So, the great part about Monkey Around is that you don't need to be a Journey to the West kind of person to know what's going on! Though I suppose if you come with that kind of literary background you'd probably pick up things (clues? inside jokes?) that I might have missed. But not knowing is also cool and doesn't detract from the story as a whole, because you're taken on a journey of discovery with Maya herself!

Maya MacQueen is on a journey of discovering what she truly is - is she just a were-monkey, or is she something more? What lies behind the supercool powers she has that Ayo, magic-human-boss, doesn't seem to recognise? But in the midst of protesting at Occupy, barista-ing at Cafe Sanc-ahh, and taking on odd jobs for Ayo (like tracking down a missing aswang), supernatural creatures are turning up dead. Like Wayland Soh, the harimau jadian, and Bu-Bu, the bajang. And the only clue she has is that this soul-eating shadow is just like her.

What I love about Monkey Around is the wide range of cultures and supernatural creatures from all around the world that just appear, but is somehow still so rooted in place. Jang explores the many different were-creatures and magic users around the world that have migrated to (or pass through) the Bay, though two cultures are featured with some prominence - the Asian-American and Mexican (Mesoamerican?) communities.

With so many things going on, it feels like the disparate cultures and creatures should pull the story apart - or at least confuse it too much. Yet it doesn't. There's one thing that pulls them together, that provides a defining feature - the San Francisco Bay Area. The place feels like a character of its own. It speaks to Maya, it searches for its guardian. It's actively trying to save itself, and I love it. I also admit to having a soft spot for it in my heart due to the many times I once travelled there for work.

The most annoying thing about Monkey Around, though, is in my opinion, Maya. And that's actually a very personal thing. Okay, I should explain that a bit. Many readers gush about how much they *love* a character. I don't...fall in love with characters. There are very few characters that I super like, and that's also mostly because there are very few real people that I like. But there are very, very many characters that I hate, and that kind of correlates to the amount of real life people I just find annoying and tiresome and don't want to deal with. So back to the story, you know how you meet someone and they just...irritate you for no definable reason? Just one of those personalities that grates on you but everyone else is ok with (and maybe even like)? That's Maya for me. She's amusing to a point, until she protests "but the Monkey in me...." one too many times and [Anna stabs the Main Character].

At any rate, Monkey Around is a fun urban fantasy read that explores the diversity of the Bay, identity, and place.

Note: I received a digital ARC of this book via NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This was just so much fun. Main character Maya MacQueen is a barista, activist, managing editor, and super strong supernatural being who can turn into many different types of creatures but has a preference for a monkey. A monkey prone to fighting and making not the greatest decisions.
Maya works at a coffee place that, though it does serve humans, caters to the underground supernatural community in San Francisco. Her boss, Ayo Espinosa, super smart human, sends Maya around the city to deal with supernatural being issues, and when we meet the two, they are looking for a missing, female supernatural. During her missing persons search, Maya discovers someone is killing different kinds of supernaturals, leaving Maya and Ayo stumped. At the same time, at Ayo's behest, Maya is attempting to connect with and convince a young woman and nagual, to leave a gang. With both situations, Maya tangles with numerous other kinds of supernaturals, pissing some off, making vital connections with others, while also giving the readers a good sense of how hugely diverse the supernatural population is in the city.

I've already said how much fun this book is. There is a lot of action, and lots of humour (mostly from Monkey's hilariously aggressive reactions to everything). What I really, really liked was how so many of the supernaturals, and others that Maya interacted with, were not white. Urban fantasy is generally littered with white supernaturals, and it was so refreshing to see a different and really, so much more realistic, interpretation of this subgenre. There are so many cultures in the world with fascinating legends and folk tales, and this story features a nice selection of non-European-based magical/monstrous beings.

As this story wrapped up, I was immediately eager to read more about Maya, especially considering the somewhat shocking revelation at the end of the book. And the possibility of an interesting relationship developing between our monkey protagonist and another being.

Thank you to Netgalley and Rebellion Publishing for this ARC in exchange for a review.

After having recently enjoyed Journey to the West which details the quests and mischief of Sun Wukong as he searches for the key to immortality, I became intrigued by this novel that seemed premised on that epic.

