Children of Chicago

I tried. I really tried. But I'm DNF'ing at around 50%, and honestly, I'm surprised I got this far. Because I did, though, and because of what made me stop, I'm going to go ahead and write a review.

The first few chapters, I was sucked in. I was incredibly annoyed by copyediting issues and actual patterns of grammatical/punctuation errors, particularly around dialogue, but I was engaged enough to keep going. I took the book along with me to a doctor's office where I expected to have a long wait, and I suppose that was my mistake... (to be fair, I suspected the copyediting issues might cause me to DNF if I didn't put myself in a spot where I couldn't, so I asked for this, I guess.) If I hadn't been stuck there, without another book to show more read, I'm sure I would have DNF'd somewhere in that next section of reading. Because as much as the concept made me feel like this book was right up my alley--I read and enjoy procedurals, especially paranormal ones, and I love horror--this book reads like a first draft which, simply put, needed a lot more editing.

When I got home from that aforementioned doctor's visit, I glanced over some reviews to see if they might tell me something I was missing. Instead, I found a lot of the mid to negative reviews reflected what I'd already felt, and also told me that along with what I'd already seen, this book with its connection to Chicago was not only rife with errors about the city (seriously?) and what felt like info-dumped sections, but also took the name of a real shooting victim's name as the name of a victim in the book. Which...honestly, just...no. I can't even begin to imagine making such a choice, and I'm offended on behalf of the family/victim. I'd already felt as if the victims were being treated oddly in this book, like they were news stories more than people, and that made me wonder if there was even more I'd find if I kept looking for connections to real life. I didn't, because just hearing about the use of the very specific name from a recent shooting victim made me feel ill.

For some reason--perhaps because I've just heard such good things about Pelayo--I kept reading. But I mention those reviews for another reason: One of the writers said that she was fine with unlikable protagonists, but that this one was actually worthy of drawing hate. And that's exactly right. She's a detective who clearly isn't in the right mental state to be carrying a weapon and working the job--worse, she and everyone around her knows this--and she abuses her authority every chance she gets. That's not to mention the talk of anger issues, and the shootings that she says were reasonable but which we got every impression were not.

My breaking point should have come when a child was physically hurting himself, banging his head against a wall, and she made a choice to walk out of the room rather than try to stop him. I honestly have to think that most cops--even what we might call 'bad cops'--would make an effort to stop a child from physically hurting himself while he was in their custody, without any way to hurt them in return. The kid wasn't holding a weapon. He wasn't waving a gun while banging his head into a wall. He was in an interrogation room, and she knew what she was doing and asking, and she just...walked out? She called an ambulance, and for icing on the cake, the point is made that colleagues ask if *she* is okay, and she says that no, neither she nor the boy are.

Are you kidding me?

But at that point, I was on my couch and stuck beneath a cat without another book in reach, and I kept reading, reminding myself of what great things I'd heard about Pelayo, that I'd almost (almost) stopped noticing all of the copyediting issues, and that the concept was one I was really interested in.

And then, around the halfway point, I got the point when she was questioning a teenager in a totally inappropriate way (everyone around her enabling her, of course), and then to the point where a child psychologist was telling her things they had no business telling her, even while saying that she knew perfectly well this particular detective/protagonist used people and had no business knowing the information... and, yeah, I'm done.

I tried, but I am 100% fully just done.

I think the concept had a lot of promise. With a different sort of protagonist--or one who was at least not hatable--or from a different POV, or with a lot more editing, this could have been a fantastic book. Instead, it's one which has guaranteed I will never pick up another work by the author.

Again, I'm someone who reads procedurals. I don't mind a cop protagonist. I sometimes ghostwrite paranormal FBI procedurals, I always enjoy reading them, and if a book includes both fairy tale references and a contemporary setting with paranormal elements, I'm sold. This book should have been right up my alley.

Instead, I'm left feeling ill that I even got to the 50% mark, and would not ever recommend this book to another reader. show less

"...—because to children, adults were not always the protectors. Adults were the ones who brought about wickedness and regret."

Children of Chicago by Cynthia Pelayo was October's book club pick and I am still thinking about it. Pelayo's writing was atmospheric, full of depth, and seeped with so much dark Chicago history. Her storytelling is superb. She made me rethink fairytales, and their influences in society. I'm definitely seeing the Pied Piper fairytale through a new lens. Chicago was brought to life and I can't wait to uncover more of the city's layers in her other works. Pelayo really set the tone for this one with the clever nods to Candyman, Nightmare on Elm Street and Bloody Mary. There were definite moments when I was show more scared and could feel the hairs on my arm stand up.

