Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

The City Beautiful by Aden Polydoros

38 reviews

paracosim's review

dark mysterious tense 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

4.5

It’s very rare for me to find books like this where the main characters are Jewish, let alone queer Jewish men like myself. This was an absolutely delightful read with fantastic writing, great characters, and high-stakes. I read it half-and-half on audiobook and with a physical copy, and while the audiobook narrator wasn’t my favorite (he sounded a bit too anxious lol), hearing the Yiddish and Hebrew words aloud was really nice and he did some fabulous character voices. I’m looking forward to what Aden Polydoros has in store next! 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Blood, Antisemitism, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Rape, Violence, Xenophobia, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcohol

rowanbg's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

I read this book pretty much in one sitting, and I'm so glad I did. It is always interesting to see historical fiction that focuses of times, places, and people who have been overlooked, and Polydoros sets the scene in such a rich and detailed way. Not to mention the inclusion of the dybbuk, which I have never seen in a novel before, and which brings this beyond a regular ghost story.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Vomit, Antisemitism, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault

Minor: Homophobia

cemeterygay's review

challenging dark

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

5.0

I cannot recommend this book enough. It is a wonderfully haunting story about antisemitism and Jewish culture at the turn of the 20th century. I had such a deep emotional investment in these characters. I think this book was so well paced and the elements of Jewish folklore, history, and storytelling were so well integrated into the plot. This book was so deeply emotional and I was very invested in the mystery/thriller element so deeply.

While I think more people should read this book, please take the content warnings very seriously.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Additional CW: off-page but descriptive grooming/pedophilia plotline, grief over parent, hallucinations, suicide mention, self-harm, non-consensual drug use

criticalgayze's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Of the four books from the Young Adult category I have read or am reading for the 2022 Lammy Awards, this one is my favorite. It's like Cemetery Boys with a more balanced plot and like Before We Disappear with greater historical accuracy. The writing is taut and suspenseful, the plot is well-structured and well-rooted, and the characters are well-developed (an underrated quality in Young Adult literature).

My only qualm with the book is one of tonal consistency. The main character, Alter, is supposed to be a relatively recent immigrant with an emerging grasp of the English language. While I get that he is intelligent in his grasp of concepts in Yiddish and Romanian, he often uses big English vocabulary words that would seem out of his current linguistic grasp. One could make an acceptable argument that Polydoros is providing a "translation" of mental thoughts from Yiddish to English, but this still seems inconsistent with his expansive use of Yiddish terminology. it was a small gripe that can be easily ignored, but it was enough to keep the novel from fully clicking with me.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Rape, Sexual assault, and Fire/Fire injury

kirani's review

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I don’t even know where to start on this review because this book is EVERYTHING! It’s beautifully written, it kept me on the edge of my seat, it made me laugh, it made me cry. It’s queer, it’s Jewish, it’s fantasy, it’s historical, and it’s in Chicago! I really don’t know how to explain it but I *saw* myself in the characters and I love when I can connect to characters, so I was immediately hooked. Also I will think about

“I love you!” “I love you, too, that’s why I have to let you go.”

for the rest of my life. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Blood, Antisemitism, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, and Vomit

Minor: Pedophilia

The racial slurs tag is for antisemitic slurs. There is also a fair bit of internalized homophobia.

ashleycmms's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative lighthearted sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

shaipanda's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense 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? No

4.75

I have FEELINGS about this book lol - both good and bad :) but mostly good tbh
In terms of good, this book was absolutely beautifully written and I really enjoyed the storyline - it was a lot darker and closer to horror than I usually read but I’m glad I finished it and got to find out what happened 
I felt like the mystery made sense and the way they concluded it was really satisfying - also of course by far my favorite part and the reason I read it in the first place was the Jewish representation and the fact that it was just such a truly Jewish story and setting and just everything - it was amazing to see that because I literally never see that 

In terms of stuff I didn’t love:
Obviously like I said this was a lot creepier and I’ve even heard some ppl on booktok describe this as horror I think (edit: not horror but it’s usually described as a thriller which close enough) which I can definitely see and that’s smth I usually avoid
But really my main issue with it was how it almost veered towards Jewish trauma porn in the middle- end bit. This esp made me uncomfortable because from interviews I’d read with the author it seemed like they weren’t Jewish but also reading their authors note it seems like they are? So ya idk - that aspect would made me way more uncomfortable if they weren’t Jewish so if they are then I’m more comfortable with it I think but still
Either way- personally as a Jew some of those bits were really intense to read as a character or two just go into such specific detail of how they hate us and use slurs over and over and ya 😬 
But overall I really loved this book and would recommend it esp for the Jewish rep and the murder mystery storyline which was well done imo

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Pedophilia and Rape

clovelatte's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious tense 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? No

5.0

Damn. This book dealt with so much pain and violence but the characters are wonderful and I was tense the entire time hoping they would make it through. You absolutely MUST check the content warnings. Things are rough. But also so good. Love these boys. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Medical content, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

hawthornandhemlock's review

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

anniereads221's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Violence, Antisemitism, and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Suicide, Medical content, and Fire/Fire injury