Scan barcode
A review by bonnieg
Savages by Don Winslow
4.0
Well that was a delight! Satire with heart. As always with Winslow this is well-written, funny, wise, wry, very violent, very racy/kinda filthy, and at least as much about the people as about the capers. And who knew it would turn out to be a love story?! (By no means is that meant to indicate there is a happily-ever-after. It might be an HEA, but it is fair to say that is a completely subjective assessment.)
I keep going to describe the story itself, and it feels like everything is a spoiler. I was happy coming into this blind, so I will give you the same option. If you do read it, my favorite line is "It's all fun and games until someone loses an I." From the mouths of half-assed Buddhists...
Had I read this in 2010 it might have been a 5-star. Elements are dated, but mostly it is not an issue. My biggest problem was with the way the women were drawn. This is satire, so there are going to be all sorts of tropes in the mix, and women in noir have certain hallmarks. Making one woman a hot California blond who cares little for anything but orgasms and shopping (both of which she cares about deeply) and who eats like a lumberjack and never gains an ounce, another a California seeker looking for meaning it whatever someone puts in front of her (plastic surgery, Jesus, life coaching, etc.), and the third a true femme fatale makes sense, but they needed something to animate the stock character. The men got to embody tropes while still being very much individuals. That did not, in my estimation, happen for the women. It turned out to be a fairly minor quibble, but it did have an impact on my enjoyment of the book, and I think on the overall storytelling.
I keep going to describe the story itself, and it feels like everything is a spoiler. I was happy coming into this blind, so I will give you the same option. If you do read it, my favorite line is "It's all fun and games until someone loses an I." From the mouths of half-assed Buddhists...
Had I read this in 2010 it might have been a 5-star. Elements are dated, but mostly it is not an issue. My biggest problem was with the way the women were drawn. This is satire, so there are going to be all sorts of tropes in the mix, and women in noir have certain hallmarks. Making one woman a hot California blond who cares little for anything but orgasms and shopping (both of which she cares about deeply) and who eats like a lumberjack and never gains an ounce, another a California seeker looking for meaning it whatever someone puts in front of her (plastic surgery, Jesus, life coaching, etc.), and the third a true femme fatale makes sense, but they needed something to animate the stock character. The men got to embody tropes while still being very much individuals. That did not, in my estimation, happen for the women. It turned out to be a fairly minor quibble, but it did have an impact on my enjoyment of the book, and I think on the overall storytelling.