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althea's review against another edition
DNF @ 20%
I always feel so bad DNFing books (particularly ARCs and those that are counting towards my Goodreads goal), but I particularly feel bad about DNFing this one, because it has some really important points to raise on cis-centred spaces, capitalism and homelessness. I've been looking forward to reading this book for a while because an anti-capitalist queer, trans band...yes please, and when I first started reading I was really enjoying Alysia Constantine's witty prose, however I did have some problems that I couldn't look past and ultimately had to put the book down. First off is the constant misgendering of one of the main characters by people who are supposed to be their found family. It wasn't even innocent mistakes, it was purposeful misgendering to hurt their feelings. I also felt that the representation of several different races and ethnicities was really quite heavy-handed at best, and I can only hope that this was changed in the final copy.
Thanks to Netgalley and Interlude Press for an eARC in return for an honest review!
I always feel so bad DNFing books (particularly ARCs and those that are counting towards my Goodreads goal), but I particularly feel bad about DNFing this one, because it has some really important points to raise on cis-centred spaces, capitalism and homelessness. I've been looking forward to reading this book for a while because an anti-capitalist queer, trans band...yes please, and when I first started reading I was really enjoying Alysia Constantine's witty prose, however I did have some problems that I couldn't look past and ultimately had to put the book down. First off is the constant misgendering of one of the main characters by people who are supposed to be their found family. It wasn't even innocent mistakes, it was purposeful misgendering to hurt their feelings. I also felt that the representation of several different races and ethnicities was really quite heavy-handed at best, and I can only hope that this was changed in the final copy.
Thanks to Netgalley and Interlude Press for an eARC in return for an honest review!
gillesbianreads's review against another edition
Hearing that this was a story about queer found family, with many characters of colour, had me super excited for this book. Unfortunately, I ended up DNF'ing this book at 41%. I loved the concept of this story and the synopsis sounded right up my alley, but it just wasn't my cup of tea.
Although the writing style was fine, I found myself confused most of the time. I didn't really know what was going on or what the "point" of what they were doing was. I think I would have enjoyed it much more if we had more background and a greater understanding of who each character was.
What was especially confusing to me was that it was never explained how a bunch of teenagers managed to break into all of these rich people's homes. Since this was a major part of the story, it seemed too convenient that we never saw any struggle or explanation surrounding this. Similarly with the monkey itself: it was supposed to be an important part of the story, but it kind of just appeared in a mundane way that-- had I not read the synopsis-- I wouldn't have really noticed.
I have to say my least favourite part of this book is how most of the characters were unlikeable. Many were annoying and rude, and the only character I really liked was T. The most disappointing part was how much misgendering and transphobia T endured from their "friends". For a book that I was expecting to be very queer, it felt like it was mostly just about trans suffering. The characters were not only cissexist in their attitudes, but outright and purposefully cruel. I know it was to make a point and to show cis people's ignorance, but it was awful to read over and over again. It was for this reason that I couldn't continue.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Although the writing style was fine, I found myself confused most of the time. I didn't really know what was going on or what the "point" of what they were doing was. I think I would have enjoyed it much more if we had more background and a greater understanding of who each character was.
What was especially confusing to me was that it was never explained how a bunch of teenagers managed to break into all of these rich people's homes. Since this was a major part of the story, it seemed too convenient that we never saw any struggle or explanation surrounding this. Similarly with the monkey itself: it was supposed to be an important part of the story, but it kind of just appeared in a mundane way that-- had I not read the synopsis-- I wouldn't have really noticed.
I have to say my least favourite part of this book is how most of the characters were unlikeable. Many were annoying and rude, and the only character I really liked was T. The most disappointing part was how much misgendering and transphobia T endured from their "friends". For a book that I was expecting to be very queer, it felt like it was mostly just about trans suffering. The characters were not only cissexist in their attitudes, but outright and purposefully cruel. I know it was to make a point and to show cis people's ignorance, but it was awful to read over and over again. It was for this reason that I couldn't continue.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
nadiamsahi's review against another edition
4.0
This was a challenging little read for me, but well worth the effort for what I got out of it, and it checks so many of the boxes that I'm looking for when I'm looking to read and love something: queer characters, brown characters, life observations, a bit of existentialism, an ending that doesn't make me think the author was just done writing about these character and gave them what they needed to get out of her hair. The characters are complex, diverse, and so credibly crafted that I wonder at their inspirations.
Although I believe so few of the things these characters believe in terms of their worldview and philosophies, I empathized with their adherence to their credo, and found their points of view to be absolutely valid despite my differences in opinion. You should know that it is a slow burn to getting a sense of what their purpose really is, and what their philosophy entails, so if you have no idea what's going on in the beginning, I think that's intentional.
