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A review by melissagallant_
Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes
4.0
Lauren Beukes has a stunning gift. Her characters feel so incredibly real. She is to the point and direct, but still imbues heavy emotion and imagery with her descriptions. I can't say enough about how talented this woman is. I will be reading her other books.
The story here is ambitious - there are five different points of view, which was confusing at first, but was handled well and I didn't feel that there was too much jumping around. Interspersed with the characters' viewpoints, glimpses of social media reactions are shown. These are true-to-life and reference actual events that have come up on these various sites.
Issues regarding the internet, privacy, and the dangers of social media are paramount to this story. They are shown in different ways: the exploitation of victims, the perils of catfishing, paying for a lie. The lightning fast dissemination of viral videos that can force a family to change their daughter's name and move to a new city. The lure of a good story or the chance at fame overcoming safety or morality.
The climax of the book I found a bit disappointing.
In all, an impressive and compelling work that I would read again.
The story here is ambitious - there are five different points of view, which was confusing at first, but was handled well and I didn't feel that there was too much jumping around. Interspersed with the characters' viewpoints, glimpses of social media reactions are shown. These are true-to-life and reference actual events that have come up on these various sites.
Issues regarding the internet, privacy, and the dangers of social media are paramount to this story. They are shown in different ways: the exploitation of victims, the perils of catfishing, paying for a lie. The lightning fast dissemination of viral videos that can force a family to change their daughter's name and move to a new city. The lure of a good story or the chance at fame overcoming safety or morality.
The climax of the book I found a bit disappointing.
Spoiler
The addition of the paranormal, hallucinogenic Dream twisting reality weakened the impact of the story in my opinion. I much preferred the delusion.In all, an impressive and compelling work that I would read again.