Helpful Score: 2
I am not really sure how I liked this book. I think it was summed up well in the last 50 - 75 pages, but somewhere along the line it felt like I missed something. I am not sure if I didn't register something I was reading - or if it was a subtle indication that I missed that was pivotal to the story, but for parts of the book, mostly the middle sction, I just felt something missing. Then it stayed with me right to the end of the book. Not having read this author before, added to the mix of confusion, by my not being familiar with her individual stype. There were more characters introduced towards the end, but I don't think that was it. Very hard to describe.
I was intrigued by the "house" and the time traveling. There were parts that were grisly, but overall I felt it was a well written book. You knew what the problem was, who the bad guy was, you just had to figure out how it would all come together. Then at the end - was it over? Or was it just beginning. A new time frame - or an old time frame - the start or the end?
I would have rated it a bit higher - had I not felt that nagging loss of something throughout the book.
I was intrigued by the "house" and the time traveling. There were parts that were grisly, but overall I felt it was a well written book. You knew what the problem was, who the bad guy was, you just had to figure out how it would all come together. Then at the end - was it over? Or was it just beginning. A new time frame - or an old time frame - the start or the end?
I would have rated it a bit higher - had I not felt that nagging loss of something throughout the book.
Helpful Score: 2
"There are only so many plots in the world. It's how they unfold that makes them interesting."
Elements of many stories can be found in this one, but in different combinations and arrangements than I've ever read before. A time-traveling serial killer is a new one, at least for me.
There are certain parallels between Kirby and Dan and Stieg Larsson's Lisbeth and Mikael, but they are much more realistic, less caricatured. The "shining girls" of the title are also realistically portrayed: amazing young women, but not unbelievably so. And Harper, a ruthless vagrant in 1930s Chicago, who discovers an abandoned house that inexplicably takes him into various point in the future, is cunning, but not infallible. He makes mistakes in both judgment and execution as he tries to fulfill the mission that he feels the house wants him to accomplish.
While the characters are realistic, the plot is not. There's no scientific explanation or instruction manual for this house. It just is. There's definitely some disbelief to suspend, but it's a hell of a ride if you're willing to take it.
As Harper hunts his "shining girls" throughout the 20th century, Kirby, the one girl who survived his attack tries to find him. The p.o.v. and time shift with each chapter, conveniently labeled with the character and date, a method that works very well to unveil the plot.
Semi-spoilers: My one complaint is that it was just too convenient that so many of the shining girls lived in the same time period. I realize that Beukes wanted to make it easier for Kirby to find Harper, but after the rest of the women were so scattered (Glow Girl in the 30s, Zora in the 40s, Willie and Alice in the 50s, Margot in the 70s), to have Kirby, Catherine, Jin-Sook & Mysha all so close together seemed inconsistent. Also, I wasn't crazy about the love interest between Dan & Kirby. It seemed a bit forced.
Elements of many stories can be found in this one, but in different combinations and arrangements than I've ever read before. A time-traveling serial killer is a new one, at least for me.
There are certain parallels between Kirby and Dan and Stieg Larsson's Lisbeth and Mikael, but they are much more realistic, less caricatured. The "shining girls" of the title are also realistically portrayed: amazing young women, but not unbelievably so. And Harper, a ruthless vagrant in 1930s Chicago, who discovers an abandoned house that inexplicably takes him into various point in the future, is cunning, but not infallible. He makes mistakes in both judgment and execution as he tries to fulfill the mission that he feels the house wants him to accomplish.
While the characters are realistic, the plot is not. There's no scientific explanation or instruction manual for this house. It just is. There's definitely some disbelief to suspend, but it's a hell of a ride if you're willing to take it.
As Harper hunts his "shining girls" throughout the 20th century, Kirby, the one girl who survived his attack tries to find him. The p.o.v. and time shift with each chapter, conveniently labeled with the character and date, a method that works very well to unveil the plot.
Semi-spoilers: My one complaint is that it was just too convenient that so many of the shining girls lived in the same time period. I realize that Beukes wanted to make it easier for Kirby to find Harper, but after the rest of the women were so scattered (Glow Girl in the 30s, Zora in the 40s, Willie and Alice in the 50s, Margot in the 70s), to have Kirby, Catherine, Jin-Sook & Mysha all so close together seemed inconsistent. Also, I wasn't crazy about the love interest between Dan & Kirby. It seemed a bit forced.
Just couldn't get into this book.
When I started reading this book, it put me in mind of something that Stephen King would write. Unfortunately, it was impossible for me to get into the story. I found it rather confusing. Not sure that I would read another Lauren Beukes book.
Certainly an original idea, a little creepy, but I thought very well written, I can see this becoming a film.
First Line: He clenches the orange plastic pony in the pocket of his sports coat.
In The Shining Girls, a time-traveling serial killer named Harper Curtis meets Kirby Mazrachi, a young woman who refuses to die.
Stumbling into a house in Depression-Era Chicago that opens into other times, Curtis is compelled to kill young women who are shining with potential, often meeting them as children and telling them that he'll be back. After each killing Curtis simply disappears back into the house and another time period.
Kirby is the last shining girl, the shining girl who survived. She's made a vow to herself to bring her would-be killer to justice and uses her work with Chicago Sun-Times ex-homicide reporter Dan Velasquez towards this goal. The truth-- once she starts homing in on it-- is unbelievable.
