A Cidade dos Deuses Selvagens (As Memórias da Águia e do Jaguar #1) by Isabel Allende

Mar 12, 2009 Chandra rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: kids-young-adult, isabel-allende

This was a very disappointing foray into children's literature for one of my very favorite authors. I really cringe to think that this might be some people's only exposure to Allende. This story about 2 children's amazon journey starts out strong and then goes completely wheels off when they encounter a hidden tribe of magical Indians. There is no way I will even think of reading the sequels. Absolutely not recommended!

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Jun 10, 2008 Mo rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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, exploitati...more

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Oct 03, 2007 Elizabeth rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

I wrote the below review while reading City of the Beasts; however, I later discovered that the book is actually the first of a trilogy written by Isabelle Allende for teenage readers! Oops! Although I wouldn't recommend the book to an adult, I imagine a teenager might enjoy it.

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I had some exposure to Isabelle Allende in high school Spanish class and had relatively high expectations for her writing ability considering that she is a well-renowned, best selling author. I was thoroughly disappo...more

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Dec 04, 2010 Carmen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

My friend read Isabel Allende books and she lend me this one. At first, after a few pages, I was sceptical and didn't expect much. I decided to keep on reading in any case (I cannot put a book down, even if it is bad) and I soon relized that I may have been predjudiced.

The story line was quite nice but the fact that the boy played flute certainly made an impact. I had some trouble with my commitment towards my flute playing because I didn't practice and whatever. Although him pulling his flute...more

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Jul 25, 2008 Natalie rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Gah! I was really disappointed with this little series from Allende. I love her books so much, but she did NOT successfully make the transition to writing for younger readers. The plots of all three in the series were very interesting and could have been a lot of fun, but the writing was often awkward and forced, especially the magical bits. The characters were a little two-dimensional, and even the dialogue was strained. She had some nifty ideas, but it seemed like she was trying to dumb them d...more

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Apr 20, 2010 Joyce Lagow rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Normally I don� t read Young Adult fiction because usually the level of sophistication� justifiably so� is lower than I like to read. Not that I� m always happy with adult fiction in that regard, for that matter! However, I do recognize the differences in target audiences. [return][return]But I couldn� t� resist this one. Isabel Allende is one of my favorite authors; I have almost all of her books in translation and one in Spanish. Her work is superb. And this story is set in the Amazon basin, a...more Normally I don� t read Young Adult fiction because usually the level of sophistication� justifiably so� is lower than I like to read. Not that I� m always happy with adult fiction in that regard, for that matter! However, I do recognize the differences in target audiences. [return][return]But I couldn� t� resist this one. Isabel Allende is one of my favorite authors; I have almost all of her books in translation and one in Spanish. Her work is superb. And this story is set in the Amazon basin, a region I� ve visited a number of times and love. Allende dedicated the book to "Alejandro, Andrea, and Nicole, who asked me for this story". These, as it turns out, are the names of Alexander, one of the protagonists, and his two younger sisters. Clearly Allende meant the book as a story for young people to enjoy. I decided to buy it.[return][return][return]The story� s main protagonists are two teenagers, an American boy, Alexander, and Nadia, a Brasilian girl. The heart of the action actually takes place in Venezuela, off the upper Orinoco River. The plot centers around the efforts of a party sponsored by the magazine International Geographic, which includes Alexander� s grandmother who is a free lance writer of some renown, an eccentric anthropologist who is one of those all too common types who makes up theories to make him famous and then goes searching for the � facts� to back him up, a Brasilian female doctor, various army people, and a shadowy Brasilian entrepeneur who has made fortunes off of stealing lands (legally) from indigenous Amazon tribes. They are all on the search for The Beast, a legendary gigantic two legged creature that resembles the Yeti in many ways. Interestingly enough, in real life there have been reports on the river� but east of the area in which Allende has set her story� of a Yeti-like creature. It� s quite possibly what Allende based her story on.[return][return]Naturally there is an encounter with a heretofore-unknown tribe of indigenous people, skullduggery, kidnapping, adventures to the heart of the jungle� all with generous doses of humor (I can believe that Allende is well-acquainted with teenagers) and South American magical realisism to boot. What I particularly appreciated about the book was the Allende provided large amounts of information about deforestation of the Amazon and the illegal activities that go on there without either being preachy or intrusive. It� s a great way of teaching.[return][return]I enjoyed the book� it was fun. It� s the first of a trilogy involving Alexander, his grandmother, and Nadia; the sequel takes place in the Himilayas.(less)