Maya is a magical shape shifter with immense talent and skill, yet she doesn't know what she is. The action hit from the first chapter and hooked me, not to mention the push and pull between Maya's more human and logical side and her monkey side who is impulsive and aggressive. Add in mysterious disappearances and deaths and this fantasy becomes intertwined with mystery. Cast with creatures of myth and folklore, depicting community, attraction, and family.

The way Jang uses the neighbourhoods, hotspots, and commerce area really enhances the reading experience and adds another element of the California scene to the narrative. Our characters are people of colour and their artistry and activism is depicted and entwined with the storyline.

I appreciated how support and community was portrayed here, subtly but with impact. I loved Maya's lustful quips and appreciated the tension that Jang built, all while expanding the mystery and shadowy threat that stalks our supernatural characters. The nerd in me also adores the many supernatural creatures that were featured.

The pace felt off in the latter third of the book and the premise started showing holes as the portrayal of knowledge stores seemed to invalidate the lack of information our main character should have had, been searching for, and had access to a treasure store of stories that should have provided aid or ideas.

Monkey Around is a fun, fairly fast-paced urban fantasy with easily likeable characters for the most part. I had a great time during the first half of this book, but unfortunately the second part and the conclusion felt unsatisfying to me. And most of it has to do with Maya in some way.

I did really enjoy Maya as a character. She's amusing, part impulsive and part restrained, doesn't feel much shame when it comes to following her urges, and she's an incredibly powerful woman. All things I could root for, but there is such a thing as taking it too far.

The fact that Maya is powerful, more powerful than anyone else, is stressed a lot. And it does feel like she has way too many powers compared to other shapeshifters, to the point that I began to think she was a bit overpowered. And yet, we rarely see this supposed strength of hers. She does win a few fights, but not the ones where it matters, even as we're told, once again, that she's really very strong. And also that she's a trickster, but surprisingly, she never uses this skill to, say, trick a dangerous object away from someone that really shouldn't be handling it. Maya felt like all talk, no action to me for most of this.

The other facet that is reiterated often is how much she cares about people. She's involved in the Occupy movement, joins protests, helps Ayo out (for payment, but still). But something happens in the last part of the book that left a sour taste in my mouth. It was a betrayal of someone she claimed to care for and, in my opinion, a betrayal of her own morals. It was a difficult choice, and one she supposedly makes for the greater good, but I felt as if the story was heading in a different direction. There seemed to be hints that could've led her to a different decision, one that would've made sense in the context of her being a very strong shapeshifter and her ties to the community.

There is also a kind of weird love triangle between Maya, Tez, and Todd. It consists mostly of Maya having a long-term crush on Tez, Tez flirting with everyone and being very effective with smoldering eyes, and Todd having a similar effect with impish grins and food, which Maya eats despite knowing that for shapeshifters, feeding is a possessive thing, and she's actually into Tez. It's a mess, and I couldn't really root much for the romance in general because I didn't feel like there was enough interaction between Maya, Tez, and Todd. Oh, and let's not forget the instant jealousy when Tez and Todd meet, even though nothing is going on at that point except for Maya's crush.

The last thing I'll mention is minor, but definitely something I noticed. At the beginning of the book, Maya has a conversation with Salli, the CFO of the magazine Maya started, where she pumps Salli for information related to the case she's investigating. The entire conversation felt like it came straight out of a video game: Maya asks a question, gets an answer, asks a new question, gets a somewhat longer answer, repeat, repeat, repeat until all dialogue options are exhausted. Salli also never appears again in the story, which was weird.

The reveal at the end explains a lot of the questions I compiled about Maya, but overall I wasn't a fan of the explanation.

Monkey Around is an upcoming novel from author Jadie Jang (a pen name of author Claire Light), and the first in what seems to be a new urban fantasy series, set in San Francisco. I love Urban Fantasy and Monkey Around shares a couple of traits with some urban fantasy series/books that I've loved, so I was really interested to try this one out when I saw it on NetGalley, even if I honestly almost passed up on it due to the silly title.

