Octo reviewed Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff
Review of 'Bad Monkeys' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
I had mixed experiences with Matt Ruff books before. The acclaimed "Fool on the Hill" completely left me unfazed and rather confused, I tried several times to end it and at last sold it without having even read half of it. "Set this House in order" was the opposite: it completely enthralled me and I finished it in the matter of a few hours, re-reading it several times afterwards. "Bad Monkeys" was something in between. The first three quarters or so it absolutely captivated me and I enjoyed the fast paced plot, the characters, the sillyness and the pop-cultural jokes. But then Matt Ruff somehow went all M. Night Shyamalan - looking for the big thrill he drowned the ending in a maze of twists.
While I found those in "Set this house in order" well crafted,genuinely surprising, touching and making me want to read the book again, here they …
I had mixed experiences with Matt Ruff books before. The acclaimed "Fool on the Hill" completely left me unfazed and rather confused, I tried several times to end it and at last sold it without having even read half of it. "Set this House in order" was the opposite: it completely enthralled me and I finished it in the matter of a few hours, re-reading it several times afterwards. "Bad Monkeys" was something in between. The first three quarters or so it absolutely captivated me and I enjoyed the fast paced plot, the characters, the sillyness and the pop-cultural jokes. But then Matt Ruff somehow went all M. Night Shyamalan - looking for the big thrill he drowned the ending in a maze of twists.
While I found those in "Set this house in order" well crafted,genuinely surprising, touching and making me want to read the book again, here they just seem like cheap entertaining mechanisms anf finally just annoying. Oh, a thing is not like it seemed? Here, it is actually just right like it seemed! Or ist it? It's not! Or maybe...? In the end I constantly felt like a dog with a treat right in front of my nose that keeps being snagged away for amusement. That might be exciting for the first time, but keeps getting old fast. Paired with deus ex machina-devices that make the rather fantastic but still somehow believable setting completely ridiculous I found the end not very satisfying.
Because I enjoyed most of it so much that I finished it on the same day I started. I still give it three stars, but I mourn the book that could have been. Matt Ruff lost me on the few last pages and what I was sure would be a beloved favourite that I already looked forward to re-read again will now be thrown into the selling box.