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Apr 22, 2013 Paula rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed

This was one of the first books for young adults I've read. I loved the story and the characters. It has everything i was looking for in a book at that age; magic, mystery, exotic places and characters that i could relate to in a way. The fact that the leads were kids living the adventure of their life was what really got to me, add to this the different worlds that showed me too. Lots of people underrate this book because they compare it to Allende's other work, but what they don't have in mind...more

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Mar 09, 2013 Joy H. rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, fantasy

Added 3/9/13
While going through my notes, I discovered that I read this book back in 2004.

I wrote the following criticisms before I realized that it was a young adult book:
==================================
I would not recommend this book. It had no depth. The writing was sophomoric. The text doesn't scan well at certain points. There are long clumsy sentences. The syntax in certain sentences is poor (needed an editor?). There are too many characters. The names were foreign to me and were hard to...more

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Dec 21, 2012 Blablabla Aleatório rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: nubia

Quase comecei essa história de trás para frente. Apesar de ouvir falarem sobre Allende e suas obras, ainda não tinha lido nenhum de seus livros e quando me deparei com um exemplar de A Floresta dos Pigmeus em uma livraria, quase o comprei (arrependo-me de não tê-lo feito, agora ele é mais a figurar na minha lista de desejados) porque fiquei interessada na história. Na época não imaginava que ele era o último volume de uma trilogia publicada originalmente em 2002. Consegui A Cidade das Feras por...more

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Sep 14, 2012 Savanah rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Reading Level: 1030 (Lexile)
Interest Level: 8-12 grade
Genre: Multicultural Literature
Main Characters: Alex, Kate, and Nadia
Setting: The Amazon Forest, South America
Point of View: Alex

This was a fantastic read translated from Spanish to English. The main character, Alex is forced to spend some time with his eccentric grandmother, Kate, a writer for International Geographic, while his mother is fighting cancer. Kate takes Alex along on an expedition to the Amazon Forest in search of a legendary cr...more

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Jul 07, 2012 Alloo Osama rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

الّليندي المجنونة ! ـ
:D

حسنًا .. إيزابيل الليندي ، هُنا تحكّي عن مدينة البهائم ،، قصّة الفتى ذي الخمسة عشر ربيعًا ، أليكساندر كولد .. الذي يذهب مع جدّته -لأبيه- الستّينيّة الخرقاء الكاتبة الشهيرة كات كولد ، في بعثة الإنترناشيونال جيوغرافيك إلى غابات الأمازون وأمريكا اللاتينية ..
أليكساندر الذي يُضطَّر إلى الذهاب في هذه الرحلة نظرًا لإصابة والدته ليزا بالسّرطان وذهاب والده معاها ليُعالجها ، فقد اتّفقا على إرسال بناتهما أندريا ونيكول إلى الجدّة -أمّ والدتهما- والتي تُدعى كلارا ، في حين ذهاب أليكس إ...more الّليندي المجنونة ! ـ
:D

حسنًا .. إيزابيل الليندي ، هُنا تحكّي عن مدينة البهائم ،، قصّة الفتى ذي الخمسة عشر ربيعًا ، أليكساندر كولد .. الذي يذهب مع جدّته -لأبيه- الستّينيّة الخرقاء الكاتبة الشهيرة كات كولد ، في بعثة الإنترناشيونال جيوغرافيك إلى غابات الأمازون وأمريكا اللاتينية ..
أليكساندر الذي يُضطَّر إلى الذهاب في هذه الرحلة نظرًا لإصابة والدته ليزا بالسّرطان وذهاب والده معاها ليُعالجها ، فقد اتّفقا على إرسال بناتهما أندريا ونيكول إلى الجدّة -أمّ والدتهما- والتي تُدعى كلارا ، في حين ذهاب أليكس إلى جدّته الأخرى -أمّ والده- والتي تُدعى كات كولد وتعيش في نيويورك ، وتذهب إلى الأمازون مع حفيدها ..

