480 reviews for:

The City Beautiful

Aden Polydoros

4.19 AVERAGE

bigbean's review against another edition

4.25

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

mantarays's review against another edition

4.0

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

siri_r's review against another edition

4.5

dark reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Alter Rosen, a Jewish boy from Romania, came to Chicago to avoid the worsening Pogroms.  He works hard, saving every penny to pay for his mother and sisters to come to America.  When Jewish boys start going missing, and his best friend is killed, Aden is forced to look into the murders himself.

What I Liked
This book is very dark, very gay, and very Jewish, which is absolutely fantastic.  It is historical fiction with a dark fantasy twist.  I felt that Alter, Frankie, and Yakov were very well-developed characters, and we really understood what made them act as they did.  I liked Alter and Raizel's friendship, and general relationships between characters in this book, who band together to accomplish what one person can't do.  The picture of Chicago we got in this novel felt so real.  The mystery was compelling and satisfying.

What I Didn't Like
I would have liked to see more of Raizel as a character.  She shows up when needed, but leaves the scene pretty quickly afterward.  I would have liked to see her developed more.

Recommendation
For anyone looking for a dark mystery set during the end of the 19th century, with a nice romance sub-plot.

the_unquiet_librarian's review against another edition

4.25

dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

irelynmooney's review against another edition

5.0

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I wish I had read this sooner. I haven’t been this immersed while reading in so long omg

whatbookisnext's review

4.25

adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

loudroundcloud's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

lou_sam's review against another edition

3.0

challenging dark tense

ioana00's review

3.0

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

courtsbooknook's review against another edition

5.0

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The City Beautiful was exactly how it sounds, completely beautiful. this book was beautifully Jewish and queer and I couldn't get enough of it. I was captivated from the first page to the last and this is definitely one of my favorites. When I say beautifully Jewish, I mean it, the whole book was associated with predominantly Jewish languages, folklore and history tying into a really well written narrative. Polydoros brought out so many emotions and the writing was so lyrical. I couldn't put it down and I'm just so so impressed. This truly was unlike any other book I've read and the combination of the fantastical elements with the historic and the familial and friendships was effortless. The book was seamless. I loved Alter as a main character and his relationships with his roommates, Frankie and Yakov were exceptionally done and I enjoyed seeing the growth in each of them. I highly recommend this book, it was absolutely stunning and I loved it.