Zoo City in Around the Year in 52 Books

Sep 27, 2015 Nadine in NY Jones rated it liked it

Shelves: hard-boiled, suspense-thriller, alternate-planes-and-histories, fantasy-and-sci-fi

3.5 stars

The first line grabbed me. I was excited for a story that I was sure I would love.

Morning light the sulphur colour of the mine dumps seeps across Johannesburg’s skyline and sears through my window. My own personal bat signal. Or a reminder that I really need to get curtains.

But in the end, I don’t even know how I feel about this book. It was good, but I felt like I was reading a book with large chunks ripped out. I felt lost and confused for almost the entire book. The story jumped ...more

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Jan 25, 2012 Jacqie rated it it was amazing

This was a fresh, different kind of book. It's UF, but set in South Africa and romance is not the primary focus. We've got a protagonist who has been judged (sentenced? cursed?) with a totem animal, a Sloth. (Animal totems are capitalized in this book.) And although a character says early in the book that the Totems don't have anything to do with the person's crime, they totally do. People get things like Marabou Storks, Bichon Frises, and Mongoose. Not your standard animal companions like wolve ...more

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Feb 06, 2018 Ruthi rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: my-favorites, library-borrows-started-2017, the-world-sucks-these-are-a-escap

I discovered this book while Googling "if you loved Pokemon growing up, try reading" and stumbling upon a Reddit thread that had a comment suggesting this book. I am so glad I saw that comment because I absolutely loved this book and it was exactly what I wanted, plus some. I won't get too much into the main plot of the book in my review, but I'll focus instead on the world and the society in it.

While it's not Pokemon at all, really, it does have a magical animal friend that becomes bonded to yo I discovered this book while Googling "if you loved Pokemon growing up, try reading" and stumbling upon a Reddit thread that had a comment suggesting this book. I am so glad I saw that comment because I absolutely loved this book and it was exactly what I wanted, plus some. I won't get too much into the main plot of the book in my review, but I'll focus instead on the world and the society in it.

While it's not Pokemon at all, really, it does have a magical animal friend that becomes bonded to you if you commit a particular awful deed and feel the emotional effects of that choice in a profound way. Zinzi December feels such extreme guilt over why her brother was shot that she gains Sloth. She loses her entire prior life due to an addiction that led to incredible debt to people who had no issue using guns on innocent family members to "solve" it.

With that in mind, it is not just people who actually murder that can gain these animals, but public opinion really doesn't care about the details. All Animalled are treated the same and are at the bottom of the social and economic hierarchy. They live in areas of cities called "Zoos/Zoo City" and are largely left to fend for themselves.

Lauren Beukes did a wonderful job of exploring how we as a society would treat people who had such a visible sign of obvious guilt. She touches on various religious explanations for the Animals as well as scientific reasons without ever saying any one idea is the truth. Just as in real life, there are shades of grey that are purposely left unexplored because to explore it would mean accepting that very rarely is anything truly morally "right" or "wrong." Most things are both. Most people are both. She does a wonderful job of exploring what second chances really mean in the long run. This is the second book by her that I have read where I was sad to see it end because I wanted at least three hundred more pages.

5/5 stars, borrowed from the library, most likely will purchase a copy for my physical. i feel like i should apologize for being ramble-y in this review. i am tired, but wanted to review it now instead of saying "later" and then never doing it. ...more

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Oct 24, 2012 Cora rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, woman-author, kindle, urban-fantasy, south-africa, africa, animals, african-author, south-african-author

Zoo City is an urban fantasy book set in Johannesburg, South Africa. In Beurkes world, anyone guilty of a serious crime automatically acquires an animal. When the animal dies, so does the person and it is physically painful to be separated from the animal. Along with the animal comes a unique ability. Zinzi December becomes animaled when she is responsible for the death of her brother. She has a sloth that will always identify her as someone undesirable to polite society. Zinzi also has the abil ...more

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