Really enjoyable.read, futuristic PI thriller which grabs you from.the start. Missing person, murder, twists and turns and also contains an interesting storilry line about LGBTQ+ issues, which is integral to the story. Brilliant.

I read an eARC of this book so thank you to Net Galley, the author and the publisher for allowing this.

I am a huge fan of cyberpunk, I love the game (video and rpg), the aesthetic, the literature. When I read the synopsis for this book it seemed like an absolute must read for me as it seemed cyberpunk mixed with an almost noir style mystery.

I thought the author evoked cyberpunk really well, the vibe was really good with the natural blending of technology and digital into human life. There was some really interesting mentions of body mods and androids that I’d love to have seen explored further as it felt like the author had some really cool ideas here.

I really liked the trans main character. It was fascinating to learn about Keira’s journey, her feelings and decisions she made. The aspirations she has too that give her motivation. I got so annoyed by certain characters continually calling her ‘Kyle’ or ‘Mr’, it felt so disrespectful. I generally liked Keira a lot, she seemed really talented with digital technology and very caring towards her friends. I did find she could be very childish at times, she’s 30 years old but without knowing that I would have thought she was a teenager with how she behaves at times.

There were elements of the mystery that were really interesting. I thoroughly enjoyed some of the parts involving video games, I loved Casey and I enjoyed the unravelling of the back stories of the people involved as Keira and Herrera investigated. I liked Herrera as the private investigator character. I found his protectiveness towards Keira really sweet.

I had a couple of issues with the mystery plot line around total cohesion. The author had some wonderfully interesting ideas in the middle of the book but I didn’t find they came together in a satisfying conclusion, I found the ending a little rushed and unbelievable which was a shame as the author had some fantastic content building towards it. I found the main characters frustrating at times because they knew there was a murderer on the loose and they were in danger but they were stopping to take drugs, hang out with friends or play games. I found it lessened the tension a bit which was a shame.

Some absolutely wonderful descriptive work and imagination from this author! Really excellent cyberpunk theming, it just had a few overall plot elements that didn’t quite work for me, however I’m sure that there will be others who will love this.

A cyberpunk technothriller that made me laugh, kept guessing. I had a lot of fun and thoroughly enjoyed this crazy story with a cast of well thought and interesting characters.
A well plotted story that I recommend.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

3.6/5

Thank you Rebellion Publishings and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review

Bang Bang Bodhisattva is a thriller about an unlikely duo hunting down a murderer, while they are being framed for the murder! The story is set in a cyber capitalistic future where androids and cyber-augmented humans live together. I found the world the author built to be enticing– I wish we had more time to explore the world. I also found the dynamic between humans and androids interesting and wish that we were able to learn more about their relationships. Both protagonists were well-written and had a lot of depth, additionally, the chemistry between them and the growth of their relationship was heartwarming to watch. The pacing throughout the book was solid, and the reveal was unexpected with just enough foreshadowing that it didn’t seem like the author just made something up.
My main gripe with this book was that while there were cool elements to this book, the mystery itself was just not enticing enough to draw you in. I felt like I was being shuffled from one misadventure to another only to forget the real reason we were on this journey was that it was a murder mystery. The book was enjoyable while reading, but the mystery was missing the allure that causes one to stay up in the early hours of the night to find out what happens next. I also urge the publishers to send out ARCs that are properly formatted and finalized. While the format did not factor into my rating, the format made the book feel like it was an early draft, rather than a polished ARC.

Overall, a solid debut and I will keep a look out for more works by the author. I hope we can see more books in this dystopian futuristic setting.

Cyberpunk chock full of queer characters, cherry-flavored drinks, red herrings, and murky backstories. Bang Bang Bodhisattva is a good ride. Angel and Keira need to find out who has been killing people. Detective Flynn is a transphobic jackass trying to pin everything on them. And what the heck is up with Nile?

