You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by afterplague
The Lioness by Chris Bohjalian
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.25
Wow I really did not like The Lioness. I was excited for a thriller story about a bunch of Hollywood elites being kidnapped on an African Safari. I was expecting cooperation or mystery or even just excitement, and that is very much not what I received.
The main issue with this book is the structure. The blurb frames it as a story ABOUT the kidnapping and escape, but that, I would argue, is untrue. The Lioness simply cannot let you be in the moment. Every chapter starts with a page of what’s currently happening, and then the rest of the chapter are long flashbacks that explain the entirety of the character’s backstories and emotions. It was utterly ridiculous. Every time I started to feel some level of tension it was immediately ripped away as the reader was taken from the remote African wilderness to the urbanity of Hollywood. I cannot understand what the author was thinking by structuring their book like this. I could understand if it happened once or twice, maybe in moments where the backstory would be key to figuring out an escape route, but it happens every chapter! I spent ages waiting for the story to begin because from the very first chapter we’re flashing back to the characters’ childhoods.
Much of the information in these flashbacks was also entirely irrelevant. For example, we find out one character was gay, but this never causes any conflict or even conversation. It’s just meaningless detail. Or, we find out that one of the characters was horribly abused by his mother as a child. This doesn’t inform his decisions or change his character in a way that affects the story. Maybe if it meant he was more level-headed because he can compartmentalize or maybe the opposite where he freezes up. Nope, nothing becomes of it.
The characters are also just extremely forgettable. I remember how many characters died, but not their names or even who they were. The only character I really remember was Carmen, and I wasn’t particularly impressed with her characterization. The author just keeps straight up telling us that Carmen is smart because she remembers little factoids. Carmen actually IS smart, and there are plot points that demonstrate it, so I don’t understand why the author felt the need to tell the reader as well. I can only identify the other characters by very broad monikers: the brother, the pregnant one, the black actor, etc.
This book is also just sad. It wasn’t exciting or thrilling. It really just made me nervous and then sad. I understand that realistically people would die abruptly and quickly during a kidnapping or while wandering around the wilderness, but I don’t read fiction for the realism. I’m not someone who typically enjoyed books or movies that are based on a true disaster story because they typically just make me anxious and sad. This was exactly like that. Every character I even kind of liked had something horrible happen to them. It just left me a little unable to connect with the characters that remained because I was convinced they would die, too.
The writing itself was fine, and the atmosphere of the African wilderness was described well. It felt realistic enough to me, as someone who has never been there. Again, though, we only really spend like 30% of our time there. The atmosphere of the Hollywood sections is kind of nothing. A lot of it is just telling us the character’s backstory and internal monologue, so that doesn’t really do anything to vividly set the scene.
When I realized that this wasn’t going to really be a mystery I became disengaged with the story. There is a slight mystery, though it’s really boring and inconsequential? I don’t know. There’s stuff about the CIA and the MKA Ultra experiments and maybe the space race. It’s ultimately unimportant and actually really boring because it’s not expanded on in a way that matters. All of that is taking place years and miles away from the present danger, so it feels like it doesn’t really matter.
The only other thing I want to mention is that there is significant amount of racism in the novel. No slurs or anything, but race is a topic that is brought up quite a bit. The author doesn’t choose to do anything with it or make any points about it using the story. That’s fine? It’s just supposed to make the setting a little more realistic because this is the 1960’s. If you’re sensitive to those topics, I’m not sure this is the book for you.
I wouldn’t recommend you waste your time reading The Lioness anyway. There are better books out there. A LOT of better books.
The main issue with this book is the structure. The blurb frames it as a story ABOUT the kidnapping and escape, but that, I would argue, is untrue. The Lioness simply cannot let you be in the moment. Every chapter starts with a page of what’s currently happening, and then the rest of the chapter are long flashbacks that explain the entirety of the character’s backstories and emotions. It was utterly ridiculous. Every time I started to feel some level of tension it was immediately ripped away as the reader was taken from the remote African wilderness to the urbanity of Hollywood. I cannot understand what the author was thinking by structuring their book like this. I could understand if it happened once or twice, maybe in moments where the backstory would be key to figuring out an escape route, but it happens every chapter! I spent ages waiting for the story to begin because from the very first chapter we’re flashing back to the characters’ childhoods.
Much of the information in these flashbacks was also entirely irrelevant. For example, we find out one character was gay, but this never causes any conflict or even conversation. It’s just meaningless detail. Or, we find out that one of the characters was horribly abused by his mother as a child. This doesn’t inform his decisions or change his character in a way that affects the story. Maybe if it meant he was more level-headed because he can compartmentalize or maybe the opposite where he freezes up. Nope, nothing becomes of it.
The characters are also just extremely forgettable. I remember how many characters died, but not their names or even who they were. The only character I really remember was Carmen, and I wasn’t particularly impressed with her characterization. The author just keeps straight up telling us that Carmen is smart because she remembers little factoids. Carmen actually IS smart, and there are plot points that demonstrate it, so I don’t understand why the author felt the need to tell the reader as well. I can only identify the other characters by very broad monikers: the brother, the pregnant one, the black actor, etc.
This book is also just sad. It wasn’t exciting or thrilling. It really just made me nervous and then sad. I understand that realistically people would die abruptly and quickly during a kidnapping or while wandering around the wilderness, but I don’t read fiction for the realism. I’m not someone who typically enjoyed books or movies that are based on a true disaster story because they typically just make me anxious and sad. This was exactly like that. Every character I even kind of liked had something horrible happen to them. It just left me a little unable to connect with the characters that remained because I was convinced they would die, too.
The writing itself was fine, and the atmosphere of the African wilderness was described well. It felt realistic enough to me, as someone who has never been there. Again, though, we only really spend like 30% of our time there. The atmosphere of the Hollywood sections is kind of nothing. A lot of it is just telling us the character’s backstory and internal monologue, so that doesn’t really do anything to vividly set the scene.
When I realized that this wasn’t going to really be a mystery I became disengaged with the story. There is a slight mystery, though it’s really boring and inconsequential? I don’t know. There’s stuff about the CIA and the MKA Ultra experiments and maybe the space race. It’s ultimately unimportant and actually really boring because it’s not expanded on in a way that matters. All of that is taking place years and miles away from the present danger, so it feels like it doesn’t really matter.
The only other thing I want to mention is that there is significant amount of racism in the novel. No slurs or anything, but race is a topic that is brought up quite a bit. The author doesn’t choose to do anything with it or make any points about it using the story. That’s fine? It’s just supposed to make the setting a little more realistic because this is the 1960’s. If you’re sensitive to those topics, I’m not sure this is the book for you.
I wouldn’t recommend you waste your time reading The Lioness anyway. There are better books out there. A LOT of better books.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death
Moderate: Miscarriage, Racism