ktxx22's review against another edition
DNF at 13%... what in tarnation are you trying to get me to believe here. This book lives on planet crazy. I could not stick with it.
calcitestar's review against another edition
3.0
This book is set in South Africa among those that have murdered and swindled. There is a bit of psychic ability, black magic and quite a lot of violence but over all it is just weird. Not a book that I will forget.
woodendress's review against another edition
4.0
This book is my first foray into urban fantasy, and wow! I loved the world that Lauren Beukes created, but at the same time, some things confused me. That may be because I read too quickly and miss important details. However, I would love to see her write another book taking place in this world. The cover is wonderful and was one of the main reasons I wanted to read this book. The description and some of the key words on the back cover such as "Gangster Shamen" also helped my enthusiasm for reading this.
The plot centers around Zinzi December, a scam artist and criminal. Because of her criminal status, she carries around a sloth. This "aposymbiotic" relationship gives Zinzi magical powers. She is able to find lost objects, and this talent sets the plot in motion. She is hired by two other "zoos" who want her to find a missing pop singer. I felt that Zinzi was the force driving the book and the plot with the missing singer seemed very secondary and not important, until the reveal at the end of the book. The plot seemed more like a way to show off this world that Beuke created, but she does tie the loose ends together at the end, as far as the plot goes. The ending was a little unexpected, and somewhat sad, but was fitting for the gritty reality that Zinzi lives in. I didn't hate the plot, but it wasn't my favorite part of the book.
Zinzi isn't a great person, but Beukes' characterization is so good, that I wanted to know more about Zinzi and her past. Zinzi isn't sugarcoated, and it's clear why she has a sloth. I would love another book set in this world and centered around Zinzi. The book ends ambigously, thus setting Zinzi up for a second book. I don't know if this was her intention, but I do hope she revisits Zinzi and her world.
However, the plot did leave me with many questions. Beukes exposes her world slowly and incorporates it into the story, as well as including other pieces of writing such as emails or news articles interspersed among Zinzi's voice. Because of this sort of reveal, I spent a lot of time flipping back and forth and piecing all the facts together. Beukes also uses many words that are in another language and unfamiliar to me, so I sometimes wasn't able to glean the context. When I first started reading, I got the sense that only criminals/former criminals were "animalled." As I read more, it appears that it may be a disease or disorder, with a resulting magical power, but that doesn't explain why it only affects criminals. However, by the end of the book, it's pretty clear that only criminals are the ones "animalled." I was also confused about the Undertow, the process where zoos are killed after their animals die. There were several descriptions of it, but I found it a little vague. That seems to be the point, because the "zoos" don't really understand it either. Zinzi also mentions at one point that a "animalled" human can die, but their animal can live on for a few months afterwards, but is never the same. One of the keywords on the back is "Symbiotic Familiar" and this definitely describes the relationship between humans and their animals. The animals don't talk but they do react to their human's emotions and actions. I also wanted more information into why only criminals have animals and the process in which the animal is forced on them. Zinzi at one point describes it as her "scarlet letter" and non-criminals fear "zoos." Also, where do the animals come from? Are they part of the human's soul or something else? I think I will reread this book, because that might clear up some confusion. I think the author's point was to keep things somewhat vague, because even the characters in the book don't understand everything.
Overall, I give the book 3.5ish stars. I really, really loved the character of Zinzi, and I think the author did a good job of making a not sympathetic character very sympathetic. But I had a lot of questions about the world and Zinzi's past.
The plot centers around Zinzi December, a scam artist and criminal. Because of her criminal status, she carries around a sloth. This "aposymbiotic" relationship gives Zinzi magical powers. She is able to find lost objects, and this talent sets the plot in motion. She is hired by two other "zoos" who want her to find a missing pop singer. I felt that Zinzi was the force driving the book and the plot with the missing singer seemed very secondary and not important, until the reveal at the end of the book. The plot seemed more like a way to show off this world that Beuke created, but she does tie the loose ends together at the end, as far as the plot goes. The ending was a little unexpected, and somewhat sad, but was fitting for the gritty reality that Zinzi lives in. I didn't hate the plot, but it wasn't my favorite part of the book.
Zinzi isn't a great person, but Beukes' characterization is so good, that I wanted to know more about Zinzi and her past. Zinzi isn't sugarcoated, and it's clear why she has a sloth. I would love another book set in this world and centered around Zinzi. The book ends ambigously, thus setting Zinzi up for a second book. I don't know if this was her intention, but I do hope she revisits Zinzi and her world.
However, the plot did leave me with many questions. Beukes exposes her world slowly and incorporates it into the story, as well as including other pieces of writing such as emails or news articles interspersed among Zinzi's voice. Because of this sort of reveal, I spent a lot of time flipping back and forth and piecing all the facts together. Beukes also uses many words that are in another language and unfamiliar to me, so I sometimes wasn't able to glean the context. When I first started reading, I got the sense that only criminals/former criminals were "animalled." As I read more, it appears that it may be a disease or disorder, with a resulting magical power, but that doesn't explain why it only affects criminals. However, by the end of the book, it's pretty clear that only criminals are the ones "animalled." I was also confused about the Undertow, the process where zoos are killed after their animals die. There were several descriptions of it, but I found it a little vague. That seems to be the point, because the "zoos" don't really understand it either. Zinzi also mentions at one point that a "animalled" human can die, but their animal can live on for a few months afterwards, but is never the same. One of the keywords on the back is "Symbiotic Familiar" and this definitely describes the relationship between humans and their animals. The animals don't talk but they do react to their human's emotions and actions. I also wanted more information into why only criminals have animals and the process in which the animal is forced on them. Zinzi at one point describes it as her "scarlet letter" and non-criminals fear "zoos." Also, where do the animals come from? Are they part of the human's soul or something else? I think I will reread this book, because that might clear up some confusion. I think the author's point was to keep things somewhat vague, because even the characters in the book don't understand everything.
