Book #27 for 2022: Zoo City by Lauren Beukes - Book Bingo: Z
Zoo City by Lauren Beukes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I hadn't really known what to expect from this book, and I'll attempt to summarise it.
So, this is set in an alternate version of Johannesburg, which is described vividly with wild animals swarming around it. The reason for this is because several of the population have been "animalled", meaning that they have been given a random animal that they evidently have to take around with them. It isn't made explicit, but the implications seems to be that this happens if they are imprisoned for a crime they committed.
The central character is Zinzi December, who travels around carrying a sloth - almost like a monkey on her back. Zinzi is a refugee, who has also spent time in prison (the narrative gradually explains why). She also seems to be forced into attempting to solve various crimes, most significantly the kidnapping of a young singer.
I wondered if this book was meant as a social commentary, primarily about the plight that many refugees face (I also wondered if there was an implicit anti-apartheid message, but I may have been reading too much into things). Overall, I really enjoyed this book, even though it was quite challenging, as there was a lot going on. I liked how the book gave a vivid impression of Zinzi's character, and the city in which she lives, described as a place filled with gang warfare (there are at least two violent gunfights in the novel). While it felt like a book that turned really dark in places, the ending was satisfyingly bittersweet.
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This ticks off one of the most difficult letters for the 2022 ljbookbingo challenge: Z, and I am two letters away from a third "bingo".
Agatha Raisin and the Fairies of Fryfam (M.C. Beaton)
Big Panda and Tiny Dragon (James Norbury)
Crawling Horror (Edited by Daisy Butcher and Janette Leaf)
Desperation (Stephen King)
Every Contact Leaves a Trace (Elanor Dymott)
Facebook: The Inside Story (Steven Levy)
G
House with No Doors (Jeff Noon)
I
J
K
L
Mindset (Dr. Carol S. Dweck)
N
O
P
Q
Round the World in Eighty Days (Jules Verne)
Survivors (Marcus Blakeston & Mark Astronaut)
The Truth is Out There (Thomas Bertonneau and Kim Paffenroth)
U
V
Wyntertide (Andrew Caldecott)
X
Y
Zoo City (Lauren Beukes)