Reviews

Les Monstres by Lauren Beukes

patchworkbunny's review against another edition

5.0

Don’t make the mistake of judging Broken Monsters on the first few chapters. It starts off like any other serial killer thriller and you may start to wonder if Lauren Beukes has turned her pen to vanilla crime fiction. There a single parent detective, a down on his luck journalist and a group of people on the edges of society. However it’s one of those books that just gets better and better as the story unfolds. Keep turning the pages to reveal a serial killer yarn intertwined with social commentary on the internet age against a backdrop of urban decay.

Where The Shining Girls was firmly rooted in the past, Broken Monsters is very much in the now. Lauren writes modern life so well with so many observations that make you think or nod in agreement. Both the journalist and the artists struggle with the quest for originality; everything has been done before and everyone can have an audience via digital media. How do you stand out? How do you make a living? There’s comments on everything from self-publishing and cyber bullying to dwindling attention spans and competition for audience.

he book can probably be read in two ways. It’s an engaging thriller that gets seriously creepy in places. I got a bit freaked out reading it late at night with the windows open. On the other hand, there’s a metaphor within the pages; a message about how we live our digital lives. Something that if you spend any significant amount of time on social media, you will no doubt recognise.

Review copy provided by publisher.

foofers1622's review against another edition

5.0

I read this book for my libraries Horror Book Clob.

Wow. This was such a great twisted book that I couldn't put down. Lauren does a great job showing how busted up and sad Detroit has got. I loved the paranormal twist at the end. Can't wait to read her other books!

bgrilley's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

yumehasaigo's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

fracturing's review against another edition

2.0

I really liked it, and then all of a sudden the end is full of ghosts. Totally ruined it for me.

bookishblondegirl's review against another edition

3.0

Trippy

erinbirnel's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

krobart's review against another edition

4.0

See my review here:

http://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2014/09/30/day-589-broken-monsters/

cseibs's review against another edition

3.0

To be super cliched about it, this was a page turner. I got sucked into the story and raced to find out how it ends. That said, I'm not as impressed with this novel as I was with The Shining Girls. I get that we're dealing with the fantastical, but I think Beukes took it too far. Her messaging about social media ills was too heavy handed at times and the clunkiness of the supernatural elements arose from their service to this dead horse theme. I did, however, absolutely adore TK's "higher power." More of that, please.

hulseymom2's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

2.75