تحكّي الليندي في اسلوب مشوّق لا تكاد تستطيع ترك حكايتها حتّى تصل إلى نهايتها ، بسردها الماتع ، وخيالها الواسع جدّا ، تحكي قصّة هذه المُغامرة ،، وكيف يلتقي أليكس بناديا زانتوس الطفلة البرازيليّة ، ويتعرّضا معًا للهنود الحُمر وأهل الضّباب .. وعن البهيمة - الكائن الإسطوريّ ، الذي يشبه الغووريللا أو حيوان الكسلان الضخم ، لكنّه يفوقهما حجمًا برأس أصغر وذراعان طويلان يصلان إلى الأرض ،، ومخالب ثُلاثيّة في كلّ ذراع ، وشعرٍ كثيف ،، يُصدِر هذا الكائن حين يتعرّض للخطر رائحة نتنة نفّاذة وخانقة ، أفظع من الظريبان -

لن أفسِدَ القصة .. القصة مُمتعة على الرُغم من بُعدها الخيالي جدًا وخرافاتها -الهبلة-.. كانت كأفلام الكارتون ، الرسوم المُتحرّكة .. :D

تستطيع توقّع نهايتها ،فهي تُناسب فتى في الثانية عشر من العُمر ،، لا أكثر xD

ثلاثُ نجمات ، وأكون أكرمتها :D(less)

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Jul 07, 2012 Alloo Osama rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

الّليندي المجنونة ! ـ
:D

حسنًا .. إيزابيل الليندي ، هُنا تحكّي عن مدينة البهائم ،، قصّة الفتى ذي الخمسة عشر ربيعًا ، أليكساندر كولد .. الذي يذهب مع جدّته -لأبيه- الستّينيّة الخرقاء الكاتبة الشهيرة كات كولد ، في بعثة الإنترناشيونال جيوغرافيك إلى غابات الأمازون وأمريكا اللاتينية ..
أليكساندر الذي يُضطَّر إلى الذهاب في هذه الرحلة نظرًا لإصابة والدته ليزا بالسّرطان وذهاب والده معاها ليُعالجها ، فقد اتّفقا على إرسال بناتهما أندريا ونيكول إلى الجدّة -أمّ والدتهما- والتي تُدعى كلارا ، في حين ذهاب أليكس إ...more الّليندي المجنونة ! ـ
:D

حسنًا .. إيزابيل الليندي ، هُنا تحكّي عن مدينة البهائم ،، قصّة الفتى ذي الخمسة عشر ربيعًا ، أليكساندر كولد .. الذي يذهب مع جدّته -لأبيه- الستّينيّة الخرقاء الكاتبة الشهيرة كات كولد ، في بعثة الإنترناشيونال جيوغرافيك إلى غابات الأمازون وأمريكا اللاتينية ..
أليكساندر الذي يُضطَّر إلى الذهاب في هذه الرحلة نظرًا لإصابة والدته ليزا بالسّرطان وذهاب والده معاها ليُعالجها ، فقد اتّفقا على إرسال بناتهما أندريا ونيكول إلى الجدّة -أمّ والدتهما- والتي تُدعى كلارا ، في حين ذهاب أليكس إلى جدّته الأخرى -أمّ والده- والتي تُدعى كات كولد وتعيش في نيويورك ، وتذهب إلى الأمازون مع حفيدها ..