I enjoyed this book quite a bit. The queerness of this book was a welcome respite from the absolutely bonkers awfulness sweeping the nation right now. And I always enjoy a story with near-future tech that you can almost imagine yourself getting in the next couple of years.

The novel isn't perfect. The middle is a touch long and the ending meanders. But the characters are great, the setting is believable, and the plotting is solid.

I got this book as an ARC on NetGalley, thanks to rebellion publishing.

First and foremost, that cover!!!

This book was so fun! Like laugh out loud fun at times. But it's not a comedy, and it's not just sunshine and rainbows.

The book is a cyberpunk murder mystery/PI story set in a kind of dystopia world in the year 2033. An age where president elections are done by games, elfears and orc fangs are commonplace and where everyone has a smartphone in their eye.

The book never holds back and is kind of vulgar and in your face, which I love. For example, in the first couple of pages, one character lets out a groan that gets compared to "someone bottoming for the first time."

The main character is trans, and a big part of the book is about identity, both linked to gender but also to like "is this what my life has come down to." These questions and themes make the book stand out in that it's not just a pi/murder story.

I enjoyed the world building. The futuristic kind of dystopian world felt realistic and in a very scary way plausible (I hope to god that 2033 turns out better in real life).

The murder mystery part of the story was exciting, and it kept me on my toes, I had a couple of suspects, but I think that would be spoilers.

Bang Bang Bodhisatva is the debut novel of trans Kiwi (from New Zealand) author Aubrey Wood. The novel features a cyberpunk world that is just a decade beyond our own somehow but which includes a ton of geek references that are very in your face - subtlety this book is not. It also features a trans woman protagonist in a world that has only gotten worse for people who don't fit the cis white gender norm, with fascist police still prejudiced as hell even despite technology perhaps making changing your body even easier than ever before. It takes this world and pairs that protagonist with an older private eye for a sort of buddy-cop-esque atmosphere (young hacker "kid" (age 30) and older former cop PI!) as they deal with a serious of strange murders that pull them in.

And parts of the novel work better than others - for example, the lead duo work really well as characters, especially geeky hacker trans woman Kiera, as she tries to be who she really is amongst a world that makes that incredibly hard, finds a possible love who turns out missing or dead, and winds up on the run with a man who feels way too often to be from an older generation. Kiera's great and her story is really well done, and second lead Angel is solid as the gruff noir-ish detective who is somewhat old fashioned while also being open to the new (and being Ace himself), even if less of a highlight. But the constant geek references kind of are offputting and sometimes threw me out of the narrative, as the novel at times wants to feel far in the future cyberpunk and at other times wants to feel like its set basically tomorrow, and it makes things very awkward. The result is a novel that I enjoyed but didn't quite love.

Trigger Warning: Police Brutality, Homophobia, Transphobia and Deadnaming, Racism, Suicide as backstory, Self-Harm.


-----------------------------Plot Summary-------------------------------

Kiera was just looking for some extra cash when she agreed to put her hacking skills to work helping Herrera, an older out of date (well to her anyway) PI on a mission to discover some dude cheating. She didn't expect to get shot at or to get a broken nose, and so she refuses to work for him again. But paying the costs of her underground hormone therapy and for her transition and to keep the homophobic landlord from evicting her and her polycule-mates Sky and Jinx is rough, so when she gets an offer from Herrera for one more job for a lot of money, she can't turn him down.

For Angel Herrera, the job seems simple and tangled in his own personal past: a job from his ex to look into the shady dealings of her husband Malcolm, Angel's old friend and partner. But when Herrera and Kiera look into it they find a stunner: that Malcolm has been murdered by a killer leaving a special signature at the scene, and that Malcolm had a connection to Kiera as well.

Soon a prejudiced as hell cop is chasing Kiera and Herrera, believing them to be the natural suspects, and they discover a second mystery - a missing new lover of Kiera's and a severed bloody hand at the crime scene. The only way to survive is for Kiera and Herrera to work together to figure out what's going on here...and even that might not be enough to stop the fascist cops from ruining their lives.....

