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A review by shaipanda
The City Beautiful by Aden Polydoros
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
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: Antisemitism, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, and Violence
Moderate: Pedophilia and Rape