The dynamics of the initial group were both complicated and almost instantly readable, in a way that you can happen upon a bunch of people together and know which two people are tight, who might be a little in love with who, who the dominant personality is and what other people may think about that as they react to them. So too did you walk into where these characters were squatting and just understand the baseline dynamic, which made watching as those dynamics shifted very compelling.
This one will have to sit with me a while before I've sussed out exactly how I feel about it, but my initial reaction is that this book is going to be Loved, entirely, by some people, and not understood at all by others. I don't know that I loved it, but I will be thinking of T and Bert and Twee and Kohl for some time.
Formal Review at https://www.glbtrt.ala.org/reviews/book-review-luckmonkey-by-alysia-constantine/
Although I believe so few of the things these characters believe in terms of their worldview and philosophies, I empathized with their adherence to their credo, and found their points of view to be absolutely valid despite my differences in opinion. You should know that it is a slow burn to getting a sense of what their purpose really is, and what their philosophy entails, so if you have no idea what's going on in the beginning, I think that's intentional.
The dynamics of the initial group were both complicated and almost instantly readable, in a way that you can happen upon a bunch of people together and know which two people are tight, who might be a little in love with who, who the dominant personality is and what other people may think about that as they react to them. So too did you walk into where these characters were squatting and just understand the baseline dynamic, which made watching as those dynamics shifted very compelling.
This one will have to sit with me a while before I've sussed out exactly how I feel about it, but my initial reaction is that this book is going to be Loved, entirely, by some people, and not understood at all by others. I don't know that I loved it, but I will be thinking of T and Bert and Twee and Kohl for some time.
Formal Review at https://www.glbtrt.ala.org/reviews/book-review-luckmonkey-by-alysia-constantine/
booksgamesvinyl's review
1.0
it's one thing to have a book be really dry, it's another to have a character constantly misgendered by members of their found family
maisierosereads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
3.0
Thank you to Interlude Press for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC of Luckmonkey through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!
Luckmonkey is definitely best described as literary fiction - I would struggle to pin it down into a genre, and it's more driven by themes and characters than plot.
Although Luckmonkey is quite a challenging read in terms of themes and content, many of the themes and questions raised are important: do our political statements make a difference? At what point does theft become harmful? Where can homeless/vulnerably housed trans and nonbinary people sleep, when shelters are set up as "single-sex" spaces for cis people?
I have to admit, when I finished this book I really wasn't sure how I felt about it. There were parts which I enjoyed and I was motivated enough to read it in just a few sittings. There are some quite funny moments, some touching moments, some character development. The characters are flawed, but most of them have aspects which still make you hope for the best for them. At the same time, parts of this book felt disjointed, with things happening without much reason and then getting quickly forgotten about, and unclear pacing. I think part of that chaos was appropriate of the situation the characters were in, with them living in day-to-day survival mode, but it still felt quite unsatisfying to me. Some of the characters were set up to be important, but weren't developed much and then disappeared. I'm also unsire how I feel about the ending.
Overall, I wouldn't say that this book was a waste of time, but it was a little disappointing for me.
Content warnings: misgendering, homophobia, transphobia, racism, police, disordered eating, homelessness, drug use, injury, blood, guns
Luckmonkey is definitely best described as literary fiction - I would struggle to pin it down into a genre, and it's more driven by themes and characters than plot.
Although Luckmonkey is quite a challenging read in terms of themes and content, many of the themes and questions raised are important: do our political statements make a difference? At what point does theft become harmful? Where can homeless/vulnerably housed trans and nonbinary people sleep, when shelters are set up as "single-sex" spaces for cis people?
I have to admit, when I finished this book I really wasn't sure how I felt about it. There were parts which I enjoyed and I was motivated enough to read it in just a few sittings. There are some quite funny moments, some touching moments, some character development. The characters are flawed, but most of them have aspects which still make you hope for the best for them. At the same time, parts of this book felt disjointed, with things happening without much reason and then getting quickly forgotten about, and unclear pacing. I think part of that chaos was appropriate of the situation the characters were in, with them living in day-to-day survival mode, but it still felt quite unsatisfying to me. Some of the characters were set up to be important, but weren't developed much and then disappeared. I'm also unsire how I feel about the ending.
Overall, I wouldn't say that this book was a waste of time, but it was a little disappointing for me.
Content warnings: misgendering, homophobia, transphobia, racism, police, disordered eating, homelessness, drug use, injury, blood, guns
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