A review by gitanita
La ciudad de las bestias by Isabel Allende
4.0
This is the first book in a YA trilogy featuring young Alex and Nadia, who experience great adventures and end up "saving the world".
Alex is a 15-year old boy, who never went out of his village in California, except once for a family trip to Italy. Now, his mother is sick with cancer and his father is sending him and his sisters to their grandmothers. Alex ends up with his outwardly cold and adventurous grandmother Kate Cold (pun intended?!), a reporter for International Geographic, who takes him on a trip to Amazonas to search for the legendary Beast. On his way through Amazonas, Alex will experience many dangers, make long-lasting friendships and get to know his true self, one he never imagined to be.
Isabel Allende is a great storyteller. Her descriptions of nature make you see everything clearly in your head. I do not know much about the indigenous people of Amazonas, so I do not know how accurate her descriptions of their ways are, but they are, all the same, very interesting. With the part of the story about white "civilised" people trying to get rid of the native tribes for the riches of the land, Allende is trying to convey a message of the importance of protecting the native people and the intact nature in South America.
Alex is a 15-year old boy, who never went out of his village in California, except once for a family trip to Italy. Now, his mother is sick with cancer and his father is sending him and his sisters to their grandmothers. Alex ends up with his outwardly cold and adventurous grandmother Kate Cold (pun intended?!), a reporter for International Geographic, who takes him on a trip to Amazonas to search for the legendary Beast. On his way through Amazonas, Alex will experience many dangers, make long-lasting friendships and get to know his true self, one he never imagined to be.
Isabel Allende is a great storyteller. Her descriptions of nature make you see everything clearly in your head. I do not know much about the indigenous people of Amazonas, so I do not know how accurate her descriptions of their ways are, but they are, all the same, very interesting. With the part of the story about white "civilised" people trying to get rid of the native tribes for the riches of the land, Allende is trying to convey a message of the importance of protecting the native people and the intact nature in South America.