Scan barcode
bluejayreads's review
3.75
Graphic: Death and Antisemitism
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Blood, Violence, and Murder
Minor: Genocide, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, and Fire/Fire injury
Pogroms/massacres (mentions), starvation/hunger, unreality, drowningemily_mh's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Rep: gay Jewish MC, gay Jewish LI, Jewish SCs
Graphic: Death, Murder, Antisemitism, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Gore
Moderate: Physical abuse, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Cursing, Child abuse, Classism, Genocide, Excrement, Grief, Gun violence, Death of parent, Violence, Pedophilia, Rape, Animal death, and Animal cruelty
Minor: Bullying, Sexual content, Alcohol, Forced institutionalization, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Torture, Vomit, Drug use, Sexism, Misogyny, Police brutality, Medical content, Abandonment, Suicide, Sexual assault, and Ableism
Major: five uses of the antisemitic k-slur Moderate: missing loved one, separation from family, illness, theft, internalised homophobia Minor: drowning, fainting, gambling, blackmail, divorce, police corruption, imprisonment, capital punishment, gentrificationhobbithopeful's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Aden Polydoros wows in this gripping tale about the demons inside all of us, and the consequences of guilt.
Set in Chicago in the 1890s Alter works himself to the bone, numbers running through his head all day as he saves up to bring his Mother and sisters over from Romania. His plans become derailed when his best friend is found dead, and soon he finds himself embroiled in the mystery of missing and dead Jewish boys. To make matters worse he has become possessed by Yakov's dybbuk, his past has come back to haunt him, and it seems his only solution is to ask his ex friend Frankie for help. (Frankie who is doing very well for himself with his mini crime empire, overall attractiveness, and assimilation into "American ways")
Please check your trigger warnings, as this does go to dark places. (It's worth it, I promise!)
I loved how incredibly honest and angry this book was. Every page just felt raw, not in an unpolished and unedited way, but as if the author was baring his heart and soul for us to see, his emotions bleeding through every page and character. (Seriously y'all, you can feel the rage and injustice) I saw so much of myself in so many of the characters, but most of all Frankie. I wanted to scream at the police officers who refused to help, and when
I honestly went in with pretty low expectations after reading The Bone Weaver, and to say this book blew me away was an understatement. The City Beautiful has won a ton of awards, and rightfully so.
The only reason this isn't a 5 star read for me is I felt it kinda slowed down near the end. It was all going so well and great and then
I highly recommend this book, and with a renewed interest in the author, I look forward to what he will write next.
Graphic: Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Racism, Racial slurs, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death and Death of parent
Minor: Child death, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Pedophilia, and Rape
toopunkrockforshul's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Torture, Hate crime, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Body horror, Child death, Violence, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Genocide, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Self harm, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Rape
Minor: Homophobia
This book deals heavily with antisemitism and revolves around a serial killer who targets Jewish boys and men. There is also heavily implied pedophilia and assault/rape of minors. Lots of violence and murder and the main character often mildly self harms to ground himself.spookily's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Antisemitism, Blood, Death, Hate crime, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Violence, Homophobia, and Murder
Moderate: Alcohol, Vomit, Classism, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, and Terminal illness
Minor: Suicide, Bullying, Child death, Excrement, Misogyny, and Police brutality
novella42's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Vomit, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Homophobia, Child death, Hate crime, Grief, Blood, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Gun violence, Death, Antisemitism, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual violence
leahkarge's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Gun violence, Murder, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Antisemitism, Child death, Blood, Classism, Genocide, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Xenophobia, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
ezwolf's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
One of the things I think this book does so well is mix real historical settings along with Jewish mythology. It also delves into (one of) the ways death is treated in Jewish culture. The antisemitism that Alter experiences and danger of being visibly Jewish is something that can be related to even now.
I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for queer Jewish representation!
Also I greatly appreciate that Aden Polydoros posts content warnings on his website for each of his books. I've copied a link to the ones specifically for this book below.
https://adenpolydoros.com/the-city-beautiful
Graphic: Xenophobia, Classism, Homophobia, Antisemitism, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Blood, Child death, Hate crime, Religious bigotry, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Pedophilia, and Rape
Minor: Animal death, Alcohol, and Death of parent
moonytoast's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Antisemitism, Murder, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Child death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Grief, and Pedophilia
Minor: Homophobia and Injury/Injury detail
paracosim's review
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Antisemitism, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Hate crime, Murder, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Xenophobia, Violence, Rape, Pedophilia, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, and Child abuse
Minor: Alcohol