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A review by frasersimons
Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits by David Wong
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Honestly, almost a four star read, but dragged a little too much. This felt like Kristen Bell in Veronica Mars all grown up, slapped into futurism, and obviously, she’s not an investigator. But the humour and mannerisms, especially feel like it, and probably endeared me to the character more. Which is funny, because I hated Snow Crash’s humour, yet got on with this. In the right mood, I guess.
In a very, very broad sense, I can see why people classify this as cyberpunk. It does have high tech and low life, with Zoey herself being on the lower stratification of class, and technology being repurposed to take back some agency. There’s an underlying message in-line with the sub genre too. But it’s so silly and operatic, so much less grim that it doesn’t totally feel like it either. But that’s probably what makes it a nice inclusion to the sub genre, too.
This is a pretty quirky book. You need to be in the mood for both a dude-bro villain and a shallow mystery, unspooled relatively quickly in favour of a fast paced action ending. But somewhere in the middle, after the mystery, it does have trouble, dragging a bit at the transition. It gets bombastic and zany, but by that point, you’ll know if you’re on board for it, since there’s smaller moments onboarding the reader pretty much from the get-go. I had a good time with it, which is a lot more than I expected.
In a very, very broad sense, I can see why people classify this as cyberpunk. It does have high tech and low life, with Zoey herself being on the lower stratification of class, and technology being repurposed to take back some agency. There’s an underlying message in-line with the sub genre too. But it’s so silly and operatic, so much less grim that it doesn’t totally feel like it either. But that’s probably what makes it a nice inclusion to the sub genre, too.
This is a pretty quirky book. You need to be in the mood for both a dude-bro villain and a shallow mystery, unspooled relatively quickly in favour of a fast paced action ending. But somewhere in the middle, after the mystery, it does have trouble, dragging a bit at the transition. It gets bombastic and zany, but by that point, you’ll know if you’re on board for it, since there’s smaller moments onboarding the reader pretty much from the get-go. I had a good time with it, which is a lot more than I expected.