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J. T. Bird

Autor(a) de The City That Barks And Roars

4 Works 22 Membros 5 Reviews

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These beasts hold quirks and curiosities galore, but that's nothing when compared to the fantastical fun, when they finally sit down and enjoy a very special feast.

Cuthbert, a very normal boy, enjoys cooking...and even more so, when it's for a feast. Once a year, he holds a special feast for all the wonderful beasts in the forest. There's one rule: they have to be well-mannered during the feast. Each one is introduced with every delightfully odd attribute they possess. But when the feast begins, so does the true excitement.

This is a read-aloud book, which is packed full of fantasy and humor. There's a longer poem describing each beast and setting (hence the read-aloud perfection) with a bright and entertaining illustration next to it. The poems pack tons of silly descriptions as they present the beasts in all of their strangeness. There are even some more difficult words built in to help expand listeners' vocabularies without weighing down.

The feast is all it should be with a few extra bonuses as the beasts, after well-behaved dining, come together to help clean up before ending out the evening on a nice note. It rounds off all the fun with a sense of working together and companionship...and maybe, even a last giggle or two. I received a DRC and found it to be clever, funny, and sweet.
… (mais)
 
Marcado
tdrecker | Sep 6, 2022 |
‘The City that Barks and Roars’ by award winning stand-up comedian J. T. Bird is a fun detective fiction where the characters are all animals, as the title suggests. The book title and the cover are pretty amazing, and grabbed my attention almost immediately. The title, however, refers more to the realm the book is set in rather than the story itself.

The story kicks off with the abduction of Lucas Panda, a passionate detective from Noah's Kingdom. With the wonderful initiation, the author takes us on an adventurous and humorous journey of unraveling the mystery with a diverse squad- young and ebullient Charlie aka Chico monkey, serious yet caring Frank penguin, Yuriko wolf, Ruben rat, and many others from the fantastic team.

The details put in the book is exceptionally beautiful. The overall style suggests that the author has a pretty good sense of humor. It is the sort of story that feels more like a movie. The book is capable of keeping the readers glued to the pages, and the twists, turns, and shocks make it next to impossible to put it down during the last few chapters. One of the astonishing reveals got me on my feet, and that should scream in favor of the quality of it. Fans of detective fiction, irrespective of their age, are very likely to enjoy the book.

I noticed a few minor typos like ‘Leroy’ in place of ‘LeRoy’, ‘here’ in place of ‘hear’, ‘begetting’ instead of ‘be getting’, ‘frank’ in place of ‘Frank’, ‘her’ when the word was supposed to be ‘him’, and an extra space between ‘happy’ and ‘birthday’, but I am not sure if the author is to be blamed here. A few places could use a comma. Apart from those petty issues, I found a little inconsistency in Chapter Six where the two unimportant characters, Nancy and Cynthia looked fascinated when they heard Chico was a cop (detective). Later in the same chapter, it was mentioned that the place was mostly hit by cops, so I could not really figure out what impressed them. I think the phrase ‘kiss goodbye’ has been used a lot of times throughout the book, and I believe it would have been better for the author to look for an alternative in this case.

Adding a super personal opinion here: At many places, the author was directly addressing the reader through the usage of the word ‘you’ (The book is written in 3rd Person’s POV). Although it's not uncommon in literature, I personally do not appreciate it. Many might relate to me while others might not, I believe it's totally up to the reader, and the author can not be held responsible for not acting according to our own preferences.

As my last words in this review, I would like to say that the shortcomings are very few in number, and can be ignored effortlessly. The book is really well written, and deserves to climb up the ladder. You gotta consider giving it a chance.

(I received a copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily)
… (mais)
 
Marcado
A.S.RAISA | outras 3 resenhas | Nov 19, 2020 |
This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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WHAT'S THE CITY THAT BARKS AND ROARS ABOUT?
The book opens with an injured police detective hiding from those who injured him, focused on trying to survive long enough to be rescued while replaying the moments that put him in this situation. This is followed by some of his colleagues beginning the search for the detective, finding only plenty of reasons to assume the worst has happened.

Next, we see a young detective freshly transferred from a small, quiet town to the city to be partnered with the missing detective's old, jaded partner. The newly matched pair lead the investigation into the missing detective. an apparent kidnapping of some local criminal figures, and the tie between the crimes. Along the way, while some camaraderie builds between the partners, the young detective gets exposed to the worst of the city, underground figures on both extremes of the social ladder, true depravity, and maybe (just maybe) a few upstanding citizens.

What makes this variation on the familiar-feeling story is this: all the characters are anthropomorphic animals who've evolved to a 1950's America-like civilization. The missing detective is a Panda Bear, the kidnapped criminals are beavers, the primary detectives on the hunt are a king penguin and a red howler monkey—other characters are a polar bear, vulture, panther, leopard, lioness, and more.

IS THIS THE CORRECT MEDIUM FOR THE STORY?
I couldn't stop thinking the entire time that a novel might not be the best way to tell this story, time after time, the visual jokes just didn't seem to land the way they ought because Bird has to spend so much time describing them.

That's the major problem of the whole novel—the descriptions chew up too much space, slowing down the movement of the story—and taking away from the impact of the jokes, images, or other moments.

You take this story, these characters, and put them in a graphic novel in a Spiegelman-Maus kind of style? It'd be dynamite.

The jokes are still there, the images are still strong and amusing—I just think this medium dilutes things, makes it less effective. With such a well and richly developed world, I'd just like that to come across better.

SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT THE CITY THAT BARKS AND ROARS?
The animal nature of the characters is secondary (or at least seems like it ought to be) to the story and who the characters are aside from that. As such, the book could use a little more depth. Enough space is devoted to the animal setting and characteristics that Bird really can't give the depth of characterization or subtlety of plot that I'd like to see.

That said, this is some of the best worldbuilding I've seen—ever—in a police novel. Bird went well above and beyond on that front, to deliver a unique and entertaining novel. From the original premise to the jaw-dropping final reveals, you won't find Crime Fiction like this anywhere.

This would serve well as the beginning of a series, and if that's the case, I'm in for a few more. If it's strictly a stand-alone? Readers are in for a treat.
… (mais)
 
Marcado
hcnewton | outras 3 resenhas | Nov 11, 2020 |
This review was written for LibraryThing Member Giveaways.
This book had great promise at the beginning, but in the end it could not keep my focus.

I enjoyed the penguin character and the other side characters of the police officers, but once they started adding in many of the other animals of the city it was hard to keep track.
 
Marcado
miamismartgirl09 | outras 3 resenhas | Sep 18, 2020 |

Prêmios

Estatísticas

Obras
4
Membros
22
Popularidade
#553,378
Avaliação
½ 3.7
Resenhas
5
ISBNs
4