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A review by trina_reads
The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes
5.0
This is one of the rare occasions where I want to add a half star to a review, because it was pretty damn good, but it had some flaws. And spoilers ahead, so beware.
I write a thoughts post on my tumblr here: http://booksfrommyshelf.tumblr.com/post/51948661351/the-shining-girls-lauren-beukes-spoilers with spoilers. This was mostly thoughts about minority characters and how certain types of characters (women, minority racial groups, minority sexuality and gender identity groups) seem to be disposable characters. All of these sorts of characters end up dead, killed by the serial killer protagonist. I couldn't decide exactly what this meant, whether these ideals were supposed to be from the serial killer, or whether they were supposed to be targeted because of the ideals and values of the time period each victim came from. Given the premise that Harper, the serial killer, seems to have found himself in a house with all of his victims preset in a way that isn't explained, seems to lead to the conclusion that he didn't pick these victims, and so then, why the selection of minority groups? This is what has me knocking half a star off for rating.
This book was simple, but it flowed. It could have been a totally different book with the premise of the time travelling serial killer. It definitely wasn't sci-fi, and not even crime really. I enjoyed the idea, and I enjoyed the multiple point of view writing, between three main characters and other, disposable, minority characters. The ending had a sense of justice, a sense that everything was right again. It tied up nicely and quickly. The flow of the story line and the ending and how interesting it actually was make up for the minority character annoyances. If it wasn't so interesting and easy to read, it definitely would have annoyed me more.
I write a thoughts post on my tumblr here: http://booksfrommyshelf.tumblr.com/post/51948661351/the-shining-girls-lauren-beukes-spoilers with spoilers. This was mostly thoughts about minority characters and how certain types of characters (women, minority racial groups, minority sexuality and gender identity groups) seem to be disposable characters. All of these sorts of characters end up dead, killed by the serial killer protagonist. I couldn't decide exactly what this meant, whether these ideals were supposed to be from the serial killer, or whether they were supposed to be targeted because of the ideals and values of the time period each victim came from. Given the premise that Harper, the serial killer, seems to have found himself in a house with all of his victims preset in a way that isn't explained, seems to lead to the conclusion that he didn't pick these victims, and so then, why the selection of minority groups? This is what has me knocking half a star off for rating.
This book was simple, but it flowed. It could have been a totally different book with the premise of the time travelling serial killer. It definitely wasn't sci-fi, and not even crime really. I enjoyed the idea, and I enjoyed the multiple point of view writing, between three main characters and other, disposable, minority characters. The ending had a sense of justice, a sense that everything was right again. It tied up nicely and quickly. The flow of the story line and the ending and how interesting it actually was make up for the minority character annoyances. If it wasn't so interesting and easy to read, it definitely would have annoyed me more.