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aamna_theinkslinger 's review for:
The City Beautiful
by Aden Polydoros
The City Beautiful is dark, sinister and thrilling story of a Jewish boy and the wonderful beast that was Chicago in 1893, when all the odds are stacked against him.
The plot is gripping and mysterious and there was a lot more action than I was expecting, and the stakes and the obstacles rise with every the of the page. There is definitely a creepy element to the story, which the author amplifies with their writing and the dark atmosphere of the city.
Our protagonist, Alter, is possessed by the ghost of his best friend Yakov, someone who he really cares deeply about and someone who now wants him to avenge his death.
Alter himself is a very likeable character- he's loving and kind and brave but he's also afraid of a facing a lot of things, he's loyal but he can still hurt people and ever conflict of his personality makes great to follow around.
We also meet another character, frank, who is quite the opposite of alter but equally important. He's kind of like a secret crush of Alter, but also a kind of a high school bad boy except on the streets of 18th century Chicago. Just the way his presence turns up the tension and emotions in every scene is so fun to see.
This book also tackles the topics of race, sexuality, religion and the political and social issues that were in that era and I really thought it was brilliant how the author made the setting and the timeline work towards making the story more high stakes and deep.
The plot is gripping and mysterious and there was a lot more action than I was expecting, and the stakes and the obstacles rise with every the of the page. There is definitely a creepy element to the story, which the author amplifies with their writing and the dark atmosphere of the city.
Our protagonist, Alter, is possessed by the ghost of his best friend Yakov, someone who he really cares deeply about and someone who now wants him to avenge his death.
Alter himself is a very likeable character- he's loving and kind and brave but he's also afraid of a facing a lot of things, he's loyal but he can still hurt people and ever conflict of his personality makes great to follow around.
We also meet another character, frank, who is quite the opposite of alter but equally important. He's kind of like a secret crush of Alter, but also a kind of a high school bad boy except on the streets of 18th century Chicago. Just the way his presence turns up the tension and emotions in every scene is so fun to see.
This book also tackles the topics of race, sexuality, religion and the political and social issues that were in that era and I really thought it was brilliant how the author made the setting and the timeline work towards making the story more high stakes and deep.