تحكّي الليندي في اسلوب مشوّق لا تكاد تستطيع ترك حكايتها حتّى تصل إلى نهايتها ، بسردها الماتع ، وخيالها الواسع جدّا ، تحكي قصّة هذه المُغامرة ،، وكيف يلتقي أليكس بناديا زانتوس الطفلة البرازيليّة ، ويتعرّضا معًا للهنود الحُمر وأهل الضّباب .. وعن البهيمة - الكائن الإسطوريّ ، الذي يشبه الغووريللا أو حيوان الكسلان الضخم ، لكنّه يفوقهما حجمًا برأس أصغر وذراعان طويلان يصلان إلى الأرض ،، ومخالب ثُلاثيّة في كلّ ذراع ، وشعرٍ كثيف ،، يُصدِر هذا الكائن حين يتعرّض للخطر رائحة نتنة نفّاذة وخانقة ، أفظع من الظريبان -

لن أفسِدَ القصة .. القصة مُمتعة على الرُغم من بُعدها الخيالي جدًا وخرافاتها -الهبلة-.. كانت كأفلام الكارتون ، الرسوم المُتحرّكة .. :D

تستطيع توقّع نهايتها ،فهي تُناسب فتى في الثانية عشر من العُمر ،، لا أكثر xD

ثلاثُ نجمات ، وأكون أكرمتها :D(less)

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Jun 15, 2012 Jane Odgers rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Beginning

City of the Beasts begins with the story of Alexander Cold, who is 15 years old and going through a family crisis. While his parents leave for Texas to try to treat his mother's cancer, Alex and his sisters are sent to live with their grandmothers. Despite his desperate pleading, Alex is sent off to New York City to stay with his eccentric grandmother Kate Cold,a reporter for International Geographic Magazine. His sisters, however are sent to live with their Grandmother Carla. Meanwhile...more

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Apr 11, 2012 Tomasc rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 v...more

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Apr 09, 2012 Felita rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, young-adult, action

Alexander Cold tidak pernah menyangka di usianya yg kelima belas akan menemukan kejutan yang mengjungkirbalikkan hidupnya.

kejutan pertama
ibu tercintanya menderita kanker, menjadikan Alex harus hidup sementara dg neneknya, Kate Cold, seorang wanita paruh baya yg gemar berpetualang. Kate tidak punya sifat seorang nenek pd umumnya spt mengurus rumah atau membuat kue utk cucunya, malah sebaliknya Kate bersikap dingin spt tidak menjemput Alex di bandara spy sang cucu bisa dtg ke apartemennya dg jalan...more Alexander Cold tidak pernah menyangka di usianya yg kelima belas akan menemukan kejutan yang mengjungkirbalikkan hidupnya.

kejutan pertama
ibu tercintanya menderita kanker, menjadikan Alex harus hidup sementara dg neneknya, Kate Cold, seorang wanita paruh baya yg gemar berpetualang. Kate tidak punya sifat seorang nenek pd umumnya spt mengurus rumah atau membuat kue utk cucunya, malah sebaliknya Kate bersikap dingin spt tidak menjemput Alex di bandara spy sang cucu bisa dtg ke apartemennya dg jalan kaki dan dicopet maling.

kejutan kedua
petualangan yg dialami Alex ketika ikut neneknya utk meliput sesosok mahluk buas yg tinggal di hutan Amazon, Amerika Latin. berteman dg Nadia, anak perempuan yg bs bahasa binatang dan bahasa indian, bertemu dg orang indian asli di pedalaman, merasakan hijaunya hutan perawan amazon, jernihnya sungai-sungai yg membelah hutan dan interaksinya dg suku indian.

kejutan ketiga
perubahan jati diri yg dialami Alex mulai saat dia bertemu dg totem binatangnya. dikisahkan semua orang memiliki roh binatang yg selalu menemani, layaknya sebuah jiwa. tidak semua orang dapat menemukannya, kecuali seorang pejuang hebat.saat itu, Alex tidak menyadari bahwa dia dan nadia akan menjadi utusan penting dari "orang barat" utk bertemu mahluk buas yg mjd legenda diantara orang indian dan berperang melawan Rahakanariwa, burung raksasa legenda yg suka menghisap darah orang2 indian.

