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paradoxchild's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Violence, and Colonisation
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Terminal illness, and Murder
Minor: Medical content
a_random_fangirl's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Blood, Murder, Colonisation, and Pandemic/Epidemic
eni_iilorak's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Racism, Violence, and Colonisation
Moderate: Medical content
Minor: Drug use and Alcohol
a_c_o_l_i_g_n_o_n's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
1.0
Summer reading project, but even if i hadn’t been forced to read it, i still wouldn’t have enjoyed it. idk about isabel allende’s style and if this is what she does, but the story moves in loops, like they stop to go in the water several times and i didn’t care enough the first time for it to happen so many damn times. characters are flat and 2 dimensional, this is most prominently seen through how the novel treats its indigenous characters as, essentially, stereotypes. am i supposed to believe that nadia really has a feather hanging from her ear and a full MONKEY on her back? the author’s patronizing tone is emphasized when the narrative shifts toward the people of the mist and their struggle with colonization, which could be interesting had the call not been coming from inside allende’s house. i literally dgaf about alex and his grandmother, and their boring adventures in the amazon. if you’re really bored and want to become even less entertained this is the book for you.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism and Colonisation
mariebrunelm's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
This is one of those books that touches on really important topics but in a way that I didn't really enjoy. City of the Beasts celebrates the Amazon forest and keeps raising alarm on how it's treated and how it needs to be saved, which is sadly still relevant nearly 20 years after it was published. To do so, the author writes a YA / middle-grade adventure novel about a 15-year-old Californian boy with an excentric grand-mother who turns out to be some sort of Chosen One and to save the local inhabitants. This is an instance of the White Savior trope, in which a white foreigner saves grateful locals, to the point that he's initiated into their secrets. It didn't sit right with me.
As far as the writing style is concerned, the narration was so detached (too much in the "tell", not enough in the "show") that I had no empathy for the characters and didn't really buy into what I was reading. There was also the fact that in France, this book is published as an adult book when to me, it felt very middle-grade. There were lots of repetitions, and the characters were very cliché.
I really wanted to love this book, so I was all the more frustrated. This is probably because ever since I noticed City of the Beasts years and years ago, I built an image of it in my head that I was bound to miss when reading the actual book. I can't help but think that in the twenty years since this book was published, middle-grade has evolved and isn't written in the same way. The middle-grade books I've read recently were witty and fun when this one sounded rather preachy and a little condenscending towards the inhabitants of the Amazon forest.
As far as the writing style is concerned, the narration was so detached (too much in the "tell", not enough in the "show") that I had no empathy for the characters and didn't really buy into what I was reading. There was also the fact that in France, this book is published as an adult book when to me, it felt very middle-grade. There were lots of repetitions, and the characters were very cliché.
I really wanted to love this book, so I was all the more frustrated. This is probably because ever since I noticed City of the Beasts years and years ago, I built an image of it in my head that I was bound to miss when reading the actual book. I can't help but think that in the twenty years since this book was published, middle-grade has evolved and isn't written in the same way. The middle-grade books I've read recently were witty and fun when this one sounded rather preachy and a little condenscending towards the inhabitants of the Amazon forest.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Cultural appropriation, and Colonisation
mikki_9's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Lots of the white saviour theme along with misogyny, but the adventure is exciting.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Excrement, Kidnapping, and Colonisation
Moderate: Animal death, Cancer, Death, Drug use, Terminal illness, Violence, Murder, and Alcohol
Minor: Alcoholism and Blood