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Bang Bang Bodhisattva is a book that's ostensibly set in 2032, although its world always feels rather weird in terms of time - the cyperpunk setting feels far future, like at least 30 years in our future, but the references being made by the characters are to our time and before, with Kiera being 30 years old and Herrera being about 15 years older and both making references to our time or beyond (in Herrera's case). The references, usually to geek material, are very overt and sometimes feel like out of place in the tone of this novel, where you might expect newer games and ideas to take their place in Kiera and her friends' dialogue...although to be fair the book does feature a brand new high tech World of Warcraft-like analogue in VR as a plot point even among the references which fills some of that category (although the frequent references made me think that the fake new sci-fi game was an old game I hadn't heard of for a bit).

This is also a world where two trends from our current present has increased - the system has gotten increasingly unfriendly to those who diverge from the norm, with cops being more powerful, transitioning being more expensive and privatized, and homophobic/racist people in power having more free reign and at the same time people who don't fit in with the norm like trans, LGB, otherwise queer people have become more and more willing to be out there, even in the face of that prejudice and all the mental stress and pain it causes. And so we have Kiera who is openly transitioning after realizing she was a girl from playing her VR game (and seeing a friend who was pressured by homophobic parents commit suicide) and her polycule openly trying to be themselves (complete with Kiera having modified ears to be elf ears) and yet also have Herrera, who doesn't know his own queerness and legally changed his name and adjusted his skin a bit to make himself appear more White to avoid such prejudice.

Once you get through the geek references, this world and its two main characters work really well, especially with Kiera. Kiera is a fascinating lead for how all over the place she is due to the struggles she faces in this world: she may have a polycule of two others she loves in Sky and Jinx, but she's also struggling with the costs of hormones and transitioning (like vocal surgery to adjust her voice), with having lost her best friend with who she discovered her true self in a VR game, and with her finding a new crush at a party in a fellow trans/non-binary gamer...who then goes missing. She's got a strong fear and hatred for fascist cops, who are prejudiced as hell against her for being trans (and in a sign of how she learned she was trans, how she had her ears modified into elf ears), and so the plot finding her on the run as a result of those cops wanting her as a suspect for murders of people she cares about is the utter worst. And it doesn't help that Herrera is clearly from an older generation, and is in denial a little bit about how the world is even as he tries to make it possible for himself to adapt, and is the only one Kiera can trust to help her.

For Angel/Herrera meanwhile, like I said, there's a lot of denial. He knows the world is shit and how awful the cop - a former squadmate - on their tails is, but he has tried to cope with it all...he legally changed his name to a more White sounding Jones and even changed his skin, and when he deals with the ex he once had (and might still have) feelings for, he's in a bit of denial over what she may have done. And he doesn't quite understand his own sexuality and why he doesn't like sex (he's ace) or why that ruined part of his past relationships. That and his older likes and lack of full understanding of new elements of the world frequently gets him into trouble, and prevents him from fully understanding Kiera.

And the plot does some really interesting things with the two, particularly in how it resolves things like the Murder Mystery at the book's heart. A simple explanation of a murder this is not, nor is the revealed murderer obvious (at the start) or their motives non-complex...nor is how Kiera and Herrera wind up dealing with them (not to spoil) something you might expect. Our characters here are good people but they're complex and have problems, and the situation here isn't black and white...which leads to some pretty interesting and curious choices near the end...but ones that work.

The result is a novel whose plot and characters are fascinating, where there's some really excellent explorations of sexuality and gender and more and the struggle against a growing worse society, but is a bit undermined by the geek references being overboard at times. There's a really good novel here undermined by some choices, but this is still a strong debut and one I recommend giving a try if you want Queer Cyperpunk Lit.

With thanks to netgalley and the author for allowing me to review this book.

Sadly Bang Bang Bodhisattva was a could not finish book for, it just didn't hold my attention and I felt like the author waffled on to much.

