Monkey Around is such a fun and entertaining adult fantasy. If you like the idea of supernatural detectives, secret communities, and high paced action, check this debut out! I found myself having so much fun while reading. Keep reading this book review for my full thoughts.
Summary
San Francisco has a Monkey King – and she’s kinda freaked out.
Barista, activist, and were-monkey Maya McQueen was well on her way to figuring herself out. Well, part of the way. 25% of the way. If you squint.
But now the Bay Area is being shaken up. Occupy Wall Street has come home to roost; and on the supernatural side there’s disappearances, shapeshifter murders, and the city’s spirit trying to find its guardian.
Maya doesn’t have a lot of time before chaos turns up at her door, and she needs to solve all of her problems. Well, most of them. The urgent ones, anyhow.
But who says the solutions have to be neat? Because Monkey is always out for mischief.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the author. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
Monkey Around immediately begins with action which sets the pace of the coming pages. I was almost immediately swept away by the consistent thrum of action and the ways that Jang introduces new supernatural elements to the world. It feels rich and descriptive making you almost believe that this supernatural undercurrent exists. What a world that would be! Apart from the phenomenal world, Money Around has a thrilling pace.
With these investigative stories, it’s easy to get caught up in the ‘who dunnit’ element of the story. As for Maya, not knowing your origin? That will almost always endear a character to me as an adoptee never knowing her own origin. While that wasn’t were Monkey Around spends the most time, it’s an element that always tugged at my heart strings. And it comes up in subtle ways which made it seem lived in.
In many ways, this kind of gives me a similar vibe to the Heroine Complex world. They would be fantastic complimentary gifts! I hope this becomes a series because I love this urban fantasy world. And I need to know what happens to Maya.
Find Monkey Around on Goodreads, Amazon, Indiebound, Bookshop.org & The Book Depository.