And I'm really glad I didn't. Monkey Around is a really fun urban fantasy novel, featuring a really strong lead character in its Asian American heroine Maya (with an abundance of shapeshifting powers), a world where supernatural creatures from all different mythologies exist in a shadow world alongside real life, during the height of Occupy Wall Street protests in 2011. It takes a bunch of tropes I've seen done before but does them really well, in a story that has lots of fun beats (its sardonic, fun loving, but idealistic and searching for herself heroine helps a lot here) alongside some pretty dark plot elements and makes it all work really well. And since this seems to be the first book in a series, I am excited to see how the series will develop from here.

----------------------------------------------------Plot Summary-----------------------------------------------------
Maya McQueen has a lot on her plate. After graduating from Berkeley, she has taken an Asian-American magazine she co-founded there national. She's a leader in the Occupy Wall Street movement making waves in San Fran and around the country. And she's a barista in her day job....at a cafe that's actually a safe haven for supernatural creatures trying to live their lives alongside a humanity that doesn't quite know they exist. Of course most of those "supernats" know what they are, what heritage they have, and where they come from.

Maya on the other hand, does not. Orphaned as a child, possessing tremendous shapeshifting powers (although she feels like her default mode, with a prankish mind of its own, is "Monkey"), she doesn't fit into any mythological origin she's ever heard of - or that her employer, human magic user Ayo. Maya is driven in everything she does, but she wishes to find out what she is almost more than anything, and she hopes that helping Ayo out with the supernatural community will one day lead her to answers.

But when she starts investigating a missing leader in the supernatural community, May finds herself facing off with a two new strange occurrences: a shadowy creature sucking out people's essences and a magical artifact with potentially deadly....and addictive power. And Maya will find herself having to deal with both of them, for the sake of all of San Francisco, human and supernatural......
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Monkey Around is a story carried by the really fun voice of Maya - a young woman with her hands in a lot of pies, both human and supernatural, and a really really fun voice. Maya is fun loving, especially with her powers when she fights - having what are essentially all the powers of the Monkey King: shapeshifting into practically anything and anyone, invisibility, super strength, - and a love for prankish behavior (especially when driven by her monkey side). She's idealistic, sarcastic, humorous, and well very immature in both her desires and actions at times, and is tremendous to take us through this world, as she attempts to deal with two different but potentially related crises at once dealing with the supernatural community of San Francisco...all the while trying to help lead a publication of non-supernatural Asian-American interest and to organize support for Occupy Wall Street. There's a lot there for her to be interested in, and it makes her a really interesting character to see develop.

This is also a world that is really interesting, with it being one in which supernatural creatures of various mythologies all live together somewhat underground in the real world. So a boy and his sister, love interests for the protagonist, are Naguals (From Aztec/MesoAmerican Myth), another character is out of Japanese myth, and the book's glossary in the back features creatures from all over. And yet these creatures interact with beings from other cultures, in ways that wind up changing their traditions and pasts, in ways that are more interesting than just throwing these creatures together unchanged like in other stories. And the ones of these creatures who are focused upon as major side characters are largely very fun and interesting to read about, making them excellent complements and major parts of Maya's own story.

It's a story that takes some real surprising turns at times, and one that is not afraid to kill off major side characters as the plot goes on. It also leads Maya to some real dark actions, which leave her interpersonal relations not quite in the best place by the end of the novel, although it's not overall depressing at the same time. And it leaves open one major plot thread for the next book in the series, which I'd be really interesting in seeing followed up.

That said, the plot has some clear weaknesses, weaknesses that probably stem from being a debut novel. Maya's origins are played for mystery when they're so obvious (she has the powers of the Monkey King) that they're basically advertised in the publishing advertisements...and yet she has no idea of them and her super knowledgeable mentor can't help her figure them out, which is just bizarre. Maya's mentor Ayo also is bizarrely ignorant about some of the things she helps facilitate, which doesn't really fit the character. And Maya's human life isn't nearly as well developed as her supernatural one, such that her human best friend barely does anything and we really don't get to see their friendship, supposedly a big one, at all.

But these weaknesses are small ones, and this book is so fun and creative that it's hard really to complain - and pretty much every first book in a longer urban fantasy series I've read has some odd quirks that don't really add up that they manage to overcome in future works. I look forward quite a bit to seeing this series do the same.