kejutan keempat
Alex dan Nadia tidak menyadari sosok Rahakanariwa yg sebenarnya sampai menemukannya ternyata sosok tersebut dibawa oleh bangsanya sendiri.

yg kusuka dari cerita ini, unsur kejutan keempat di atas diletakkan pengarang di akhir cerita. petualangan alex di hutan dan interaksinya dg orang indian amazon, membuatku bertanya, apa pengarangnya pernah hidup dg orang indian? terasa bukan sekedar info ecek2 tp mendalam.pesan moralnya sama dg hutan kita. janganlah mengusik kekayaan hutan dan orang2 asli yg sdh lama hidup di dalamnya hy demi mineral yg banyak dieksploitasi *jd inget kampanye greenpeace dan walhi*

satu kekurangannya, cerita dg sudut pandang orang ketiga kurang cocok. walalupun idenya menarik, masih terasa kurang menggigit.utk itu kasi 3 bintang aja deh(less)

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Feb 06, 2012 ConvincoDude rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: worst-literary-mistakes-of-my-life, fantasy, childrens, science-fiction

When I was about, let's see, ten or eleven years old, I got the sequel, "Kingdom of the Golden Dragon," for Christmas. For some inexplicable reason, my dad really enjoyed it, but I hated it, probably because it was part two of the series and I'd never read part one. So for my sophomore year of high school, when my English teacher told us to read a total of four books written by foreign-born authors (that is, born outside of the US or England), I'd run out of ideas by the time I had to read the f...more When I was about, let's see, ten or eleven years old, I got the sequel, "Kingdom of the Golden Dragon," for Christmas. For some inexplicable reason, my dad really enjoyed it, but I hated it, probably because it was part two of the series and I'd never read part one. So for my sophomore year of high school, when my English teacher told us to read a total of four books written by foreign-born authors (that is, born outside of the US or England), I'd run out of ideas by the time I had to read the fourth book, until I remembered "Golden Dragon" and decided to begin at the beginning, with "City of the Beasts."

Here's the story: Alex Cold, age 15, has to go live with his crazy-woman grandmother Kate in New York, while his mom is in the hospital with cancer. Kate Cold is a world-renowned reporter for "International Geographic" magazine (oh what a subtle way to get past the copyright hounds). She goes on expeditions around the world, investigating all the exotic things available to report on. Her latest assignment: go to the storied Amazon rain forest and look into claims that a strange, honking big Beast is killing off people by stinking the hell out of them. She is forced to reluctantly take her inexperienced grandson with her on the trip. They go into the Amazon, board a run-down ship to travel upriver, accompanied by the ship's captain and his daughter Nadia, an obnoxiously arrogant French archaeologist, and local authorities (who don't say or do anything of the suspicious persuasion, no sir! sarcasm)

Uh-huh. Yeah. Trouble is, it's all stupid. Most of the "plot" twists can be sensed miles away. The writing is horrible and clunky and a holy mess - part of that may be due to the fact that Allende, despite having lived in America for many years, still insists on writing in Spanish, and perhaps the translator tried to render each individual line in as literal a translation from the original as possible. I wouldn't know, I don't speak Spanish. I also have to credit this story with making me come to hate pretty much any and all stories having to do with the Amazon (although the new show "The River" has undone the damage.) Try something else instead. You'll thank me.(less)

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Apr 04, 2011 viktoria rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Young Adults

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. When I first got that book for Christmas (and in german) a couple years ago, I really didn't knew if I should like it. At that time I did not liked reading that much. But it was a present, so I started it. And couldn't stop! I loved it. The way Isabel Allende made it so understandable how life in a Rain forest could be, and is. It is truly amazing. The story of Nadja and Alexander, how they became best friends and thought they would never see each other again after that miraculous adventure - fa...more

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Jan 12, 2011 Lis Carey rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: f-sf

