Beautiful Shining People: The extraordinary, EPIC speculative masterpiece…

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It’s not usually something I would pick up either, but I’ve been curious about the author for a while and I ended up having a surprisingly good time reading it. It’s going to be quite hard to review without spoiling the central conceit of the novel, but let’s see how we get on! His writing has appeared in Fast Company, VICE, The Guardian, Litro Magazine, The Irish Times, Screen, Quartz and others. At times the story suffered from losing its way and at times there was a distance to the characters. He sets the plates on the counter mere inches from the dog, yet it doesn’t so much as sniff the food, which is all the more surprising since, even from where I stand, it smells delicious.

I was born a Dutchie, but felt that that tiny, rainy country known for tulips, windmills, cheese and of course Amsterdam wasn't my place to be. His debut, Epiphany Jones, blew me away and was my book of the year 2020, and one of my favourite books ever. Beautiful Shining People is a beautiful, well written story that is engaging, with very likeable characters.Her second and third ones… well, I’ve hidden those (and aspects of my review relating to them) from immediate view, to avoid spoiling the story! The world-building is amazing, Beautiful Shining People is steeped in Japanese culture and Japan a few decades from now is utterly believable and feels very real and authentic, as is the ongoing conflict between the world’s superpowers. I loved the insecurities we saw within the many characters in this book, from our main three characters, to Joe the older gentleman at the care facility, to "Father" and "Mother". Apologies for the delay, but today I’m finally sharing my review for the mesmerising and unforgettable Beautiful Shining People. This is another thing, maybe the main thing, I loved: the first part of the novel is just John and Neotnia getting to know one another.

Neotnia’s first revelation is that she went to stay and work with Goeido when her father disappeared, a year previously - who was he, and where did he go?

As Grothuas describes events over a few short weeks one Autumn, we sense these issues lurking while remaining - initially - ignorant about their exact nature. A complex, page-turning psychological thriller, riddled with twists and turns, EPIPHANY JONES is also a superb dark comedy with a powerful emotional core.