Bang Band Bodhisattva was heavy with gritty, electric cyberpunk vibes, full of cybernetic mods and advanced tech and cut with comedy. Plus, there's gays doing crime, escaping crime, and solving crime! It explores themes of capitalistic exploitation as well as queerness in such a world. The cast is full of LGBTQ+ characters, including our main heroine, a (chaotic) trans woman in a poly relationship. However, despite the interesting premise and ideas, I think this was as far as the good points go.
The dialogue came across really overtop and snarky. It was entertaining at times, but it dominated so much of the text to the point that I couldn't relate to or feel for any of the characters. They just came across ridiculous and unreal to me, so it wasn't something I personally enjoyed. That could certainly just be a me thing though.
The overall plot also did not thrill me like I would have expected for what was supposed to be a cyberpunk mystery. The story was fairly slow and meandering, and it felt like it took an eternity for anything to happen. For example, the concept related to the main title does not become relevant until the end. It is not hinted at all throughout the novel, and rather seemed to come out of nowhere so the reveal had no impact.
Long story short, I was bored the entire time because I wasn't at all invested in the characters or the plot, but if you're just here for a fun time, this book may still work for you!

(will be posting on other sites closer to publication date)

This was a lot of fun, I loved the main characters and the focus on a trans main character and her polyamorous lifestyle.

An exhilarating cyberpunk, techno-noir whodunnit!

I will preface this by saying I'm not a gamer or a coder, so there were a lot of references that flew over my head, but even so, this was a super enjoyable, fast-paced read. I found the world Aubrey Wood has built fascinating, from the descriptions of how tech and VR are integrated, to the discussions about AI autonomy, and the sombering snippets about the political climate and what it means for human rights (particularly for queer and gender-non-conforming people). As for the characters, Kiera, Sky and Angel have my whole heart.

As for the murder mystery itself? I really did not see that coming. It was bonkers, in the best way possible. Now, I would like more books set in that world, please and thank you, with Kiera and Angel solving mysteries together (because I really want to know how their relationship evolves after—but no, shush, spoilers).

Thank you to Rebellion Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I found fault with a few things in this book, so I'll save what I appreciated for the very end. For now, sit back and enjoy (or don't; I can't tell you what to do) my unvarnished opinion.
The most subjective of my gripes: the dialogue, along with the narration, to a lesser extent, was quippy to the point of being unrealistic. Almost all the dialogue felt forced to me in a "hello fellow kids" way even though I think the author is not much older than I am. My biggest problem with this style of dialogue is that it undercut any emotional vulnerability in the narrative. Many dramatic moments were peppered with quips and one liners that took me out of empathizing with the characters and back to rolling my eyes at the dialogue.
I also found the plot kind of hard to believe. The main characters, especially Angel, the PI, came across as kind of incompetent, except I don't think they were written to be that way. I also found it very hard to believe that in a plot involving multiple murders, no kind of forensics was ever brought up except to incriminate Kiera. Nobody found any DNA evidence or unique fibers at the crime scene? Nobody thought to use this to frame anyone? I expected more from a high tech cyberpunk setting.
I was also underwhelmed by the antagonists. I dislike the police as much as the next person, but the antagonist came off as a mustache twirling cartoon villain to me. I think that by focusing on one awful individual, the narrative fails to examine the systemic and cultural reasons why that kind of awfulness is allowed to propagate within the police force. IMO this is a pretty big missed opportunity.
My largest issue with this book is the juxtaposition of Buddhism with the incredibly violent motives of one character. To preface this, I am not Buddhist, but I did run my concerns by an ex-Buddhist friend of mine and they agreed. Buddhist ideology explicitly condemns violence against living things, but there is one character in this book who uses Buddhist ideals as either motivation or justification (I'm not sure which; this character made no sense to me) for murder. I don't know what the author's religion is, if any, so I make no claims of appropriation, only that the Buddhism involved in this book, whether or not the narrative condemns the actions of the character in question, misrepresents the religion.
At first, I was happy to see poly rep in this book, but that rep came hand in hand with the sort of smug poly superiority that I, a non-monogamous person, can't stand. Let's not make constant digs at monogamous people please. Being poly doesn't make one an inherently better person, it just means we approach romantic relationships differently.
I did, however, appreciate that this book didn't shy away from having a queer (this is the term I am comfortable with; if the author dislikes it, please someone let me know so that I can edit this review accordingly) villain. Too often, authors, especially queer authors, are pressured into writing only good, perfect queer characters, which in turn holds us irl to an impossible standard. Even if I didn't like the story overall, I appreciate that the author took the time and care to write a cast of realistically imperfect queer people.

