Take a photo of a barcode or cover
I loved the premise of this book. I loved the reference to Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials, I loved Zinzi (even when she was making stupid choices), I loved the entire cast of quirky characters, I loved Beukes' down and dirty description of her version of Jo-burg (which had an awful lot in common with actual Jo-burg, despite an over-the-top feel). This gave me sense memories of my trip to South Africa last year.
I'm not a huge fan of urban fantasy, but when done in the right way, I can dig it. This was definitely the right way for me. A lazy wander through the urban landscape with plenty of juicy details and weird characters. The plot could have been tighter; there were times I wasn't sure what was going on or why it was important, but in the end everything added up in the best ways. It reminded by of [b:Rivers of London|9317452|Rivers of London (Peter Grant, #1)|Ben Aaronovitch|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1401385034s/9317452.jpg|13552476] by Ben Aaronovitch, in that it seemed to be more of a celebration of the eccentricities of the city than a plot-driven narrative.
After reading [b:Broken Monsters|23341578|Broken Monsters|Lauren Beukes|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1434675391s/23341578.jpg|27869457] by Beukes, I was not sure I really wanted to read more. It was a good book, but a hard slog to get through. This really reassured me about her writing and made me want to read more. Her prose works better for me when it's about fantastical zoo people in South Africa, rather than psychopaths in Detroit, evidently.
Like some of the other reviewers, the sudden plot swing two-thirds of the way through confused me, but the rest of the novel soothed my issues and did draw all the threads back together into something cohesive by the end. It wasn't a tightly plotted masterpiece, but then I don't think it was supposed to be.
Highly recommended, despite my disjointed review.
I received this book from the publisher in a Goodread's giveaway.
I'm not a huge fan of urban fantasy, but when done in the right way, I can dig it. This was definitely the right way for me. A lazy wander through the urban landscape with plenty of juicy details and weird characters. The plot could have been tighter; there were times I wasn't sure what was going on or why it was important, but in the end everything added up in the best ways. It reminded by of [b:Rivers of London|9317452|Rivers of London (Peter Grant, #1)|Ben Aaronovitch|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1401385034s/9317452.jpg|13552476] by Ben Aaronovitch, in that it seemed to be more of a celebration of the eccentricities of the city than a plot-driven narrative.
After reading [b:Broken Monsters|23341578|Broken Monsters|Lauren Beukes|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1434675391s/23341578.jpg|27869457] by Beukes, I was not sure I really wanted to read more. It was a good book, but a hard slog to get through. This really reassured me about her writing and made me want to read more. Her prose works better for me when it's about fantastical zoo people in South Africa, rather than psychopaths in Detroit, evidently.
Like some of the other reviewers, the sudden plot swing two-thirds of the way through confused me, but the rest of the novel soothed my issues and did draw all the threads back together into something cohesive by the end. It wasn't a tightly plotted masterpiece, but then I don't think it was supposed to be.
Highly recommended, despite my disjointed review.
I received this book from the publisher in a Goodread's giveaway.