City of the Beasts is the first book of the three in this YA series by Isabel Allende. It was published in 2002.

Alexander Cold is a 15-year-old struggling with a family crisis. His mother Lisa is terminally ill, his father is scrambling to pull the family together and his younger sisters are fighting their own battles. When his parents have to travel to Texas for Lisa’s treatment, they decide that their children should stay with their two grandmothers. Lisa’s mother takes the daughters and Kate, their paternal grandmother takes Alex. 

Kate is not your regular grandmother. She is a sixty-four-year-old journalist for International Geographic. She announces that she is going to the Amazon rainforest for an expedition and she is taking Alex with her. This expedition, financed by International Geographic, will lead them to the heart of the Amazon on the border between Brazil and Venezuela. Their goal is to find a gigantic humanoid creature that has been sighted a number of times in that area.

And so they set out on this adventure, along with an assigned crew consisting of an anthropologist, a photographer and his assistant, a Brazilian guide, his daughter Nadia and a Venezuelan doctor among others. The speculations about this supposed creature and the tribe of uncontacted Indians that they might need to confront, fuels their trip. However, they are confronted with many secrets, astonishing beauties, and startling discoveries and make this trip far from the planned escapade they had in their minds.

How did it make me feel?

The Narrative

City of the Beasts really surprised me. It took me a minute to adjust to Allende’s writing style in this book but I quickly settled into this spell-binding narrative built on a majorly unexplored part of our world. I think the book appeals to the younger spectrum of young adult readers more. Having said that, once the story kickstarted it was pretty captivating and I could not put it down. The climax was exceptional!

The Characters

I fell in love with Kate! I hope to turn out as badass as her by the time I’m sixty-four! Haha! Anyways, I loved Alex and Nadia and I’m actually looking forward to where their adventures will take them in the next two books.

Would I recommend it?

I think young adult fantasy readers will love this. It just has that quick-and-easy kind of vibe and keeps you thoroughly entertained throughout. Give it a try!

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