This book has a lot of things going for it and I've no doubt a lot of people will love it, particularly fans of Ilona Andrews and Patricia Briggs. It's got a kick-ass heroine and is jam-packed with mythological creatures and new-age thinking. Unfortunately, a few things didn't sit well with me and the final quarter left a bitter taste in my mouth, so it didn't get the 5 stars I originally envisioned.

THE GOOD AND THE GREAT
Monkey Around begins well. Maya MacQueen, our heroine, is instantly likeable. She's kind-hearted and community conscious, but also hasn't seen a fight she doesn't want to join–whether physically, magically, or socially. Her endless magic tricks made made me smile and her snark made me laugh.

---"They come to me to be validated, and to you to be...cleansed? No, that's not the word. To be...fixed, I guess. You're the mixie fixie."---

The world she inhabits–San Francisco, 2011–is vibrant and exciting, with an endless array of mythological creatures hiding in plain sight. These include, but are certainly not limited to, aswang (Filipino), bajang (Malay), naga (Hindu), nagual (Mesoamerican), anzu (Mesopotamian), kitsune (Japanese) and harimau jadian (Singaporean).

As well as being fantastical diverse, the book is also nicely socially diverse. Maya is bi, her friend Ayo is a lesbian, and a secondary character is non-binary and uses the pronouns ze and zeir. Maya also has Asian features (though she is unsure of her exact heritage) and a number of secondary characters are black, Asian, Latino or otherwise people of colour. The inclusion felt natural (rather than try-hard) and contributed to the story in a number of key ways.

THE LESS GOOD AND THE BAD

Throughout the story, there were a few small issues that niggled at me.

- To start, the plot is somewhat confusing, with Maya rushing off after all sorts of different objectives with no clear motive or connection between them. (This does come become clear with time.)
- Later in the book, Maya's friend asserts that she's a leader. Whilst I can see that she's a key member of her community, her vital contributions to her magazine or the protests aren't apparent. (This is a rather important point in the story.)
- In general, Maya's magical powers and talents appeared limitless. Whilst this was fun, it made it hard to understand where this left the bounds of possibility within the universe. This, in turn, diminished the tension. (The reveal at the end was at least satisfying on these grounds)

More serious, I found the romantic sub-plot lacklustre. There's a love triangle of sorts, but I wasn't really swooning for either guy. Both were a far cry from the usual urban fantasy alpha heroes, which, in many ways, was refreshing; however, I thought Maya's crush was pretty pathetic towards the end and I just couldn't get a handle on the other guy (beyond his goofy grin, anyway).

My biggest issue, and the one that lost the book its stars, was Maya's decision and behaviour towards the end of the book. I thought it unethical and not in keeping with what I thought were her socially upright morals. It left a really bitter taste in my mouth and had me struggling to continue reading. Perhaps, perhaps, it might have worked in a later book in what I assume will be a series. By then we would have had a better understanding and respect for her as a character and could have handled the blow. At this point, it made me question my initial judgement and lose what respect I'd given.

WOULD I RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO OTHERS?
Yes; particularly those who like urban fantasy. If you do read it, I'd be interested to know what you think of Maya's action towards the end. Would I read the next in the series? Probably. I did enjoy the world and perhaps Maya can redeem herself.

It’s hard not to be sold on a book with a premise like Monkey Around – urban fantasy set in 2011 San Francisco, dealing with the Occupy Wall Street movement and themes of gentrification and social change? Yes please.

That part of the book does live up to the hype: even though the actual Occupy movement gets limited page time, Jang offers plenty of wry observations about what it’s like to be a millennial (and, particularly, an Asian-American millennial) trying to make your way in the world. There’s also some poignant conversations about immigration and cultural assimilation, and how hard it can be to maintain cultural roots and connections in the face of rapid social change and economic challenges. Monkey Around is worth reading for those points alone.

Having said that, I wasn’t a huge fan of the underlying fantasy story. The general premise is that Maya is a shapeshifter (the full extent of her abilities is unknown, as she was adopted as a young child), who has found herself caught up in investigating a series of murders that have rocked the shapeshifting community. Jang takes an ‘everything but the kitchen sink’ approach to this idea and continually threw in new characters and concepts, without leaving any breathing space to really develop a connection to anyone. There are friends, and even a few romantic possibilities, but none of these relationships felt hugely deep or meaningful. Even Maya is a hard character to get to know, as she’s continally caught up in the action, with limited space in her narrative for reflection.

