I received this book from Booklikes in exchange for an honest review.

Like many of the other reviewers for this book, I liked it but have no idea what to make of it.

At first, I just wasn't into it. Ben's ideas were too vaguely philosophical to interest me and I thought he was kind of a pretentious jerk. As the novel went on, both of those things still rang true, but I was so caught up in the events surrounding Ben that I didn't really even pay much attention to him anymore. The idea of Repossession Therapy was fascinating and I was really interested in finding out what Chimpanzee was. I couldn't stop reading. And then the end came and there were more questions left unanswered than there were answered, which was horribly frustrating.

Throughout the novel, Ben emphasizes the importance of getting your audience's attention. And that's what the novel felt like: it got your attention. But it didn't go any further than that. There was something missing. There was no message driving the book. It just kind of went along. For most of the book, Ben doesn't even really do anything. He just goes along with what people tell him. There's a whole system of people working to help him and he just can't put the pieces together. Most of the time he seems too caught up in his own thinking to realize things are going on around him.

It was also difficult since Ben didn't know what was going on so, as Ben was the narrator, the reader also was left in the dark. I'm sure I glossed over and minimized the importance of some scenes, but I feel like the whole thing went over my head. By the end there was so much chaos and emotion without any real logic behind it. I felt so much passion while reading it, but once I stopped I couldn't verbalize what it all meant. I went along with the mob mentality of the book, but it didn't feel like it went anywhere.

Having said all that, I still think it was an interesting read even though I really cannot tell you what the book was about

This is the fist book I’ve picked up from the Man Booker longlist. Yes I had some trouble getting a few of them while I was in the States. In fact, I only managed to pick up two, We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves and To Rise Again at a Decent Hour. Since then I’ve managed to pick up a few others either in e-book form or ordering physical copies online. Happily the first two I picked up this summer have been put on the shortlist. Is that a sign that I can choose a good book by its cover? Hmmm! Probably not. Trying to acquire a few of these longlisted intriguing novels, I decided to pick up We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves first.

After reading the description on the back cover I was worried that it would be contrived and gimmicky. Some say the description is a big spoiler however I found the book was more than what was described on the back cover and anyway everybody has heard or knows the basic principle of the novel. Fowler created a story full of anxiousness, mystery, and sensitivity. We follow a dysfunctional family through the eyes of the main character, Rosemary Cooke. Or is she the main character? Rosemary is quirky, slightly guarded, highly intelligent, and honest. She is quite the reliable narrator, which we can see clearly when she second guesses some of her memories as she recounts the first few years of her life living with her “sister” Fern and brother Lowell.

The novel opens with the voice of a character who is hiding herself and her pain. A pain that she has held within herself for many years. We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves is Rosemary’s attempt to come to terms with all that is and has been wrong with her family since the addition of a baby chimpanzee to their family called Fern. Who would have known the consequences of this addition to the family?

Rosemary’s parents are distant and acting as they see fit or as they would think is necessary. Rosemary’s relationship with her father seems strained beyond repair. As the story continues, it becomes clear where the problems lie. The entire family has strained relationships with each other due to Fern’s appearance. It’s as if Fern became the focal point of the family and no other member of the family saw the other family members’ needs.

Fowler constructed the story in a way that you don’t get the full picture until the very last page. Starting in the middle of the story, clues about the Cooke family are strewn through the pages almost as if it were a journal. Rosemary is witty and at times brutally honest. She gives us all the information we need to know, facts included. The language Fowler uses and her writing style contribute to the novel’s emotional power. I was marvelled at Fowler’s brilliance in choosing certain vocabulary and expression. Communication and language were two of the primary themes in this novel and we as readers got to have a closer look at these themes from many angles. Communication and language are what initially separates the Cooke’s, however it is what drew them closer to Fern.

