The Murderer's Ape
May. 16th, 2026 11:57 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alobearI picked up The Murderer's Ape by Jakob Wegelius from the local station free book exchange - it's a middle grade historical adventure about a gorilla named Sally Jones, who has to try and help her best friend after he's falsely accused of murder.
Unfortunately, it didn't really work for me - Sally Jones narrates the story in first person, but feels rather removed from events because she can't talk, so the other characters don't really interact with her much. There's also a surprising lack of emotional depth to the narration, considering the themes and the first-person perspective. It is middle grade, I suppose, but I've read plenty of middle grade fiction that is really emotive - and this also has come quite adult content (drunkenness, mentions of a brothel!).
I gave it a good go - I got nearly halfway through - but ended up DNF-ing because I just found myself not wanting to pick it back up.
Unfortunately, it didn't really work for me - Sally Jones narrates the story in first person, but feels rather removed from events because she can't talk, so the other characters don't really interact with her much. There's also a surprising lack of emotional depth to the narration, considering the themes and the first-person perspective. It is middle grade, I suppose, but I've read plenty of middle grade fiction that is really emotive - and this also has come quite adult content (drunkenness, mentions of a brothel!).
I gave it a good go - I got nearly halfway through - but ended up DNF-ing because I just found myself not wanting to pick it back up.