There’s a lot of good ideas here and while I wasn’t necessarily sold – I’m unlikely to pick up any sequels, though I might try something else by Jang – there’s enough to muse over to make Monkey Around worth checking out, particularly if you like urban fantasy more than I do.

This is an "advanced copy" review. Maya McQueen is a shape shifter of unknown background working as an assistant to Ayo who runs a supernatural sanctuary in the SF bay area. This is a fast paced and punchy urban fantasy. While not always likeable Maya is an enjoyable intelligent and witty character and it is always great to have a female character front and centre in fantasy novels. I loved the tidbits of the different cultural supernatural beings and it encouraged me to google to find out more. That said, I found myself skimming through a lot of the sections and the romantic elements were not really for me nor did I find myself particularly invested in a lot of a the supporting characters. It's an enjoyable debut novel but I don't think I'd be too bothered about reading the sequel.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book - it took a little while to get into because there's a lot of necessary exposition, but once I got past the halfway point it was impossible to put down.

San Francisco was the perfect setting for this book being a melting pot for migrants and people who are different. This was a great introduction to Asian and Native American mythology and the glossary in the back is a great jumping off point. The plot was engaging and the characters fabulous (literally).

I felt completely at home in this book and loved the humour - especially the bit about werewolves being repelled by silver and feminism!

I hope there will be more books in this series with the same setting and characters. By the end I felt a bit more educated about Asian culture and mythology and had a fun ride. This has inspired me to dive into Journey of the West - I grew up with Monkey on tv and never appreciated where it had come from.

To begin - this book was fantastic, and I’ll be watching to see what Jang does next.
I loved the world she built, and I really hope we get to see more of it, whether that’s following Maya or another character. The “monsters are just people” trope is one I absolutely adore, and the way it was approached in Monkey Around really brings it to a whole new level.
I can’t quite give it 5 stars, because there were certain points in how the plot developed that didn’t quite work for me, but over all it was an incredibly enjoyable read and I’ll be recommending it highly.

Maya McQueen doesn't know her origins only that she is not your run of the mill shifter. Living and working in the supernatural community of San Franciscos' Bay area Maya becomes involved in murders of shape shifters with the added twist of a soul sucking entity.
Maya is a barasita and activist by day and investigator by night. Trying to solve the murders in her community may bring her closer to the search for others of her kind and define who she is.. In addition to the murders there is a magical walking stick which is causing wierd affects to those who posses it and the Bay area seems to have a spirit which is looking for a guardian.
A great debut which have you rooting for Maya but also wincing at her mistakes. An unique urban fantasy novel based on the Monkey King (you remember the TV series right?) with a strong yet flawed MC - will be looking out for the next installment!
My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for access to this ARC.

I was very pleasantly surprised by this book. Picture The Monkey King by way of Jim Butcher but lighter. The book opens with a well written fight scene that quickly set the tone for what's about to come. There's action, shapeshifters, murder and a few twists I didn't see coming. My only complaint is that some of the side characters didn't seem as fleshed out as they' could have been. But that's a small price to pay for an excellent story. 5 out of 5!

thanks to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with the digital arc in exchange for an honest review.

a fun, adventurous novel! really liked this one and had so much fun reading!

This is a ridiculously fun urban fantasy that feels light and fresh and not quite like anything else I've seen before. Maya is impulsive and cannot resist causing mischief, but that makes her a really interesting character - especially because her impulsiveness isn't driven by temper, so much as it is the compulsion to cause a little chaos. It makes her stand out from the angsty, broody heroes I've seen yawningly often in UF, to the point where I didn't mind at all the 'I don't know what I am' trope - that usually makes me roll my eyes, but here I was super invested in finding out the mystery behind Maya's origins. I wanted everything to work out great for her!

I run into cool characters all the time; I do not often meet characters I would actually love to be friends with in real life. Maya is definitely both.

I also really appreciated the wide variety of shapeshifters and other supernaturals that Jang included - not only drawing from the mythology of different cultures, but also tying each shapeshifter's animal form to their region of origin - no tiger shapeshifters in Hawaii, for example (unless one decides to move there). Typically in UF the characters we're supposed to root for turn into big, beautiful predators, and where those animals exist in the wild has nothing to do with the character's ethnicity. Sometimes that's done well, sometimes less well, but I loved how all the different shapeshifters have their own cultures and how their animal forms reflect their ethnicities.