Pelayo explores the complexities of so many themes including:
👤 unresolved childhood trauma and anger
👤 dark side and history of fairytales
👤 the ways adults can be monsters and fail to protect children
👤 the violent, bloody foundations of major big cities
👤 effects of gentrification on inner city populations
👤 how the past can degrade the individual & collective spirit
👤 the ways in which children for the sins of adults
👤 how the genre of horror provides a mirror to society
👤 how violence steals dreams and changes future outcomes
👤 how children will sometimes go to any lengths to secure their own happiness
👤 how Catholic schools don't save you from the violence of the hood
👤 how secrets fester and resurface when not brought to the light and confronted

If you have never read horror before, then this one is a great place to start. The story is gripping with a setting that comes to life. You'll be wrapped up in the mystery and emotion. You'll love the nostalgia of the classic horror movie vibes. Last but not least, the latinx and boricua representation give it even more extra flavor. Children of Chicago will leave a lasting mark on you & leave you craving for more of Pelayo's stories. I highly recommend you pick this one up, read Pelayo's backlist and pre-order whatever Pelayo has coming next. There's a reason she's the first Puerto woman to win a Stroker award. show less

I received an e-Galley ARC of Children of Chicago, authored by Cynthia Pelayo, from NetGalley and the publisher Polis Books; below is my honest review, freely given. I am thankful for this opportunity.

I rated this novel 5 stars. I am of the camp that the first horror stories came in the form of fairy tales and cautionary tales for children; not all that glitters is gold, not every hand outstretched is in kindness. Beware children, for you are so small and the world is so big…

I could imagine myself wrapped in a thick quilt, curled protectively around a steaming cup of tea (decorated with foxes, or perhaps skulls and beetles) as I crack open a leather and cloth bound tome that begins and ends as the title promises, with the children of show more Chicago.

My reality had a comfy blanket, non-pill fleece, sweet tea instead of hot (grey plastic cup- very practical), and my kindle app; but I was entranced from the opening chapter all the same.

Seeing Chicago through two lenses, one rosy, the other achingly clear to all it’s failings, read more aggrieved than a love letter, more entangled than simply a history lesson; this was a cry for intervention. A heartbroken wail for the city to be better, giving a listing of all the beauty (natural and built) that lies hidden, buried, under the weight of the detritus and bodies left from the demons rampant within its gates. Combine this with the ever increasing pace of a tense police case entwined with fairy tale lore, and this vibrant novel can safely be called a favorite of mine even before its release date. show less

I libraried this up based on a review somewhere and was seriously disappointed. The premise—which is why I picked it up in the first place—was good and spooky, positing an evil force from the darkest of the oldest fairy tales killing teenagers in present-day Chicago, and a tormented, entangled homicide cop on its trail. But the plotting didn't ratchet up the fear factor well, the characters—even the coffee-swilling, troubled officer, who should have been a real draw—felt flat, and what happened to the copy editor at Agora Books? There were way too many grammatical and punctuation errors for a published book. And the ending was way too dissatisfying for a thriller, even though I should have taken my cue from the number in the show more subtitle... I'm not big on series as it is, and I really resent when the first book just serves as a giant cliffhanger. On the other hand, I finished it, mostly because I did think the idea was cool. show less

Interesting premise that didn't quite come together for me. It's part fairy tale, part police procedural, somewhat reminiscent of Lauren Beukes, but not as well put together. It includes some interesting history about Chicago, but it's delivered by characters who sound like they're reading internet search results (seriously, I looked up rules about minors arrested for different crimes in Illinois, and then later when a character brought it up in the story, they said almost exactly what I'd just found in one of the top three internet search results). And I don't think the MC could have gotten a master's degree in lit and then joined the police and made detective by age 25. Time is weird with other aspects of the plot, too, like the MC's show more marriage, which lasted a year and they'd been separated for just a couple of months, but the book acts like both of those lengths of time are multiplied by 10, at least. show less

The ideas and plotting were really good, but I feel like this could have benefited from another round or two of editing; there were a lot of blocks of exposition about Chicago history that read a bit like Wikipedia articles, and the dialogue tended toward the awkward and clunky. I would happily read more, though - the story and characters are pretty solid.

This is a thriller with a mystery to be solved. Who is killing young people and leaving messages as The Pied Piper? The ending was a bit disappointing to me. The big surprise was apparent long before the reveal.