Rating: 
Summary: City of the Beasts
Review: In Isabel Allendes's City of the Beasts, A fifteen year old boy named Alexander Cold finds himself in a very grieving situation. Alex's mom was very sick and was on the verge of death. Because Alex could not go to Texas, where her mom would be treated, he is sent to his eccentric grandmother, Kate. It would be like any other visit, he thought. Except, this time, Kate was going to South America for an expedition on the legendary "Beast".
Along the way, Alex meets many new people. One of the more important people was a 13 year old girl named Nadia.
Everyone thought that the journey would be adventurous. Nothing would go wrong. But somehow, it does go wrong. It went to the point where two young people had no choice but except that they would never see their friends again...
Rating: 
Summary: Superhero kids
Review: Isabel Allende is one of my favorite authors and I was interested to read what she had written for young adults. I was disappointed to find Allende did not carry her usual writing skills to this book. The language was too simple. Even in this age of superheroes, I found the feats of Alex and Kate unbelievable and the adults to be totally helpless and irresponsible. Young adult books tend to give the kids the power but this was over the top.I did enjoy being immersed however in the wonder and mystery of the Amazon and found the ability of the People of the Mist to disappear interesting since the Aborigines in "Mutunt Message Down Under" also are well versed in becoming invisible. Allende is always a master at making the reader feel they are in the setting, seeing and hearing the sights and sounds. The positive reviews I've seen seem to be by young adults, but they should know this book is by no means the best of Isabel Allende.
Rating:
Summary: A NEW DIRECTION IN A RIGHT WAY.
Review: Isabel Allende's "City Of The Beasts" it's an entertaining book about adventures a-la-Jones, Isabel Allendes master description and turn twisting writing still here but with a heart for the mystical and suspense. I won't describe the plot because is unfair to tell the whole story if your going to read it, wich I recommend, because first it's an entertaining book, second Allende's description's gave you the whole idea, like if you're watching a movie, third the characters are well define and every one has a part in the story, and the end is somehow what you expected but with some curious twists, in fact this is the most easy to follow book from Allende, it will satisfy your need for some chill-out reading afternoon, after this you can also follow up with The Kigdom of the Golden Dragon, with the same people from this book but in a different adventure in a differente place.
Rating: 
Summary: Allegorical story
Review: Isabel Allende's book speaks to the hearts of those who are ready to change their emotional attitudes.
This novel describes attitude change in a teenager, a change from being self-centered, sour, rigid, and emotionally blind (with
respect to the needs of others) to a sharing, helpful, more altruistic, and more positive outlook. This is a change that some
readers are not interested in contemplating, at this time in their life, for various reasons, and so we may hear their complaints
that this book is not "entertaining" or that this story does not make a practical sense.
Allende has extended the realm of so called magical realism to her allegorical stories of the wounded and partly frozen heart in
which most characters on their life journey may slowly learn to move away from impulsive hatred, or from their lonely struggle
for finding their private comfortable role in life, further on to a more spiritual unity with others.
Allende's book is prone to confuse numerous readers. Some may object that the imaginary world of her novel no longer
matches the standard materialistic outlook on life, or that there are too many unexpected changes in her narrative style, in the
depth and scope of the vocabulary, or that her story is not a light entertainment.
For example, some persons (both in her novel and in the real life) indeed may understand each other, at times, without knowing
each other's language. The fact that not everyone can replicate this (or at least views himself unable of replicating this at least
once in his life) does not annihilate the existence of this uncommon phenomenon.
Allende's story has several symbolic levels and latent meanings or aspects, similarly to abstract paintings. Some of the frequent
criticisms of this particular novel may be compared to those faced by Van Gogh for his paintings of sunflowers, or of wooden
chairs, or of the trees moving in the wind.
The paintings by Henri Rousseau were often misunderstood by some as paintings "for children" and this particular book by
Isabel Allende is, in fact, mistakenly classified in many Canadian libraries as the one for the children's section. However, if we view this classification positively, it has the advantage of making the book accessible to teenagers.
I have listened to this book in Spanish (from audiotapes) while commuting in my car. After hearing the whole book more than 5 times, I have developed more appreciation for its poetic and rather unpredictable language and symbols. I am looking forward to obtaining more of Allende's books on audiotapes, hopefully in her original Spanish.
Not everybody is ready for this particular novel of Isabel Allende. However, it is a much needed tool for those human beings
that have a need to engage in a similar allegorical journey, in a jungle of symbols, allusions via simplifications, and with an
emotional symphony.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic read!
Review: Isabel Allende's new book for young adults is a marvelous story! The book is rich with magical imagery, while at the same time giving us insight about the everyday problems of growing up. Some reviewers suggest that the book is too long (Harry potter #4 was 700+ pages) or that the themes are too scary (have you looked at the life of todays teens?), but Allende lends her amazing story-telling abilities to show readers some of the realities that may be outside their mundane world. Alexander's journey is not just through the rain forest - it is the journey to manhood: with all the beauty and pain that such a journey intails.
Isabell Allende is a master story-teller, and she doesn't disapoint in this new book. As you read you absolutely loose yourself in its pages, just as the protagonists seem to loose themselves in the dense growth of the ancient jungle. There is something for everyone in the pages of this magical tale of adventure. I highly reccomend it!