Alexander Cold, a fifteen-year-old California boy, is sent to stay with his grandmother in New York while his mother is being treated for cancer. After arriving at the airport to find no one waiting for him, he wanders through an alternate-dimension New York where no one will give directions to a polite out-of-towner, has all his belongings except his passport stolen by a girl around whom, had the plot not demanded it, he'd never have dropped his guard for a second, and eventually winds up at th...more Alexander Cold, a fifteen-year-old California boy, is sent to stay with his grandmother in New York while his mother is being treated for cancer. After arriving at the airport to find no one waiting for him, he wanders through an alternate-dimension New York where no one will give directions to a polite out-of-towner, has all his belongings except his passport stolen by a girl around whom, had the plot not demanded it, he'd never have dropped his guard for a second, and eventually winds up at the door of his grandmother's apartment. Grandma Kate is a reporter for International Geographic, so of course she promptly takes Alex off on an expedition to Brazil, to track a yeti-like creature reported to inhabit remote portions of the Amazonian jungle. (This expedition is, of course, the reason his passport couldn't be stolen.) The Amazonian version is known simply as the Beast, and the North American version, i.e., sasquatch, or "Bigfoot," has apparently never been heard of, or at least is never mentioned. The Beast is also rumored to have a city, hence the title of the book.

Besides Kate and Alex, the expedition consists of two International Geographic photographers, a pilot, Cesar Santos, who's an experienced guidefor jungle expeditions, the pilot's twelve-year-old daughter Nadia, the anthropologist Ludovic Leblanc, Doctor Omayra Torres, and assorted other hangers-on and spear-carriers. After enough initial obstacles have been overcome, the expedition sets out up the Amazon, encountering wild beasts and wild Indians along the way, until the two children become separat ed and have an amazing adventure, learning what the adults are not worthy to know.

As you may be gathering by this point, I found this book irritating rather than enjoyable. Some of the problems, the ones involving speaking styles and word choice, may well be problems of translation. For instance, in the sentence "Wheeling in the air were birds he had never seen before, some as translucid and filmy as jellyfish, others as solid as black condors" on pages 260-261, the use of translucid rather than translucent is probably not Ms. Allende's doing. (The idea of birds being either translucid or translucent is another matter, but leave that aside for the moment.) Likewise, when Ms. Allende wrote the Spanish original of "My parents do not tolerate guns. If they saw me with this they would faint" (page 130) or '"And to think that I have deprived myself of this delicious treat for more than fifteen years!" he exclaimed at the second mouthful' (page 240, where Alex finally breaks down and tries eating fish) she may well have had Alex sounding like a normal fifteen-year-old boy.

Other things are harder to blame on the translator. Ludovic Leblanc is a cartoon western racist, believing and actively promoting all sorts of claptrap about the bestial nature of the Indians a nd the essential brutality of human nature, even when he has to create the evidence himself. He's completely incompetent, impractical, and quite impervious to facts, reason, or experience until the end of the story, when a single experience changes all his opinions and transforms him, temporarily, into a clear-thinking plotter with nerves of steel. Much is made of the fact that Alex is an extraordinarily picky eater; in fact he allegedly doesn't eat for several weeks of the expedition, because nothing's on offer that's on his short list of acceptable foods. We are repeatedly reminded that Alex is not eating. Why doesn't he collapse from hunger?

Then there's the Magic Indian. Now, some of the Indians are magical because it's an integral part of the story. Matuwe, on the other hand, is just magical once, when the plot needs him to be: "His sense of orientation was so extraordinary that, although he had never flown, he was able to locate their position in that vast green expanse of jungle and to indicate with precision the place where the International Geographic party was waiting." (page 333, when Matuwe returns by helicopter with a rescue party.)

More generally, except for Kate, Alex, and Nadia, all the significant white expedition members are either villains or dupes--and even Kate is a bit of a dupe. All the Indians are good guys. Indian culture is pure, connected to nature, and good, while white culture is unnatural, fake, bad. It gets tiresome very fast.