I have to admit that I was drawn to this book by its conceit of a time-traveling serial killer. I wanted to see how the author would make this work. She does, but the results are very uneven.
The unevenness begins with the setting. Chicago during many different time periods (beginning with the Depression) would be a marvelous setting for this type of book, and it started out to be here. However, the various Chicago scenes soon felt like two-dimensional stage props, or like name dropping. Instead of bringing me deeper into the story, Chicago was keeping me out.
The characters did the same thing. Curtis the Killer is described as "charming" more than once, but that charm never came across to me. He remained nothing more than a creepy, scary figure in the shadows whom I would hope to face with some sort of real weapon in my hand if we were ever to meet. Kirby, as the survivor who's trying to bring Curtis to justice, should elicit sympathy from readers, but outside of the very well-written and emotional scene where she is attacked and left for dead, she is anything but sympathetic. The experience has turned Kirby into a distrustful girl who keeps the world at bay with the liberal application of sarcasm. Although this would be a natural reaction to such a horrific event, the reader needs to be able to see past that from time to time. Since I couldn't, Kirby and her mission never really came to life.
The only characters who did in fact shine for me were the "shining girls" that Curtis dispatched so quickly. As Kirby researches what clues she can find, we are allowed to glimpse into these victims' lives and know that they would truly have been extraordinary. Along with Kirby's much-maligned dog Houdini, these are the characters who generated enough interest for me to continue to read the book.
There were also two more points in the book that didn't quite make sense to me. One, the house that allowed Curtis to travel back and forth through time needed to be explained a bit more. Readers are allowed to believe that there's something mystical going on, a strange presence of sorts. Perhaps the author felt this was needed in order to explain the time-traveling process, but I think most readers would prefer thinking the house just does it by methods unknown rather than to have the author mention something but never reveal it in more detail. The second point that bothered me was the clues that Curtis would leave behind at each crime scene. They're very distinctive clues that would stand out as "head scratchers" for certain, yet none of the homicide detectives seem to think they mean anything. I don't think seventy or eighty years' worth of detectives would completely overlook something so obvious and so puzzling.
Despite its unevenness, I did enjoy reading The Shining Girls because it's such an interesting concept, and-- as I mentioned before-- the attack scene with Kirby, Curtis, and Houdini the dog is extremely well written. The book just needed more scenes like those.
In The Shining Girls, a time-traveling serial killer named Harper Curtis meets Kirby Mazrachi, a young woman who refuses to die.
Stumbling into a house in Depression-Era Chicago that opens into other times, Curtis is compelled to kill young women who are shining with potential, often meeting them as children and telling them that he'll be back. After each killing Curtis simply disappears back into the house and another time period.
Kirby is the last shining girl, the shining girl who survived. She's made a vow to herself to bring her would-be killer to justice and uses her work with Chicago Sun-Times ex-homicide reporter Dan Velasquez towards this goal. The truth-- once she starts homing in on it-- is unbelievable.
I have to admit that I was drawn to this book by its conceit of a time-traveling serial killer. I wanted to see how the author would make this work. She does, but the results are very uneven.
The unevenness begins with the setting. Chicago during many different time periods (beginning with the Depression) would be a marvelous setting for this type of book, and it started out to be here. However, the various Chicago scenes soon felt like two-dimensional stage props, or like name dropping. Instead of bringing me deeper into the story, Chicago was keeping me out.
The characters did the same thing. Curtis the Killer is described as "charming" more than once, but that charm never came across to me. He remained nothing more than a creepy, scary figure in the shadows whom I would hope to face with some sort of real weapon in my hand if we were ever to meet. Kirby, as the survivor who's trying to bring Curtis to justice, should elicit sympathy from readers, but outside of the very well-written and emotional scene where she is attacked and left for dead, she is anything but sympathetic. The experience has turned Kirby into a distrustful girl who keeps the world at bay with the liberal application of sarcasm. Although this would be a natural reaction to such a horrific event, the reader needs to be able to see past that from time to time. Since I couldn't, Kirby and her mission never really came to life.
The only characters who did in fact shine for me were the "shining girls" that Curtis dispatched so quickly. As Kirby researches what clues she can find, we are allowed to glimpse into these victims' lives and know that they would truly have been extraordinary. Along with Kirby's much-maligned dog Houdini, these are the characters who generated enough interest for me to continue to read the book.
There were also two more points in the book that didn't quite make sense to me. One, the house that allowed Curtis to travel back and forth through time needed to be explained a bit more. Readers are allowed to believe that there's something mystical going on, a strange presence of sorts. Perhaps the author felt this was needed in order to explain the time-traveling process, but I think most readers would prefer thinking the house just does it by methods unknown rather than to have the author mention something but never reveal it in more detail. The second point that bothered me was the clues that Curtis would leave behind at each crime scene. They're very distinctive clues that would stand out as "head scratchers" for certain, yet none of the homicide detectives seem to think they mean anything. I don't think seventy or eighty years' worth of detectives would completely overlook something so obvious and so puzzling.
Despite its unevenness, I did enjoy reading The Shining Girls because it's such an interesting concept, and-- as I mentioned before-- the attack scene with Kirby, Curtis, and Houdini the dog is extremely well written. The book just needed more scenes like those.
