A review by christinaroberts
The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes

2.0

This concept of a time travelling serial killer was extremely compelling and original and overall enjoyable. It was unfinished, however. We never really learn why the house gave Harper the power to travel through the eras, or why the girls he killed were called 'the shining girls', and why it was that they had to die. Whilst I loved the perspectives of Harper and Kirby, as well as the brief points of view of the other victims before their death, I still have so many unanswered questions.

I felt this story had a lot more potential, specifically concerning "the house". Harper's character was a great one, but there was a missed opportunity to make the house itself a character as well, and if that had been done perhaps it would have answered some of the question marks. It also would have been interesting to see Harper develop some kind of relationship with one of the shining girls, maybe Kirby herself, making him unable to kill her. Inevitably there would be consequences for breaking the circle, but maybe Harper's arc would have been, well, actually existent, with him changing from a psycho killer to a man accepting his mistakes.

Having said that, I did enjoy this book and would recommend to anyone looking for a thriller that's a little different to the norm!