Rating:
Summary: Mildly Entertaining
Review: It's really not worth your time. The first 1/4 of the book was stil decent; rather enjoyable, in fact. It did seem so very promising. But not even halfway through the book I guessed all the villians and knew how the plot was going to turn out. The fictional elements of El Dorado and the beasts were just too unbelievable. And you know it's just bad when Fantasy gets haphazardly combined with reality. As if the writer were writing some dort of fan fiction or plotless manga. But I would have to admit the narrative was a plus point, and there were parts that made me laugh out loud.
Rating: 
Summary: La Ciudad de las Bestias
Review: It's the worst book from Isabel Allende I've read.
The style is completely different from her others master pieces.
Remindes me "Neandertal" ( John Darnton), but instead, this book is really interesting.
I couldn't find the common Isabel Allende's magic.
Rating: 
Summary: An embarrassment for Allende
Review: My nephew is a reluctant reader, so I am careful to give him only the most enticing books. This will definitely NOT be on his Christmas list. It is nothing more than a bunch of cheesy New-Age clichés strung together with horribly clunky writing. Here's an example of dialogue from the 15-year-old hero from California: "And to think that I have deprived myself of this delicious treat for more than fifteen years!" Nor can it seem to decide on an appropriate age level for its readers-it jumps from sounding babyish to using vocabulary beyond the audience level. Part of the problem has to be the translation, but who really cares whose fault it is when it's this painful to read? My nephew also dislikes scary or unpleasant stories. In the first two chapters of this book we see the hero's mother on death's door from cancer; he is separated from the rest of his family and sent to live with a grandmother who under normal circumstances isn't trusted to be alone with the children in the family's own house; the grandmother intentionally fails to pick him up in the airport in N.Y. because she thinks it will toughen him up; he is forced to try to find his own way to her apartment in a questionable neighborhood (she also won't answer her phone), where he's never been; on the way he is robbed of everything except the clothes on his back; and he nearly freezes to death on the streets. Well, THAT'S a lovely children's story! The rest of the storyline has about as much depth as a "Save the Rain Forest" bumper sticker. Greedy white men are trying to destroy the good and pure Indian population in order to exploit the riches of their lands. Fortunately two teenagers come along to save the day. Any time practical matters get in the way, Allende conveniently writes in a magical solution. Need to communicate with people whose language you don't know? Learn to "see with your heart." Need to move around without people seeing you? Learn to put up a "mental shield" that will make you invisible. I say "learn," but in fact it's more like, Wham!, as soon as you need to do it you suddenly find you can. There's no particular development or explanation. Character development is even worse. Even a ten-year-old reader is going to be annoyed with the ridiculously cartoonish Ludovic Leblanc, in particular. On top of all that is the problem of the physical format of the book. Though a hardback, it's the size of a small paperback. This means there are about half as many words to a page as there really should be, stretching it out to over 400 pages. This in itself will be an intimidating turn off to many young readers. But even if you do want to read it, the binding is so tight and the type so close to the gutter that it's hard to keep the book open wide enough to read across the entire page. It's like even THEY don't want you to read this embarrassingly bad book. I give it two stars because once they hit the jungle there is at least some action. Also the clichés, one-dimensional characters, and super-simplified good and evil are probably going to be less troubling for younger readers... assuming they are willing to slog through the pages of tedious writing. Bottom line, in order to enjoy an adventure the reader has to be able to imagine himself in the hero's role. That's unlikely in a story as poorly conceived and poorly written as this one.
Rating:
Summary: Not up to Allende's standards
Review: Okay, even the great writers have lapses so Allende should be forgiven for this one. It reads as if she threw it together to appeal to all the Harry Potter fans and I mentally cast the actors from Smallville as the main characters. There are great descriptions of people and places in the Amazon backwaters and anyone willing to plow through the endless plot will learn how the native peoples suffer horrific exploitation. But the dialog is so stilted it makes you wonder if Allende or her intrepid translator hired out the writing/translating to interns. And the Grandmother character is so unlikely, even though we're expected to admire her unconventional ways, she annoys the reader whenever she shows up on the page. Too bad--I love so much of what Allende writes.
Rating:
Summary: Major Disappointment from gifted writer
Review: Simply awful. I have enjoyed Allende's previous works, especially The House of the Spirits, but this was so weak that I found it hard to believe it had been written by the same author. The dialog is stilted and wooden, the characters are cardboard cutouts, the story cheaply contrived, and the preachy moralism cruises the pages like crocodiles on the Amazon. OK, it's supposed to be a kid's story, which I did not in fairness realize when I picked it up (it was a Christmas gift). But there is plenty of kiddy lit with punch and style. Sadly, this doesn't even come close. Which begs the question: how could a writer of such skill and passion have produced such an inert and lifeless story? I will hazard a guess, FWIW. Allende's own childhood was denied to her by the searing events that have informed her more mature work. Alienated from the ordinary experiences of childhood, she is completely clueless about what might appeal to children, or how to write for them in a way that would generate any more enthusiasm than a film strip on good dental hygeine.
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