On that note, I also adored the many different ways Maya found to utilise her powers. Jang spent a lot of time thinking outside the box in terms of coming up with ways for Maya to use her abilities, and it works so well - I'm particularly fond of Maya's trick of turning into putty or smoke when someone tries to hit her!

The pacing was excellent; MONKEY AROUND was a book that never slowed down, which meshed really well with Maya's omg-bored-let's-poke-something personality and narration. Yes, it's a little bit of a detective story, which I don't usually care for, but here the cast and worldbuilding and prose were all so great I didn't mind. And even when parts of the story get quite serious, there's always this tongue-in-cheek vibe that has you grinning anyway and keeps it from getting too dark.

Overall, I LOVED this, and am crossing my fingers that we'll see more of Jang and Maya in the future!

The description set the expectation, which were a good match. This has a good amount of action, with some fun to be had along the way. There's feisty female, and other enjoyable characters, and an unpredictable plot. This is not my normal kind of read, but I enjoyed it. Recommended mostly for fantasy fans.

Thanks very much for the ARC for review!!

A truly unexpected tale of culture, discovery, fantasy and a bit of romance for good measure.

Maya is an instantly likeable character, and her path to discovering who (or what she is) is so interesting. The people around her aren't just "supporting" characters, they all come with backstories and intentions of their own which makes the central story so fascinating.

I really enjoyed the mythology and different types of mystical creatures featured too, as they were all so unusual and a far cry from your standard vampire/werewolf tropes. There is a lot of storytelling through action, without it needing too much exposition.

A really fun, intriguing, funny book overall.

What a delightful book! I’m always attracted to bright colours, so the cover caught my eye immediately, and when I read the description of Monkey Around I knew I had to read it. And oh, it did not disappoint!

Okay, there are times when the plotting is a tad wobbly and the writing is occasionally clunky, but the main point of reading a book is to enjoy it, and I enjoyed every word of this one. If I were only allowed to use one word to describe it, I’d say “fun”. I just found it impossible not to enjoy the energy and humour and fast paced action that doesn’t let up through the entire book.

A book written in the first person really needs a strong, engaging main character to carry it, and I fell in love with Maya almost immediately. Opening with a fight is a bold move and, since I’m not particularly interested in reading fights and battles, could easily have lost me. But Jadie Jang did so much great character building through the fight that I read every word and loved it, and Maya. She’s so passionate, so active and cares about everything so deeply. And I’m always going to love a protagonist who’s an activist and is always organising and supporting activism. Maya’s doing great work and I love her.

I also really enjoyed the magic in the book, and although shapeshifting is a common thing in fiction, I thought Jadie Jang did something different with it, and wrote it very thoughtfully and interestingly. I loved the way that each shapeshifter’s shifting was tied to their culture and their stories. And I loved the way that Monkey Around has a sort of background anchor in the idea that stories are real, that they contain truths and knowledge, and that they have power. I adore stories about stories so this was a lovely thread in the book for me.

I don’t read a huge amount of urban fantasy, for some reason, but Monkey Around has made me want to read more. It’s a fun romp with delightful characters, super awesome magic, and fast paced, exciting storytelling. I will say that I don’t know enough about any of the cultures represented to say if it’s done in a respectful way (the author is Asian American, as is the main character, so obviously I don’t have any qualms about that part!), but it definitely feels like the author has done a lot of research, which can only be a good thing. I had so much fun reading this book and I really hope it’s going to become a series, because I want more Maya. She’s just such a delight in every way! I’d recommend Monkey Around to anyone who wants a fun, rompy, fast-paced, funny, magical San Francisco adventure.

With thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

A kick ass new heroine has landed amidst a sea of new urban fantasy. Mythology abounds in the Bay Area as Maia investigates missing people, suspicious shape-shifter deaths and romance.

Jadie Jang writes with the kind of energy and wit that tells me I will want to visit this author’s imagination again soon. Monkey Around is braving, humorous, and inventive — an enjoyable science fiction mingling with reality. Highly recommended for fans of the sci-fi/fantasy genres!