I gave this book 5 stars because it had history and many action(which is a thing i love in books). Both things were great mixed together because Miss Allende made the book have action with history(from which you could learn from)without making it boring to read. This book has characters who probably could connect with you and very read to read about,because this book has characters of every kind.

The City of Beasts is about an American kid called Alex who has to go visit his grandmother. While visiting her he learns that she is going on a expedition to find the Beast, in the Amazon. The Beast is claimed to been seen by Indians and outsiders and it paralyses it’s victim with a horrid scent and then devours them. Alex doesn’t like spending time with her eloquent grandmother but it’s only choice because his others sisters are with his other grandmother, and his dad went to Texas to treat his ill mother. Alex soon learns that friendship is a great thing to him. When Alex goes on this thrilling adventure he will learn world-important things and a power of his which is very amazing. Alex shouldn’t put trust on all of the mischievous characters he´ll meet or his going to have a bad ending. He embarks on a life time expedition were he'll meet his nemesis or his allies.Alex will never be the same after this trip.

I liked this book a lot, but I think it's miscategorized as YA. To me, this is a children's book and a pretty good one to boot. I don't mind that the main characters and good through and through; I don't mind the loud and clear messages. I like to be uplifted sometimes and this book did it for me. Allende's writing style is beautiful. Her vivid descriptions of the Amazon made me feel like the environment is one of the main characters too. I'm looking forward to the next two installments.

Call me a young adult.

المغامرة والفانتازيا جنباً إلى جنب في هذه الرواية التي تقتحم غابات الأمازون وتثير الرغبة في الترحال واستكشاف ما هو بعيد وجديد.
من الأشياء التي خرجت بها من هذه الرواية هو الإحساس بضرورة السفر والترحال والمغامرة، لأن العمر ليس بطول السنين وإنما بمقدار الخبرة التي نجنيها عبر هذه السنين. فالاحتكاك بالحياة لفترة قصيرة يمنح من الخبرات ما يفوق سنوات طويلة من المرور كراماً بجانب الحياة دون الدخول في غمار تجاربها ومغامراتها التي لا تنتهي.
انتظر الفرصة القادمة لقراءة رواية أخرى لإيزابيل ألليندي.

Si he de ser completamente honesta, este libro no fluyo tanto como otros libros que he leído de Isabel Allende. Me costo un poco agarrarle el hilo y disfrutar la historia por completo.
Pienso que es principalmente, porque a diferencia de los otros, no hubo una proyección o gran empatización con los personajes.
Leía sus aventuras pero me costó compaginar con ellos.

أول عمل أقرأه للكاتبة ايزابيلا الليندي
رواية فنتازية مثيرة ومشوقة
مغامرة في الأدغال استمتعت جدا بقرائتها

قرأتها تحت عنوان " مدينة البهائم " ترجمة وتحقيق رفعت عطفة، ووجدتها مسلية، مناسبة للمراهقين ومثيرة.

15 year old Sara had Taste! So happy i loved this book still, 9 years later. Still think it deserves the 5. Super interesting that i definitely see the points where my teen self just held on as tight as Borobá

This is really like Indy Jones, though unlike her adult books, Allende tells too much instead of showing.


What is interesting about this book is the amount of background as well as action Allende packs into the book. During the journey in the Amazon, the characters of both Alex and Nadia are totally real as are most of the supporting characters. A good quick read for an adult

Alex es un chico norteamericano que por razones fuera de su control, emprenderá un viaje con su abuela Kate al Amazonas, allí conocerá a Nadia, y juntos tendrán la aventura de sus vidas.

Me encanto la historia por varias razones, es una travesía a tierras fantásticas y peligrosas al estilo de Julio Verne, que se desarrolla en las selvas de mi tierra Venezuela, tiene algo de magia y misticismo, y habla de las culturas autóctonas de mi país, si bien es algo inocente en algunos puntos con respecto a los indígenas, no deja por ello de ser un libro juvenil muy bueno, a la altura de varias de las sagas que están de moda en la actualidad.

Lo que mas me gusto fue el personaje de Alex y como se desarrollo a través de la trama, todas las pruebas que tiene que superar, desde las que le presenta la vida en su hogar,las que le impone la inhóspita y salvaje selva amazónica, y la prueba que lo llevara a ser hombre y mas adelante héroe.

Es una excelente historia, de las pocas que he leído que suceden en Venezuela, por eso lo recomiendo a todos, y pronto leeré las otras dos partes de la trilogía.

Un libro lleno de misterios, la primera mitad me tuvo muy confundido, pero despues logre aclararme y ver lo que pasaba, aunque el principio es muy lento, y la acción no llega hasta la mitad, fue una lectura agradable.

I wanted to try some of Allende's work, and being lazy I picked one of her kids' books. However, I'm not sure that was the best choice after all. 'City of the Beasts' was not quite my cup of tea, even though I generally enjoy YA-books. However, I tend to enjoy them because they are lighthearted and easy to read, or because they present difficult problems in a slightly less depressing light. City on the Beasts did not have that lightness. It wanted to incorporate some issues (genocide, exploitation of native cultures, the damage that is done to some parts of the earth), but I felt it got a bit preachy at times. Too many issues presented in far too simple terms. Good and evil were a bit too clearly separated, there was only one morally ambiguous character (Leblanc) and he basically turned from caricature annoyingness to not very believable okayness in one moment. Didn't work for me. Also, there was a plot-twist at the end that I found very very very predictable.

Still, three stars for the nice writing and some things that I really liked reading about, even though I didn't think they were altogether believable. In addition, some parts of the book were rather suspenseful, which is why I kept on reading until the end.