It was definitely a challenge to decide whether or not to include the spoilers. I felt like I couldn’t prove my criticisms, which focused so much on unresolved or unsatisfactory plot decisions, without actually talking about those plot decisions. Maybe that’s a sign that I need to continue striving to improve my reviewing skills!

I left it up to the editors if we should leave them in there or remove them. But I do understand the quandry you face, as a reader, curious but not wanting to ruin anything.

In short, I really wanted to like Utterly Monkey but in several instances, I felt like the payoff was a real dud. A lot of time and attention is dedicated to building up certain plot events, but then they are easily resolved with a whimper, with a wave of the hand, with a simple and polite brush off.

Now, to be fair, other people really enjoyed the book. Michiko Kakutani in the New York Times said “Part caper movie, part coming-of-age story, part urban satire, Monkey introduces a writer with a wonderfully original and limber voice – a writer who seems able to jump genres as easily as he shifts narrative gears.” You can read her review here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/06/books/06book.html?ex=1140152400&en=43cb53ad6920a36d&ei=5070

I’ll try to come up with a non-spoiler version of the novel and post it here on Slushpile.net in the next couple of days. Hopefully that will help some.

Thanks for reading!