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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
mysterious
fast-paced
Zinzi didn't feel entirely real to me, and the ebook edition which I purchased seemed a spot-the-editing mistake game. That said, the setting was interesting, though it wanted more. The plot felt thin and disconnected to me. We're following Zinzi through this dark underbelly of society, among people who wear their crimes visibly, and... what are we supposed to take from it? It fails as a take on race to my eyes, since Beukes doesn't take the ostracizing of the animalled anywhere after the spliced in news clips at the beginning. There were so many things that felt unaddressed to me.
Loved everything about this creative and original book. It felt a little rushed toward the end for me, but still that didn't take away any reading pleasure. I haven't ready that many ebooks yet, but this is the first one I've come across that had some sloppy scanning problems. Broken lines of text, and no page numbers. This book deserves better than that!
I have feelings.
I don't know if I liked this book, if I disliked this book, if I absolutely adored this book. I have no idea what I'm feeling, but I know I have lots of them.
Everyone should read this book so that we can talk about it.
Okay, Pros:
*I loved the concept of the world - where criminals get an animal and some sort of power (our main character has a sloth and can "find lost things") It really hooked me at the start and I was super interested in how the world works.
*I loved the audiobook - The narrater was really good and I really liked listening to the South African accent (don't know why, but I really like the accent).
*I like Zinzi.
*I liked Zinzi's boyfriend (though I can't remember his name...)
Cons:
*I felt it dragged a little bit at the 40-50% mark
*The actually plot of the book seemed to take a while to actually start
*WTF was the ending? (Okay so I don't know if this should be in the pros or cons, like I kinda hated itI really like happy endings, and having like almost everyone die because Zinzi wasn't good enough/quick enough to save them really fucking sucks but I was super impressed by the sheer ballsiness of what went down)
Other Things:
I didn't understand all the cultural things and the colloquialisms used - this is just because I'm not from South Africa, so isn't anything against the book. Unfortunately I couldn't google some of the stuff that was mentioned, because I was listening to the audiobook it's hard to stop and google the thing that was mentioned when you don't know what it is or how to spell it.
Also, can we talk about how horrendous the book cover is? it's a bit hard to tell what's going on, the colours clash and why is that dog guy and not-vulture bird lady on the cover? They're not even in the story that often.
Is there a sequel? Because I'd like to read more about what happens to Zinziespecially if she finds her boyfriend's wife or not and what happens with that and just learn more about the world in general.
Okay, I think I've convinced myself to give this book a 4 star. Should it by 5? Idk.
I don't know if I liked this book, if I disliked this book, if I absolutely adored this book. I have no idea what I'm feeling, but I know I have lots of them.
Everyone should read this book so that we can talk about it.
Okay, Pros:
*I loved the concept of the world - where criminals get an animal and some sort of power (our main character has a sloth and can "find lost things") It really hooked me at the start and I was super interested in how the world works.
*I loved the audiobook - The narrater was really good and I really liked listening to the South African accent (don't know why, but I really like the accent).
*I like Zinzi.
*I liked Zinzi's boyfriend (though I can't remember his name...)
Cons:
*I felt it dragged a little bit at the 40-50% mark
*The actually plot of the book seemed to take a while to actually start
*WTF was the ending? (Okay so I don't know if this should be in the pros or cons, like I kinda hated it
Other Things:
I didn't understand all the cultural things and the colloquialisms used - this is just because I'm not from South Africa, so isn't anything against the book. Unfortunately I couldn't google some of the stuff that was mentioned, because I was listening to the audiobook it's hard to stop and google the thing that was mentioned when you don't know what it is or how to spell it.
Also, can we talk about how horrendous the book cover is? it's a bit hard to tell what's going on, the colours clash and why is that dog guy and not-vulture bird lady on the cover? They're not even in the story that often.
Is there a sequel? Because I'd like to read more about what happens to Zinzi
Okay, I think I've convinced myself to give this book a 4 star. Should it by 5? Idk.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I liked the book but it didn't quite meet my full expectations based on the reviews. I do give the author 5 stars for originality of the subject matter.
I got this as part of the ebook Humble Bundle. I bought it because of a couple other books but I have been happy overall.
I like urban realism when it is done well, and it rarely is these days. Usually it's full of erotic vampires, fairies stuck in, someone getting sucked into the world, and people have explicit sex. This book, however, is one that does it well.
This book does a good job of building up a mystery of why some people are paired with animals (though no one really knows why) and this is secondary to the actual mystery of the book. I don't want to explain more of the plot, but in the end, it's a simple missing person's story but it's also tangled up in the mythos of the world that is built.
So why only 3 stars? Because I liked the story, but not the asides. After a while, I figured out that the asides were important to understanding the world and, frankly, in the motivation of the protagonists. The character of Zinzi was great, as well the people around her.
I like urban realism when it is done well, and it rarely is these days. Usually it's full of erotic vampires, fairies stuck in, someone getting sucked into the world, and people have explicit sex. This book, however, is one that does it well.
This book does a good job of building up a mystery of why some people are paired with animals (though no one really knows why) and this is secondary to the actual mystery of the book. I don't want to explain more of the plot, but in the end, it's a simple missing person's story but it's also tangled up in the mythos of the world that is built.
So why only 3 stars? Because I liked the story, but not the asides. After a while, I figured out that the asides were important to understanding the world and, frankly, in the motivation of the protagonists. The character of Zinzi was great, as well the people around her.
Okay, maybe this is due to the fact that I don't read a lot of noir, dystopian, slightly-pulpy South African novels, but I found this to be one of the most refreshing reads in a long time. I loved the structure of the novel, and the plot was interesting (but less interesting to me than the setting) - but mainly I loved Zinzi December. It was cool to have a jaded, sarcastic, street-wise protagonist who's frank about things.
I thought the story dragged a bit, and then got a wee bit rushed at the end, but it was still interesting and fun. I found myself reading quotations aloud to my Gibson-loving fiance, amused at the real-world relevance in the divergent timeline. I loved that jokes weren't explained, that you have to have some awareness of subject matter within a story that's so far from life today.
I'd probably read another book with this character. I'm usually the last one clamoring for a sequel, but I'd be all over it if it crossed my path.
I thought the story dragged a bit, and then got a wee bit rushed at the end, but it was still interesting and fun. I found myself reading quotations aloud to my Gibson-loving fiance, amused at the real-world relevance in the divergent timeline. I loved that jokes weren't explained, that you have to have some awareness of subject matter within a story that's so far from life today.
I'd probably read another book with this character. I'm usually the last one clamoring for a sequel, but I'd be all over it if it crossed my path.