Overall, I give the book 3.5ish stars. I really, really loved the character of Zinzi, and I think the author did a good job of making a not sympathetic character very sympathetic. But I had a lot of questions about the world and Zinzi's past.
julie_m_mills's review against another edition
5.0
I got this in the Humble eBook Bundle and had no idea what to expect, and I was very pleasantly surprised.
I loved this South African urban fantasy story because it is witty, and fast, and a little dark. The protagonist is broken and isn't actually that nice a person, for instance she got involved with some crooks and makes money with email scamming, but you find yourself rooting for her in spite of all her flaws. And the weird business that every person who committed a serious crime has to carry around an animal for the rest of their lives adds a nice touch of fantasy to an otherwise relatively realistic urban setting.
Bonus 1: The funny references to Bill Pulman's His Dark Material's series.
Bonus 2: The author is on Twitter (@laurenbeukes), really enjoys talking to fans, and is generally adorable.
I loved this South African urban fantasy story because it is witty, and fast, and a little dark. The protagonist is broken and isn't actually that nice a person, for instance she got involved with some crooks and makes money with email scamming, but you find yourself rooting for her in spite of all her flaws. And the weird business that every person who committed a serious crime has to carry around an animal for the rest of their lives adds a nice touch of fantasy to an otherwise relatively realistic urban setting.
Bonus 1: The funny references to Bill Pulman's His Dark Material's series.
Bonus 2: The author is on Twitter (@laurenbeukes), really enjoys talking to fans, and is generally adorable.
lukecalderauthor's review against another edition
5.0
I was excited to read a fantasy book based in Johannesburg, the city that I live in. Beukes' accurate descriptions of the city and its people made the story feel real, as though it could happen right outside my door.
The worldbuilding was phenomenal, I loved the ideas of the 'animaled' and how it was explained through different viewpoints without too many exposition dumps.
However the writing style made the story feel quite ambiguous, I had to re-read a few chapters in the beginning to understand what was going on. There are still some plot points that I wish were resolved, (like what actually happened to Zinzi's brother?). The plot also felt incidental, Zinzi doesn't really have any effect on the story's outcome (maybe this was intentional?).
So in the end it was a difficult read but I learned a great deal from Beukes' writing. She really nailed writing people of different cultures in a realistic and inoffensive way and for that I give 5 stars.
The worldbuilding was phenomenal, I loved the ideas of the 'animaled' and how it was explained through different viewpoints without too many exposition dumps.
However the writing style made the story feel quite ambiguous, I had to re-read a few chapters in the beginning to understand what was going on. There are still some plot points that I wish were resolved, (like what actually happened to Zinzi's brother?). The plot also felt incidental, Zinzi doesn't really have any effect on the story's outcome (maybe this was intentional?).
So in the end it was a difficult read but I learned a great deal from Beukes' writing. She really nailed writing people of different cultures in a realistic and inoffensive way and for that I give 5 stars.
saoki's review against another edition
4.0
This is a great book, though I wish there was more to it.
It's so rare to find urban fantasy with a fresh, interesting setting and strong, flawed, remarkable characters. Certainly worth a read.
It's so rare to find urban fantasy with a fresh, interesting setting and strong, flawed, remarkable characters. Certainly worth a read.
hendrixpants's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Animal death, Violence, and Death
fdevestation's review against another edition
I didn't finish the book. The reason was that I didn't feel that the book was giving me anything.
The language was dry and the scenarios were difficult to visualize. I was many times lost, who the main character was speaking to or where she even was.
The plot is realllly slow. It took 200 pages and that could've fitted in 50 pages.
The world building was interesting, I like the idea of the world and I hope the book would have explained it in more detail.
When i had read past 100 pages, I found out some major things about the protagonist. It affected greatly how I imagine the main protagonist and I was not happy they mentioned those facts so far into the book . The things mentioned: Of course these facts don't make her less of a good character, but the big change in the protagonist twice over broke the character for me.
The language was dry and the scenarios were difficult to visualize. I was many times lost, who the main character was speaking to or where she even was.
The plot is realllly slow. It took 200 pages and that could've fitted in 50 pages.
The world building was interesting, I like the idea of the world and I hope the book would have explained it in more detail.
When i had read past 100 pages, I found out some major things about the protagonist. It affected greatly how I imagine the main protagonist and I was not happy they mentioned those facts so far into the book . The things mentioned:
Spoiler
I thought she was a light skinned teenager/young adult, but she is in fact 30!! And also it was near 200 pages when the book wrote that she's dark skinned!weirdlittlebooks's review against another edition
Could not continue; aspects of this book were tripping my anxiety
abrswf's review against another edition
4.0
This was an interesting but often difficult read. It is your basic detective story, but the setting is utterly unexpected, an alternate reality to our own in which criminality results in being "animaled," paired with an animal which seems to be the host's soul and later ego. The narrator is a badly flawed human being, and the basis for her animalled status is not one she ever fully discloses. The setting is Johannesburg, and one of the things that makes this book a tough read is all the local dialect, only some of which is ever translated. As usual with Beukes, there is plenty of violence, much of which is hard to endure as a reader. But the story is well written and I am still intrigued with its premise. So, only one star off for the fact that it is a surprisingly slow, hard read.