Reviews

Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes

bethwodzinski's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

jrayers97's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.75

sarahmcstripes's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

lauraborkpower's review against another edition

4.0

I shouted at this book a lot. Like, more than I normally shout at a book. It was really good.

Beukes creates a world so vivid that I felt connected to the characters and a part of their lives. I wanted them to survive--even Jonno (sort of), who is the world's biggest douchebag--and I yelled at them when they were doing things that endangered their lives. And because this is a horror/thriller, that happened a lot.

This was realistically gruesome--a bit of a police procedural, which I love--but supernatural as well, which pushed it over the edge into truly nightmarish.

I'm not from Detroit, so my friends from MI might disagree, but I like what Beukes does with the city. It feels authentic, palpable.

I'm not usually a fan of audiobooks with multiple narrators, but because the narrative voices are so distinct, it worked well. And the reader for Jonno, Sunil Mohatra, sounds like a grade-A jackass, which is perfect. Although it's also totally irritating. Because I want to punch Jonno in the face.

b1ueb0y's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

5feet_of_fury's review against another edition

4.5

This was very disturbing, thought provoking & truly strange. 

This thriller set in Detroit follows a varied cast of characters as a grisly murder impacts them &their communities with an eye towards art, social media & societal issues.

ka4t's review against another edition

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

3.5

queenofstrays's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

pollyno9's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

mrpetej's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Body horror, Death, Violence, Murder, Blood, Child death, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail