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Title: Bad Monkeys Author: Matt Ruff Rating: Not available Avg. Score: 4 Submit Comment Hits: 25

Review of Bad Monkeys

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Comments for Bad Monkeys

• Posted on 2008-06-24
  I wanted to like it, but it didn't quite gel
  
  "Bad Monkeys" is very difficult to categorize. It could easily be sci-fi, but it's more than that. It could be a psychological thriller, but only intermittently. I think the fact that it's so difficult to classify is why some people have gotten hung up on it--it's not going to be what you expect, no matter what it is you go into it expecting. I tried to keep an open mind, and doing so helped me enjoy the book more than I otherwise might have. The bones I have to pick with Ruff and his novel are more mundane, but kept it from living up to its full potential. For one, by the end of the book, Ruff seemingly got so bogged down in the convoluted story he created that he partially forgot what exactly he was writing about. In other words, without giving too much away, the story started out as a psychological profile of Jane, but turned into a "Matrix" rip-off in the climax. It's almost as though two authors were given the same synopsis by a publisher, told to write their take on the story, and then the first half from one author's story and the second half from the second author's story were spliced together. In addition, Ruff's use of the unreliable narrator technique was weak. Clearly readers were supposed to have been stunned by the conclusion, but it's pretty clear early on that Jane is either delusional, lying, or just confused, and the real mystery of which of these three options it is, rather than whether she's credible or not.
  
  I give Matt Ruff points for creativity and a unique story, but as a novel, "Bad Monkeys" was just so-so. Could have been more suspenseful (if it were really a suspense novel), could have had more development of Jane's character (if it were really a psychological study), could have had more fantasy (if it were really sci-fi). It was a moderately enjoyable read, but it's not as groundbreaking as I sense Ruff hoped it would be.
  Score: 3
• Posted on 2008-06-17
  Not that great - -
  
  I ordered this book after reading about 3 reviews on the internet. I was completely disappointed in the book, it started out very strong and hooked me right away, however about 74 pages into the book it bogged down and went no where. I would not recommend paying full price for this book. I thought that the writing was good, and would try another title from Matt Ruff, but I was disappointed in "Bad Monkeys"
  Score: 2
• Posted on 2008-06-10
  Look under the sink . . .
  
  I started to read this after finishing Little Brother by Cory Doctorow. Quite a hard act to follow since I loved Little Brother and didn't have high expectations for this new author, Matt Ruff, I had found.
  
  But this book was so far beyond what I thought it would be. I was expecting more tongue in cheek farce and instead this was a layer cake of crime, motivation and mystery. I loved it.
  
  Several times the story had me going in one direction only to have me backtracking to figure out what the clue was to what was really going on.
  
  This was so much better written than House of Leaves and more eerie than The Descent (a previous fave of mine).
  
  Best of all, the ending was so suprising, I really didn't see it coming. I am still a little shaky about it now.
  Score: 5
• Posted on 2008-06-02
  Unbelievable
  
  It was an amazingly entertaining read, I truly enjoyed the book, the funny thing is, that sometimes I found myself chuckling, thinking, who in the world would believe this? But that just made it more fun. The end brings so many twists in so few pages that you have to reread them a couple of times just to make sure the seesaw stopped moving. Anyways, the book did leave me a little paranoid, and every now and then I find myself rubbing the eyes on the cereal boxes. (when you read it you'll understand.)
  
  Score: 4
• Posted on 2008-05-31
  A fun and tasty morsel... would be a great movie
  
  The first word that comes to mind when trying to describe Bad Monkeys is Yummy. It's a quick read, not too long, very refreshing, fun but not terribly substantial. It's almost like a bite of fresh fruit -- watermelon maybe. It's the type of story that would translate excellently to the big screen if it was in the right director's hands. The main problem is that the book is a bit cliched, and, again, a bit insubstantial. At times it is too similar of other conspiracy theory stories, including some that can only be classified as brilliant.
  
  Bad Monkeys falls short of brilliant, due in part to a somewhat weak climax and conclusion -- as smart as both of these may have been, they simply didn't ring true. The climax was too Matrix-y (all I could think about is the special effects that would be used to translate it to the big screen), and the conclusion was too abrupt and too obvious in it's attempt to try fool the reader.
  
  Furthermore, the IDEA behind Bad Monkeys is great, and it left the door open to a good amount of discussion about morals, ethics, Free Will, etc. Unfortunately these subjects were not really addressed by the author -- and maybe rightfully so. But the idea of Good vs. Evil is really too much fun to leave so untouched in a book where the entire premise is based on this concept.
  Score: 4