Delightful trilogy, great to share with young people
From Amazon
This is the first of Isabel Allende's trilogy... for young people and adults. written in her great literary style it is full of vivid images, great travel information, and delightful characters ranging from an elderly anthropologist to her young teen grandson and young female from the Amazon.
I suppose somewhere in here might be the heavy religious tones of Narnia or Philip Pullman (if so I missed them). Beasts and its sequels are simply delightful imaginative tales... a bit like Hudson's,Green Mansions, seldom read today. this is nature fantasy, not technology stuff.
This would be a good family read choice: suitable for good readers of about a 6th grade reading level or a good parent read aloud book for poorer readers or a "you read a chapter, I read a chapter" bed time reading. It is a great introduction to a good writer with outstanding adults books. Once I read one I needed all three and bought all three for adults sons for Christmas. Great price at amazon buying all three together in paperback.
City of the Beasts
From Amazon
//City of the Beasts// is a foray into a different genre by Isabel Allende, a Chilean writer best known for her gripping memoirs and new world/magic realism sagas. As this is a YA-focused book, don't expect the literary prowess of "Barrabas came as if by sea," or any of her grand classics, and you won't be disappointed. This reads as a typical YA adventure novel, complete with missing parents, dangerous situations and the main character that doesn't quite fit in, yet makes his way to hero status. Alex Cold is displaced from his childhood home due to his mother's cancer and placed under his grandmother's care in time for a trip to the innards of the Amazon. Cold must not only save a native tribe, but also find the cure for his mother's cancer, all while trying to impress his love interest, Nadia. Unfortunately, Cold's mission is often interrupted by swaths of Allende's preachiness on all manner of things, the first one being an odd, awkward treatise on marijuana within the first chapter. In addition, certain plot elements are quite trite and annoying. For example, Alex, a white, male, American teenager is responsible for coming into the unconquered Amazon and using his "superior" knowledge to save a native tribe in their natural environment. Such an overwritten tale of Western superiority is definitely not expected from a Latin American female author, and was quite off-putting.
Reviewed by Allena Tapia
City of the Beast
From Amazon
City of The Beast is the beginning of the exciting series written by Isabel Allende. A young teenager named Alexander Cold that travels to the Amazon with his grandmother in search of a magical creature called the Beast.
Alexander Cold is sent to stay with his grandmother, while his mom is treated for cancer. His grandmother and him travel to the Amazon in search for a mystical creature called the Beast. While on the journey Alex and other girl gets kidnapped by the "People of the Mist," a tribe that can turn invisible, travel to the mystical city of El Dorado to find the City of the Gods.
If you're a person that likes to read science fiction then this book is for you. You should read this book because it was very interesting. How a nine-foot tall creature can produce a smell that can leave you unconscious or paralyze. It was also very adventurous. Nadia and Alex travel with a shaman to the magical city of El Dorado to see the City of the Gods. This book is also very sad. Alex has to leave his cancer sick mother to face chemo alone.
This book is a must read for anyone who wants more in the series.
by Wyatt Dungan
Easy read
From Amazon
All of the books in this series are fun easy reads, more for children coming of age. I did enjoy the mature and sometimes paranormal concepts these books have to offer. The characters are engaging and have thought provoking adventures. While this is definitely a read I would have enjoyed more as a young adult, I liked them enough to finish all 3 within a week or so.
Amazing story...amazing book!
From Amazon
I'm 45 and I picked up this book without realizing it was a "young adult" read and LOVED it. Really, really loved it and recommend it with enthusiasm! Now I'm reading the sequel"Kingdom of the Golden Dragon" ...and enjoying it as well.