The Shining Girls

A Novel

By: Lauren Beukes

Narrated by: Khristine Hvam, Peter Ganim, Jay Snyder, Joshua Boone, Dani Cervone, Jenna Hellmuth

Length: 10 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

Now an Apple TV+ series starring Elisabeth Moss: the girl who wouldn't die hunts the killer who shouldn't exist in this "expertly chilling" twist on the serial killer novel from the award-winning author Lauren Beukes (San Francisco Chronicle).

Harper Curtis is a killer who stepped out of the past. Kirby Mazrachi is the girl who was never meant to have a future. Kirby is the last shining girl, one of the bright young women, burning with potential, whose lives Harper is destined to snuff out after he stumbles on a House in Depression-era Chicago that opens on to other times.

At the urging of the House, Harper inserts himself into the lives of these shining girls, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. He's the ultimate hunter, vanishing without a trace into another time after each murder -- until one of his victims survives.

Determined to bring her would-be killer to justice, Kirby joins the Chicago Sun-Times to work with the reporter, Dan Velasquez, who covered her case. Soon Kirby finds herself closing in on an impossible truth . . .

“Utterly original, beautifully written, and I must say, it creeped the holy bejasus out of me. This is something special.” —Tana French

©2013 Lauren Beukes (P)2013 Hachette Audio

Not for me

This is not a fair review, and it is not a criticism of the author's style - just the subject matter. Despite Beukes' ability and the effort put into the presentation by the narrators, I just couldn't get into this novel. It was way too dark for me. The main character made me want to gag. Maybe if I'd stuck with it, the main character would have changed to the young girl in the story, and I wouldn't have had to spend as much time on him, but I read for pleasure, and this was not a pleasant experience.

Loved it but …

I’ve never written a review before I’ve finished the book but there is something that really irks me. The narration is excellent, but why would you have a protagonist Narrated by someone of the opposite gender especially when you have several narrators, and one is a female.
No matter how hard a man tries he can not sound like a woman. this being the case I find it hard to connect with Kirby. To me, it makes her sound foolish and I find many audible books like this, and it makes it difficult and the experience disappointing.
All, that being said, this is an excellent book but not for the faint of heart. Make sure you pay attention to the title of each chapter as it’s about time travel so there’s many different years and the characters are at many different ages

Very original

Great story and narration. Be sure to pay to make note of the changing dates at the beginning of chapter!

Keeps you on your Toes

Would you consider the audio edition of The Shining Girls to be better than the print version?

I think that the audio edition and the print version would be the exact same. The performer did a great job but my creativity could have done similar things with the characters.

What did you like best about this story?

I like that it was a real mystery with a dash of science fiction. It made you wonder what was going on next. That's what I need most in a book. MYSTERY :D

What about the narrators’s performance did you like?

I like how he portrayed the villain in the story. You felt all the characters as if they were your own feelings. This is why the performance was great.

If you could rename The Shining Girls, what would you call it?

That is a tough one. I liked the name a lot, but only after I started reading it. The hardest part I feel is actually naming the book so that it "shines" hahaha. I passed on this book a couple times because of the name and the cover. I do that a lot though. If the name seems weird of the artwork seems "not me" I don't bother reading the synopsis. However, once i did that is what got me to purchase the book. I don't know what else you could call it though.

Any additional comments?

Great book, provoking, mysterious, and good character development. It kept me wanting more. It wasn't hard to figure out, you knew where it was leading you to. That was prolly the only thing that could be improved.

Ended better than it started

Great narrator! Lost 1 star because the super graphic murder scenes put me off, (the author seemed to revel in the gore a bit too much), but the plot twisted enough to keep me listening anyway. Satisfying ending made it worth sticking with it.

Confusing, hard to follow

Cool idea, could have been good, but weak character development and cohesive plot made this story really hard to get through.

Loved this!

I loved everything about this story. Being from Chicago myself since 1962, I found the history amazing. Horror and Chicago sports, does it get any better than that?

Interesting

A lot to like about this one. I enjoyed the ride and appreciated the blending of history, thriller and horror. It does had some very brutal violence though so not for the squeamish

A new favorite!

Absolutely loved this story, what a delicious ride! A sometimes truly haunting crime thriller/gently science fiction-y, hunt to catch a serial killer through time. Starring a brashly resiliant female, violence survivor, who seeks answeres with the help of her crusty journalist mentor/sidekick/partner/Maybe more? The twists are satisfying and the side characters rich, and "shinning" in thier own (clearly lovingly researched) ways. The colective cry of rage from a historys worth of murdered women definitely rumbles in the background of this book. Harper, can skirt the edge of "proplike" a little but I enjoyed being drawn into the Kirby/Dan dynamic, a little Leon/Mathilda, a little Han Solo/Rae . Especially fun as a Chicago resident and true crime buff! Then end was satisfyingly tense right up to the last sentence.

The end is so disappointing!

I was hooked. Great story line. Could have gone on to a second and third book but it just ended... abruptly. Terribly. Booo!