A review by jencunn2024
The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes

3.0

This novel really gets about 3.5 / 5 stars from me. The timeline jumps around a lot but this serial murder mystery incorporates different time periods and a surprising degree of historical fiction. I was only feeling disappointed in a few things. One was that the phenomenon involved is just that and never really explained. Another was that the style of time jumping was so abrupt that it was jolting and seemed discontinuous which made it harder to follow. The last thing that really bothered me as a reader was all the unneeded dialogue and bits that were inconsequential to story and character. I felt like about half the book could have been edited out to get more to the nitty gritty of crime solving, backstory, and motive. All that said it was still a fun read. The Hulu show does a better job with the things lacking in the novel and I would recommend the show over the book in this case. The book has some neat bits the show doesn’t and I actually enjoyed both. Great idea for a novel and I’d still recommend the book of you like sleuthy thrillers.