Reviews

The Human Zoo by Sabina Murray

pluralghost's review

reflective slow-paced

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

2.75

franckensteine's review

4.0

4/5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Grove Press for providing this e-arc!

The Human Zoo was a great book that made me even more nostalgic for the Philippines. Murray shines in her tiny world-building details for the country which are mostly true from my experience. Despite understanding the main character for not focusing on their novel, I was a bit disappointed that the concept wasn't as profound as i would've preferred it to be. The narration was fine enough that i wasn't with Ting, our main character, making the usual protagonist mistakes. The ending seemed a bit abrupt and out of character which led me to not being fully pleased with the novel. I still definitely reccomend it to anyone interested in DU30 based novels. And on that note the fake names were a bit too confusing.

jeanspantalones's review

3.0

The first 2/3 of the book dragged a bit, but I enjoyed learning a bit about the Philippines as I worked through it. The last 1/3 was exciting, I'm glad I stuck through to the end. The main character, Ting, reminds me of some of Ottessa Moshfegh's women who are observing their lives, not necessarily living in them. It's not my favorite style but it works here, as does a zoo.

mapieson's review

4.0

Interesting book set in current day Phillapines. Didn’t buy into the characters too much, but the atmosphere and setting was super clear.

readingismagical's review

challenging informative mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

tessalitwish's review

This book was a slightly clunky but fascinating read. It picks up a lot in the second half, which is not to say that the first half didn't have its merits- I just found the writing to be a little awkward at the start. And while I appreciated the connection between Ting's research on "human zoos" and the events in the novel (as well as current events), I'm not sure the research excerpts added a ton- it slowed the plot down quite a bit. I think some of it needed to be there to for the comparisons to be drawn, and it's a very interesting viewpoint, but the excerpts could have been shaved down a bit.

Three things I loved about this book:
1. It has lot of history about the Philippines in general that I did not know and was very interested to learn.

2. There are excellent and unforgettable characters- from privileged Ting and her wonderful family full of equally spoiled but entertaining people, mysterious and complex Chet, socialist Inchoy, to ill-fated (mild spoiler) but lovely Bibo. And then there's Laird, who I'm still not sure I understand.

3. Twisted humor!!! A few examples:

"The air conditioner was off and the room had reached a temperature that seemed capable of poaching my organs."

"Preparing for an outing to Dad’s World Buffet, as with a colonoscopy, entailed a certain amount of fasting."

"I looked down at Morato, where the traffic inched along, like pork in an alimentary canal."

I was also able to add the excellent word, "prelapsarian" to my vocabulary because of this book, so my thanks to the author for that!

Lastly- I loved Googling all the different foods mentioned. Yummmm.

Thanks to Grove and NetGalley for the review copy!

durrenmatt's review

4.0

I greatly enjoyed this novel. It is very well-written, the pace is good, the plot is exciting and eventful but I especially loved the atmosphere and the fact it is set in the Philippines. All I knew of the Philippines was its strange Spanish-American colonial history and its authoritarian leader. But this book teaches a lot about contemporary society, daily life, class, food and the apparently horrible traffic.

The story is told by a 49-year old half-American, half-Filipino woman called Ting, who comes back to her very rich family in Manila after separating from her American husband. I liked her very much: she is a very open yet passive and somewhat ironic character and she sounded so real to me that I often wondered if there were autobiographical elements.

4,5

Thanks very much to Netgalley and Grove Atlantic for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

gabbyhm's review

emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

2.5