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So I gotta say, this chapter has really started to make me side-eye this whole āletās go hang out with the apparently friendly nativesā part of the plot. I was thinking about if I were in this situation, and in that case itās basically a straight-up horror scenario. Youāre kidnapped against your will, brought to a place you could never possibly find your way home from, have to live with a group of people whoās language and culture you donāt understand, and are immediately put to work as soon as you arrive there.
And all these descriptions of the gente de la neblina just make me dislike it all more. Their society is one of those āperfectly in tune with natureā kind, opposite from our Western-living group so far, and it definitely gives me those kind of ānoble savagesā vibes, where these guys are somehow inherently better because of it. And sorry Alex, I donāt believe you can understand what theyāre saying based off of āvibesā or ālistening with your heartā; thatās utter bull crap.
Honestly Iāve been wondering if they were kidnapped to help recover from a decreasing tribe population.
Gotta say, this whole chapter was pretty sus, and I would like to return to the āhunting possibly magical beastsā part of the story.
Alex is more prepared for this adventure than I anticipated, and gave a very good account of himself climbing the side of the waterfall. His rescue was very impressive although he doesnāt appear to have impressed anyone in the tribe. And his flute skills were very calming when things got heated.
Beautiful description of the village, a very magical feeling place. I love that like the Indians, the village itself seems to be able to appear and disappear at will.
I was surprised at his reaction to holding Nadia, in my head she is a lot younger than him, although looking back he says she looks about 12-13 years old. Still felt quite an age gap. I like their friendship but I donāt think I want it to turn into a romance, hope thatās not where itās going.
And then even more surprising they both got naked, without any fuss. In face it felt more uncomfortable to be dressed when everyone else was naked. And of course Alex is now happy to eat whatever food he is presented with!
Response to eefara
Thatās an interesting take on the chapter. For me this chapter felt kind of dream like. Theyāve been kidnapped but there isnāt a fear like you would expect. They are in a desperate situation but very relaxed. Alex in particular seems very composed.
I guess the magical elements contribute to that as well. Especially when he recognises some of the scenery from his previous visions.
Iām interested to see where this is all leading to. Happy to put monster hunting on hold for a bit.
Iām probably just way over-analyzing the situation; it is interesting that he recognizes scenery from his waking dream here. I just hope he can get back home at the endā¦
I liked the chapter! There were a couple moments I felt similarly to @eefara - when Nadia was afraid to climb and the Indians grabbed her by the hair, for example.
But the rest of the chapter luckily didnāt add to that. I didnāt get the feeling the Indians are intended to be viewed as ānoble savagesā. Except for Alexās musings before going to sleep, the narration has been very neutral in that regard. Weāre presented with facts about how they live and what they do at the moment, but weāre not told how to feel about it. I think weāre just being shown the differences. And at least in the beginning, those differences rather showed the Indians in a negative light imo.
Iām happy enough to learn more about the tribe, but I hope we get some more magic soon either way! Especially curious about that magic powder. Iām pretty sure Alex will see the other world again soonā¦
Had trouble with the climbing part while listening. Just lacked a lot of important vocabularyā¦ I also only partially caught the rescue, though for whatever reason, I had no trouble understanding that what Nadia was worried about at the start of this chapter was altitude sickness.
Had mixed comprehension while listening with the part in the village, too.
Regarding the bookās depiction of indigenous people so far:
Iām wondering how much the author actually researched any real indigenous communities. Iād be curious to read indigenous perspectives on the depiction here. Just like you said, @eefara, Iām personally not feeling super confident about the representationā¦
My main basis of comparison (with regards to depictions of indigenous people living in the Amazon) is Frontera Verde, which feels substantially more authentic and also does a better job of centering indigenous people in its story, in my opinion.
Iām not super fond of the whole āwhite person comes in and joins the nativesā trope, which La Ciudad de las Bestias feels a bit guilty of here. It comes across to me like a fantasy of the author that is born out of internalized guilt, and which others the indigenous characters while also putting them on a pedestal.
To be honest, I felt a bit wary of the āspirit animalā stuff in earlier chapters, too. But some of that is just being automatically nervous when I see media include themes like that, so I donāt know if Iām really giving the bookās depiction a fair chance.
soon either way! Especially curious about that 
