Dalston Monsterzz

There aren’t many books that look or feel quite like Mann’s electrifying, candy-colored romp through an alternate version of East London. The city is overrun by huge beasts, as a heroine named Lolly bounds atop buildings riding a monster of her own. In a nice twist on the prince-saves-princess template, Lolly’s on a desperate quest to rescue her boyfriend, Kay, from certain doom, and she’s chased by gangs with fantastic names like the Crying Fives, the Tin Sisters, and the Supper Horses. Mann’s smooth, fluid brushwork depicts a vibrating subculture, merging realistic and imagined details and filling scenes with activity without cluttering up the page. His distinct style emphasizes the curves and colors of bodies in motion, and he handles quiet, conversational moments with as much aplomb as action sequences. But it’s in the later narrative where Mann falters. While his characters, in the beginning, feel like real people with real problems, toward the end they start to behave inexplicably, their choices simply in service of the straying plot. Though his style delights, the rushed finale limits Mann’s ability to explore the rich world he was building, as well as the people that populate it. [em](Mar.) [/em]