(3.5 rounded up to 4.0.)

I loved this blurb and I have read cyberpunk detective noir books previously, so I thought this would be right up my street. I'm afraid I gave up at 77%. I was enjoying it very much to begin with, as it was fast and frantic and I was pulled right along, however as the story progressed, I started to feel completely overwhelmed by the use of gaming references which I didn't understand. I felt I was spending more time Googling things than actually reading. I'm not the target audience and I'm too old for a lot of the references. (It would appear that I'm a Luddite like the character, Angel Herrera!)

This is a cyberpunky detective noir with a good twisty-turny storyline, and it's very well written. The world building is excellent too and the LGBTQ+ issues - and the characters and Kiera's support polycule - felt true and real.

The storyline concerns old-world Private Investigator, Angel Herrera, who finds his missing ex-best-friend murdered. The dead man is also Kiera Umehara's pro-bono attorney. Their only clue is a stick of Nag Champa incense at the scene... Why would something used for meditation and purification be found next to a murdered man? Kiera and Herrera are an odd couple indeed, but I felt they complement each other big style. They both have skills needed and you should never underestimate an oldie!

Please, do not let my DNF put you off as you may enjoy this more than I did. Despite not finishing the book, I can tell that this is an author to keep your eye on for the future.

I chose this ARC from a selection on NetGalley. I voluntarily, and honestly, read and reviewed this work. All opinions are my own. My thanks to the publisher, NetGalley, and the author.

Aubrey Wood's Bang Bang Bodhisattva is set ten years from now in a California city that doesn't exist. Its aesthetic is equal parts black-and-white noir movies, cyberpunk, and Tumblr. There's a trans girl hacker who keeps getting stuck debugging smart toilets! An alternately charming and terrifying them fatale! Gender exploration, MMORPG edition! Casual body modification at different price points! The bearish member of our heroine's polycule flirting with the detective by means of a pot-enhanced therapy session!

Wood is a New Zealand writer with a UK publisher, so her New Carson can feel like the American equivalent of Ruritania. I enjoyed the book most when I thought of the setting as a movie set, rather than a literal attempt at prophecy: it's full of wisecracks, adventures, and commentary on what it's like to be not-quite-thirty now (as opposed to ten years from now).

I requested a digital copy in order to sample the prose on my phone (since I don't have a eReader) before requesting a physical copy for review. My review will be based on the physical ARC I read (if I qualify)

This enjoyable read, futuristic PI thriller which starts at pace, and never lets up. Missing person, murder, twists and turns. The book also contains an interesting story line about LGBQ+ issues. This is integral to the story, rather than as in many books these days that seem to drop in the odd character to be PC. Thank you to Rebellion Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

Bang Bang Bodhisattva is outside of my usual reading tastes, but I utterly adored it. I loved the mashed-up combination of cyberpunk and detective noir thriller, and the many tropes related to them. This was just such an engaging read - the interactions between Kiera and Herrera were both comical and touching. The book is peppered with references and one-liners that made me laugh aloud. I would be very keen to read more tales set in this world, and centring around these characters. The conclusion perhaps wasn't a satisfying as I hoped it would be, but the journey to get there was wonderful.
4.5 stars rounded up to 5.