Beatricksy rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
A very gentle fantasy, more condensation on a window on a snowy day, a little bit of a glow on top of a simple story about human nature and culture and religion and above all immigration and the struggles of daily life in a strange place, and how out of place we can feel. A bit too wordy and lingering, though: despite elaborate settings and beautiful language and complex characters, I never felt more than passingly engaged in it. The ending was too abrupt and action-packed compared to the rest of the book and gave it a sloppy conclusion. I wanted to like it, and there's a lot to enjoy, with the gentle lilt of magic and the comparisons to Muslim and Jewish societies in 1899 New York. But the weak romance (bickering, primarily), the distance of the characters (thanks to constant scene swapping), the too-numerous-characters (all of which required deep introspection, which added to the Incredible length), and the plodding nature of the plot made me feel distant, like I was an unwelcome onlooker.