Z00 City
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by Lauren Beukes
I've already posted a bit about the cover. It's a great cover that represents the characters in the story very well...and those animals you see? they have a big part to play.
Zoo City is the first book in over a month that I was able to read in just a few days. feels good. I really enjoyed this novel.
Zinzi December (main character) is an animalled....there are a lot of animalled people in Zoo City. It happens to people who have a huge load of guilt, and seems to be related to magical ability. The story takes place in South Africa and Ms Beukes does a wonderful job of painting word pictures of the places Zinzi goes; the slums of Zoo City, the slowly deteriating Jo'burg, the dusty streets of parts of the city.
An urban fantasy with a good mystery contained within, Zoo City is the story of how Zinzi, a finder of lost things, ends up pressured to find a missing person. This is something she usually does not do. There's quite a twist towards the end and a smaller twist after that. It's a hell of a book.
The dialogue was wonderfully real between characters. The narrative, first person present tense, was page turning. I enjoyed Zinzi's point of view. Zinzi doesn't always do wonderful things, but she's not living a girl scout life, either. She has quite a past.
The characters were extremely interesting, and each one stood on their own.
If you want to read an urban fantasy that is a bit different from any other you've read, this would be the one. If you enjoy reading "real" characters that aren't always the best behaved, but are people getting by the best they can, this is a book to read. Hell, if you enjoy a very good story - this is a good book.
I was thinking of using it for a giveaway, but then I kind of want to read it again.
POC Reading Challenge
