Stop what you’re doing and go to the bookstore.

You want to read the hell out of this book.

“I drive away, tyres squealing. The Capri snaps the boom like a teenage heart.”

O. EM. GEE. Gorgeous language, anyone?

Ok, so full disclosure: I haven’t finished this book yet; I’m about 2/3 of the way through it. Also, it has some typos. But I cannot get enough of this book by Lauren Beukes.

If you read The Golden Compass and fell in love with Pullman’s ideas, you will very likely love this too. It’s not steampunk – not by any stretch – and it doesn’t have any churchy business. It’s set in Johannasburg, South Africa, and it’s gritty and dirty. It has a strong female protagonist and her Sloth. It has African magics. It has pop music and movie reviews. It has scam emails and sim cards and running through drains. It has the subtlest of  social commentary, and it has amazing language, and it comes with a blurb on the cover from William Gibson*.

Please go pick it up – I would love someone to have coffee and talk about this book with ♥

ETA: I finished it. It was spectacular. Now go read it =D

*On my copy, the front blurb reads: “Very *very* good!” – William Gibson