Hello Monsters, Godzilla, and all the other Kaiju out there!
Welcome to another book review! If you’re new to my blog, I’m taking a grad school course where I have to read select YA works for a project, so this may be a slight detour from my love of adult horror, scifi, and fantasy I typically read.
This time I read The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi.
Alright, so admittedly this book is not technically for young adults, but it was on a booklist of novels that young adults have gravitated too, and that’s allowed in my project so I was really excited to get my hands on this one.
On to the book review!
Blurb
When COVID-19 sweeps through New York City, Jamie Gray is stuck as a dead-end driver for food delivery apps. That is, until Jamie makes a delivery to an old acquaintance, Tom, who works at what he calls “an animal rights organization.” Tom’s team needs a last-minute grunt to handle things on their next field visit. Jamie, eager to do anything, immediately signs on.
What Tom doesn’t tell Jamie is that the animals his team cares for are not here on Earth. Not our Earth, at least. In an alternate dimension, massive dinosaur-like creatures named Kaiju roam a warm and human-free world. They’re the universe’s largest and most dangerous panda and they’re in trouble.
It’s not just the Kaiju Preservation Society that’s found its way to the alternate world. Others have, too–and their carelessness could cause millions back on our Earth to die.
GoodReads
Amazon
***Brief disclosure***
I am an Amazon affiliate and earn a tiny commission for purchases made through the Amazon links in this post at no cost to you. It’s a great way to help me keep things running on my blog if you’re already intrigued enough to make a purchase.
The Review
The COVID pandemic has escalated, and as the world begins to shut down to mitigate the health risk, Jamie finds himself laid off. To make ends meet he delivers food orders. After doing this for a while he receives a job offer from a former colleague with a mysterious company that’s willing to pay far more than he ever could’ve imagined.
However, when Jamie starts his first day his reality is shattered as he discovers that this company not only operates on a parallel earth, but that Godzilla-like monsters called kaiju exist. As Jamie struggles to cope and survive in this dangerous scenario, he finds purpose, courage, and his place in life.
I’ve never been the biggest fan of Godzilla, but after reading this book I can definitely see the allure of kaiju monsters in fiction.
Jamie was a unique main character to follow around. He has an extensive knowledge of the science fiction genre in all forms and had a humorous perspective that kept things light despite how harrowing his adventure became. He also possessed a firm conscience that made him easy to root for as he faced obstacles. While he didn’t have an extensive backstory, this story didn’t necessarily call for one and functioned well without.
I also enjoyed all the dialogue with his teammates. It was realistic, sarcastic, and funny, and the characters felt three-dimensional as a result.
The writing itself was straight to the point and not overly flowery. I especially enjoyed the pop culture references scattered throughout and the funny puns and metaphors used. The pacing of the story was fast and didn’t let up, and the kaiju encounters were both frightening and riveting.
The science fiction element to the kaiju was unique and interesting to discover along the course of the novel. While some of it might be too much for younger readers to fully comprehend (I had a couple moments myself), the other well-executed components of this story made it easy to understand why they enjoy this book so much despite it technically being for adults.
All in all, this was a fun story with great characters and terrifying monsters that most readers will appreciate and enjoy.
That’s A Wrap!
Well that’s it for this book review. I hope you enjoyed it!
Have you read this book? Are there other similar books you’ve read that you simply have to gush about? Feel free to leave a comment. I’d love to start a conversation!
Have a great day!
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