I couldn’t help it but I found myself searching for information on chimpanzees that had been raised with humans and ran across a few You Tube videos. There was something seriously unsettling, eery, and lugubrious about it all. It just didn’t seem right from the child’s point of view and certainly not from the chimpanzees’. I found this book incredibly moving and informative. I think it might have a good chance to win the Man Booker but who knows since I haven’t read any of the other shortlisted ones yet. However, this one is a must read and is very difficult to put down.

Karen Joy Fowler is known for having written sixteen books in total including The Jane Austen Book Club, which was adapted to film in 2007. Some of her other novels are Wit’s End, Sarah Canary, Sister Noon, Black Glass, The Sweetheart Season, What I Didn’t See: Stories, and many more. She broke into writing with her well-known collection of science-fiction short stories called Artificial Things in 1986. She also won the Pen/Faulkner Award 2014. She’s been lucky to have been chosen for the Man Booker shortlist, for the first year that the competition was open to authors outside of the Commonwealth, as well as being nominated for a 2014 Nebula Award. We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves is definitely a five-star book not to miss out on.

I got this book awhile back. And now I am regretting that I did not pick it up immediately  and read it, because Darin built a new world, even though some element were still the same the world was completely different. 
This book made me think, and then re-think again multiple times. At first I didn't understand why it was called Chimpanzee (As some of you might know I don't read blurbs. Ever. Because they spoil all of the fun of finding out the plot by myself.) But as I read on I understood. 
Darin's writing style is new, fresh and something I really needed. I had lost hope of finding a true dystopian novel that would truly make me think. I must agree that books like Hunger Games, and Divergent did make me think a little but they are too predictable and even though I enjoyed them I knew what the next move of the characters would be. It nearly got to the point where it nearly became boring. (But I am a hopeless romantic so I just needed to read their love stories.) However, Chimpanzee is different. There is no hopeless love story, or two love-struck teenagers fighting against all odds to conquer their love, hell, there isn't even a love triangle. And that is why I loved the book. The plot and the world were new. I did not know what to expect and everything was a surprise. 
I must say that Darin did an excellent job on his novel, I might even buy Noise and see whether it is just as amazing.

Thanks to author Darin Bradley for running this giveaway :-)

2035….

A space module falls into the Indian Ocean. When the two survivors are rescued and identified, the authorities realize that what was once thought dead and buried is out in the open, to haunt everybody and to change history as was known to humans.

Now, Earth has to revive its long since abandoned space travels, due to lack of funds and pessimistic opinions, and try to face and understand the mystery that will change history and pose newer threats.

Helen Freeman, the woman who was supposed to be the first woman to set foot on Mars and a woman haunted by personal sorrow,frustration and an insatiable goal, must now choose between….

The love of her girl, who lives with her single mother and who, though yearns for the love of her mother ,hates her for her long departures, apathy and unkept promises.

Her lifelong dream which might set her off on a voyage which could be lethal, destructive, forced and from which there could be no return….

The comic has three books. The first book talks about the threat, the preparations for the arduous and daring adventure.

The second talks about the journey itself and the implications it might cause on the lives of those daring astronauts, their loved ones and on the history of the earth itself.

The third is about the voyage back or more aptly put, the probe for a way back to earth.

The principle concepts that mould this comic are two…

The Chimpanzee complex is phenomenon observed in chimpanzees used as test subjects for space flights. Being a part of an experiment, in which they have no control over and where they can just watch helplessly as they are toyed around by the whim of others, they get crazy, torn between the ability to understand the situation and the inability to control it.

The Heisenberg principle according to which, “It is impossible to determine simultaneously both the position and momentum of an electron or any other sub-atomic particle with any great degree of accuracy or certainty.”

That is to say, you cannot determine the position and the speed of a sub-atomic particle at the same time. You can get either, but not both.

Having these both at hand, the author Richard Marazano has tried to spice up the story of a mother torn between her passion and her daughter’s love. The story is good, grim and emotional. The artwork by Jean-Michel Ponzio is good. A definitely entertaining read for comic fans , especially the ones who love science fiction.

The Chimpanzee complex - A great science fiction combined with emotional drama…