A review by _m_a_r_a
Bonsai by Alejandro Zambra

dark funny mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Very quick read! The writing style jolts between the reality within the narrative and the fiction that is needed to write, in a way that almost makes fun of the book itself or the craft of story telling in general. Fiction is always fiction, maybe reality is fiction too if we have enough control / pre thought to it.

The theme of bonsai comes up randomly and suddenly. It’s the only clunky bit of writing in the book for me. 

This is a story for book lovers / literary heads who like to live in the stories that they are reading but this one catches you out because the story is abrupt with maybes and maybe nots of the reality of the fictional story.