Erin reviewed Monkey Beach by Eden Robinson
Review of 'Monkey Beach' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
This is probably a 2.5 rounded up. I had a very mixed experience with this one. Almost DNFed at the halfway point then pushed through to the end by largely skimming.
There’s was so much here to like - some magical realism, Haisla specific life experiences, and an interesting story structure.
But I found the story of Lisa to be shallow and repetitive. I was puzzling over what wasn’t working for me, and I think Robinson too often summarizes and skims over multiple events in Lisa’s life. I’d probably have enjoyed longer focus on particular moments in her life with big jumps in time.
There were definitely compelling moments, like when her relationship with Frank changes. I didn’t expect that. But there was also scene after scene of her fighting with her parents and doing typical rebellious kid stuff.
Because the frame for the story is the disappearance of Jimmy, …
This is probably a 2.5 rounded up. I had a very mixed experience with this one. Almost DNFed at the halfway point then pushed through to the end by largely skimming.
There’s was so much here to like - some magical realism, Haisla specific life experiences, and an interesting story structure.
But I found the story of Lisa to be shallow and repetitive. I was puzzling over what wasn’t working for me, and I think Robinson too often summarizes and skims over multiple events in Lisa’s life. I’d probably have enjoyed longer focus on particular moments in her life with big jumps in time.
There were definitely compelling moments, like when her relationship with Frank changes. I didn’t expect that. But there was also scene after scene of her fighting with her parents and doing typical rebellious kid stuff.
Because the frame for the story is the disappearance of Jimmy, I expected more of the focus of the backstory to be on their relationship. But Jimmy feels peripheral until near the very end. Then there’s a climatic “reveal” of sorts that felt shoehorned in.
Overall disappointed with this one - it felt like it was missing focus and depth. But I did really like the prose itself and specific moments in the story.