Besides the failures of logic and characterization, Ms. Allende is also guilty of a simple failure to check easily checked facts. On page 139, we learn this important fact about anacondas: "They didn't dare probe around too much, because those reptiles were known to travel in pairs, and no one was inclined to chance another confrontation." This seemed odd to me, and I did a little checking. Amongst the several sources I found that told me the anaconda is ordinarily solitary are http://nashvillezoo.org/anaconda.htm and http://www.extremescience.com/biggest... And concerning the Beasts, on page 389: "...they're very ancient animals, maybe from the Stone Age, or earlier." Now, maybe Ms. Allende doesn't have web access, but I bet she has access to at least one good library. I bet a reference librarian could help her find out something about the habits of anacondas, or whether the Stone Age counts as "ancient" on the scale of biological evolution.

All in all, a disappointing and irritating book. Don't waste your own time, and don't give this to the younger readers it's intended for, who ought to be discovering what's fun about reading.
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Dec 09, 2010 Laura rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Alex Cold is not taking his mother's illness very well. He has become sullen and distant. He's even broken everything in his room in a rage. When his father tells him that he will be joining his grandmother, Kate, on an Amazon expedition while his mother undergoes treatment, to say the least he is not happy. Kate has always been the weird grandmother.

On the expedition he meets Nadia, the daughter of the group's guide who has never lived anywhere else. Alex and Nadia become friends despite the v...more Alex Cold is not taking his mother's illness very well. He has become sullen and distant. He's even broken everything in his room in a rage. When his father tells him that he will be joining his grandmother, Kate, on an Amazon expedition while his mother undergoes treatment, to say the least he is not happy. Kate has always been the weird grandmother.

On the expedition he meets Nadia, the daughter of the group's guide who has never lived anywhere else. Alex and Nadia become friends despite the vast difference in their lives so far. They pick up clues that lead them to believe that the harmless expedition they are part of is being used for nefarious purposes. After being kidnapped by The People of the Mist, a native tribe untouched by the outside world, they become the saviors of this tribe.

Up to this point I loved the story. Its when the 'Beasts 'are introduced that I began to loose interest. These beasts resemble Bigfoot; hairy, smelly, ugly, ancient. But there's a whole tribe of them. And they've hidden in the rainforest with only the People of the Mist as their outside contacts. Still alright so far, but then Allende lost me. It is revealed the the 'Beasts' have magical powers. They are the living history book of the People of the Mist. They communicate via a language that no one knows but those who are meant to understand. They have hidden the People through various invasions and sustained them through sicknesses and times of deprivation. Its all too convenient. It just seems like a disaster movie that in the end, everything was caused by aliens. It felt like Allende got bored and didn't want to spend any more time on the story so just wrote an expedient ending. Except that I've also read the next book in the series, yes I know, I should have learned from this one, and it ALSO has a mythical monster solution to the characters' problems. Not what I would have expected from the author of Portrait in Sepia. Please know that these books are NOT representative of Allende's writing for adults. I loved her version of the story of Zorro. So; read Isabel Allende, just not her books for young adults.(less)

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Feb 06, 2013 LibraryCin rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, teenagers, adventure, amazon, south-america

3.5 stars

15-year old Alexander's mom has cancer. She has to go away to be treated, so Alexander and his sisters are sent to stay with their grandparents (Alexander with his scary grandmother, Kate, and his sisters with their other grandparents) for a while. While Alexander is there, Kate has a trip to the Amazon planned, so Alexander comes along, and has an adventure he never would have expected.

I really liked it at the start and a little way into the book, but in the middle, once the fantasy e...more

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Jan 27, 2011 Erin rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: children-teen, native-american-fiction

This book deserves four stars for the wonderful magical realism that Allende crafts and two for the terrible plot. The premise of a group of native people that need to be saved by outsiders is tired. To add insult to injury, the outsiders responsible for the salvation of the natives are teenagers. My mind wandered to create a Dances with Wolves in the Amazon scenario while reading.

