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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-paced
I thought this was a fantastic example of someone doing something new in urban fantasy (which is one of my favorite fields to see people doing something new in because I dislike most of the old stuff). Beukes version of magic is innovative and bizarre, but also wholly believable. She clearly put a lot of time and effort into thinking about how the world would change and the universe she created shows that level of care. Zinzi is a great character and easy to feel for, even when you don't feel with.
I feel like most of my good reviews are "nice world building, good characterization, thank you for being innovative in fantasy". Which, I admit, is a bit repetitive, but the exciting thing about an author like Beukes is that she can find her own voice in the world of urban fantasy, adapt it to suit her story and craft a narrative that is both very culturally centered and, without sacrificing its individuality and awareness of it provenance, manages to be universal as well (something that most white male fantasy fails at__�only we let WMF get away with it because the rest of us just suck it up and adapt to the paradigm).
Anyway, Zoo City was awesome and I highly recommend it.
I feel like most of my good reviews are "nice world building, good characterization, thank you for being innovative in fantasy". Which, I admit, is a bit repetitive, but the exciting thing about an author like Beukes is that she can find her own voice in the world of urban fantasy, adapt it to suit her story and craft a narrative that is both very culturally centered and, without sacrificing its individuality and awareness of it provenance, manages to be universal as well (something that most white male fantasy fails at__�only we let WMF get away with it because the rest of us just suck it up and adapt to the paradigm).
Anyway, Zoo City was awesome and I highly recommend it.
3+ stars
Loved the narration. I thought the world and premise was original and fresh. I thought the pacing was inconsistent and the plot was a bit vague until the end.
Although this is set in South Africa I never found myself searching the internet and google maps to try to "see" South Africa the way Nerine Dorman's writing tends to make me do.
Loved the narration. I thought the world and premise was original and fresh. I thought the pacing was inconsistent and the plot was a bit vague until the end.
Although this is set in South Africa I never found myself searching the internet and google maps to try to "see" South Africa the way Nerine Dorman's writing tends to make me do.
In the end, I really enjoyed Zoo City. The ideas are fresh and meticulously fleshed out (the loving burden of guilt that the animals became was poignant) and the characters just as much. A lot of first person novels suffer from a lack of personality in the narrator, a 'neutral lens' effect that leaves you without clues to their personality outside of their actions. That is certainly not a failing of this book. Zinzi is strong, mouthy, smart, and incredibly relatable. She forms real relationships and reacts to threats to her friends in ways that are not always logical but are extremely in line with human sentiment and the shape and growth of her own character in particular. Even better, her actions are so organic as to seamlessly drive the plot—rather than the plot transparently driving her actions. In other words, Beukes is a very good writer.
I'm very much hoping this isn't the last we see of Zinzi December. Regardless, it certainly won't be the last novel I read by Lauren Beukes.
I'm very much hoping this isn't the last we see of Zinzi December. Regardless, it certainly won't be the last novel I read by Lauren Beukes.
This book works on so many levels. It's a fascinating peek into an alternate version of South African culture, an thoroughly original setting twist (some sort of supernatural karmic force saddles immoral acts of sufficient magnitude with a symbiotic bond with an apparently random animal, til death do you part), and an excellent mystery/thriller. There's real emotional heart to the rather seedy characters, and clearly plenty of research and thought went into the background material. I just wish I understood some of the (Afrikaans? Some native African language?) slang people use. It never hampered my comprehension of the plot, but it's always fun picking up new terms.
Wow. Okay. There is a LOT to process here! This is definitely not something that I would normally pick up plot-wise, but the writing style is so clever! There are a lot of moving pieces, and while I personally would have preferred to just read about the protagonist's more mundane adventures as a things-finder, I cannot deny that Beukes handles such an intricate plot very well. The plot does feel a little too big sometimes, muddling details here and there, but overall, I'm impressed with the ambition and execution of Zoo City. I'd love to read another novel by Beukes when I don't have to cram most of it in just a few days for class!
A wonderfully unique and inventive science fiction in a setting often neglected in the genre, Zoo City is a hard-hitting and humanistic thriller. Everybody has made mistakes, and having the ability to pretend you haven't stripped away from you would be devastating. Zinzi is a realistic (though maybe not relatable) protagonist - scarred and angry and bitter but also trying to move on and make a new life. Though we never find out what exactly caused Sloth to attach to her, we get enough hints and enough of a sense of her guilt to build a picture. All the supporting characters were great and believably sleazy (The Marabou and the Maltese in particular were great "villains" and had a clear sense of purpose throughout), and the true-to-life fast-paced and shocking end was both unpredictable and fitting.
Maybe not a full 4 stars but close enough. A unique (to me) urban fantasy with a heavy dash of crime/mystery/thriller. This book throws you into the deep end - you have to figure out the world building as you go. It clears up fairly soon but the use of unexplained non-English words irked at times. Still even seemingly inconsequential details all tie together satisfyingly in the end (except perhaps for the first murder). I would read a sequel if one existed
Zoo City is almost like the dark, distorted mirror of the Golden Compass. Except not. I don't know, something about having a a daemon companion and being animalled seems like a weird parallel.
I loved this story and the gritty world it inhabits. Shit is grungy and dark and wildly original. I kept thinking to myself as I read it, 'Where does this stuff come from?'
Beukes has is fucking poetic - not just poetic, fucking poetic. Her prose is really elegant in a belligerent, abrasive sort of way. I loved it. I think you should read it.
I loved this story and the gritty world it inhabits. Shit is grungy and dark and wildly original. I kept thinking to myself as I read it, 'Where does this stuff come from?'
Beukes has is fucking poetic - not just poetic, fucking poetic. Her prose is really elegant in a belligerent, abrasive sort of way. I loved it. I think you should read it.