Reviews

Monkey Beach by Eden Robinson

veganheathen's review against another edition

5.0

This is one of those books that sticks with you long after you’ve finished it. I keep turning things over in my mind. Towards the end of the book, I realized that Jimmy and Karaoke/Adelaine are also in one of the short stories from Traplines.

Lisa feels like such a real person, as do her friends and family. Robinson is always great at writing people believably. I care about them and want them to succeed, despite or sometimes because of their flaws and idiosyncrasies.

martinvaino's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

abaugher's review against another edition

5.0

This is a beautiful story of a young native woman growing up in Canada, her life on the bay, her relationships with family, friends, and foes, and her closeness with her grandmother who shows her the old Haisla ways and beliefs.

devourfiction's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Started a bit slow but at around the halfway point something just. Clicked and I read the entire second half in one sitting unable to fall asleep. And I cried at the end. This book is really something.

sydneybooks13's review against another edition

I don’t enjoy the writing style and jumping around in time. It’s also not very interesting to me despite being pretty weird. 

gwynethblythe's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Really enjoyed it - beware time jumps 

kaeleevincent's review against another edition

5.0

Wow, just wow.
It felt slow to start, but that could have just been me being distracted. Once I got started though, I couldn’t get through it fast enough. It was moving, emotional, nostalgic, and powerfully haunting towards the end. It was also extremely vivid without being excessively drawn out.

Definitely added to my go-to list of Eden Robinson recommendations.

abbimoralesss's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

grayjay's review against another edition

5.0

A moving coming of age story about a young woman growing up outside of Kitimat. Through her ups and downs, Robinson paints an intimate picture of a family and how it loves, how it handles grief and trauma. Woven into their lives of a kind of magic that is close through dreams and through a close relationship with the woods and the sea.

mallikareads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0