I was also struck by the amount of explaining and preaching contained within the story. Allende does not hide her a...more

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Oct 06, 2010 Max Ostrovsky rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, fiction, magic-realism, young-adult, spanish

When I first found out that my freshman students were reading "City of Beasts" in another class, I was blown away. I've read Allende, and while her prose is beautiful, it is dense. But my students were raving about! They loved it!
So I asked one of my students to borrow it.
The first thing I noticed was the larger margins, the larger print, the larger spaces between the words.
"Huh," I said, figuring that it was just type set.
And then, as I began reading, I noticed that it wasn't like any Allen...more

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May 18, 2012 Dinah rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

There are subtle, very well done environmental books in the world. Even 'Magic Kingdom for sale ... SOLD!' has an environmental message courtesy of the River King. This book, however, demonstrates some of the classic pitfalls novels focused on environmental awareness make over and over again. The factoids about endangered species and rainforests are out of place and rattled off in pages of forced dialogue. These statistics pock mark the understanding of the characters and even interrupt action s...more

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Mar 06, 2011 Lucy rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011

I like Isabel Allende: I think she's fiesty, funny and a very eloquent when I heard that she hadn't written a book about sustainability issues, I was very excited. However, I admit that I read this book because it was recommended to me by a friend who described it as 'unputdownable'.

I disagree.

The language was far simpler than you would expect from an Allende novel but as the book is aimed at teenager readers this is not unexpected. You would expect the story, however, to be gripping and well d...more

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Mar 08, 2012 Bunga Mawar rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: it-s-mine, translated-into-indonesian, fiction

Bintang 3 karena di buku ini banyak informasi mengenai antropologi dan kehidupan liar di belantara Amazon. Tapi sejujurnya saya merasa bosan karena kok seisi buku ini jadi serupa dongeng, bukan kisah petualangan remaja yang seru di tengah hutan yang eksotis. Sebabnya, seluruh kejadian dalam buku ini, berikut alasan2nya, diceritakan semua tumplek blek secara naratif oleh pengarangnya, tidak memberi kesempatan pembaca untuk deg2an, atau penasaran, atau ikut bertualang atau menebak-nebak kenapa si...more

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Jun 17, 2009 Kristin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

City of the Beasts by Isabel Allende is a fascinating fantasy (couldn’t resist) with plenty of adventure and action. This book is about Alex Cold, who must leave the rest of his family (including his sick mother) to stay with his grandmother, Kate. Kate is about to embark on an expedition to the Amazon to write an article on the legendary Beast. This trip develops into more of a journey for Alex and his new friend Nadia. As jaguar and eagle, the two must save the People of the Mist as well as di...more

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Feb 21, 2013 Emma Sylvia Felix rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Definitivamente nada mi gusto, pero bueno ya lo tenía... Ideal para adolescentes

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Mar 15, 2011 Anastasia rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: contemporanei, cile

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Allora, questo è il primo libro che leggo della Allende.
Ho letto in giro varie opinioni deluse, ma io sinceramente l'ho trovato un buon libro. Un 4\5.
La storia non è noiosa, è affascinante per tutti gli elementi magici. Naturalmente io non ho le basi per giudicare questa storia migliore di altre o peggiore, anche se magari in futuro leggerò qualcos'altro dell'autrice. Ha uno stile niente male. Poi la storia ha i suoi colpi di scena che non ti aspettavi, come la dottoressa Torres e le sue siring...more

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Jan 23, 2013 Raquel rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jan 12, 2011 Rauli rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Para todos aquellos que critican este libro por ser tan differente a todos los otros libros de Isabel Allende: No sean tontos claro que lo es es un libro para Niños y Jovenes ! que niño quiere leer algo sobre la vida desolada de alguien o de la cabeza de una madre que se encuentra en un closet del sotano o de la horrible que es perder a tu hija?? Enverdad tienen que tomar encuesta a la audiencia a la cual el libro esta dirigida. La aventura de un niño cualquiera como Alex en la Selva Amazonica d...more

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title link	preview: A Cidade dos Deuses Selvagens
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A Cidade dos Deuses Selvagens (Eagle and Jaguar #1)

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