Book Review: Japanese Robots Love to Dance

⭐⭐⭐⭐

At a Glance:

Japanese Robots Love to Dance is a fun, quirky, series of interconnected stories that (mainly) follow Gary Legal. When I read the blurb, I figured the focus of the stories would center around Gary Legal. While some certainly do, the majority are the folks that require his representation telling their story or their facts. As an attorney, I was impressed with some of the accuracy that was incorporated, the idea of surprise evidence not existing, the ordering of statements, and even the objection. But, this is first and foremost a goofy novel (I say that lovingly). Despite that, the world that is built is rather intriguing, and there are a lot of things I have more questions than I do answers, but that's not a bad thing--it's a personal preference. The cover made me a little worried, but don't let the cover deter you from this novel.

What I liked:

I liked one story concerning a bank robbery, the prologue, and one story towards the very end. My favorite, and what I think is the best one, is by in large the bank robbery story, as that has excellent characterization and does a lot with what little space it has. It also has some of the most world-building in it, which I liked. I also liked the comedy--it's not going to be for everyone--but if you like irreverent types of comedy, I think you'll like this. Some of it was absurdist, but most of it felt grounded.

I also really liked some characters. Primarily, I loved 209, Ji-Hoon, and Gary (when he's on page). I also liked the majority of the dialogue, as it did feel like real characters talking to one another.

A third thing I loved was when the author chose to use the third person--I think that's their strength, as the first person felt a bit redundant when we had it.

What I didn't like:

I did not like the other characters. When I say that, I mean the main characters. I found "Boy," for example, to not have a ton of character to him. He just seemed like a slacker, and that was all I got.

I also was not a fan of how disorienting moving from story to story was--and sometimes even within the story. At times, it felt like a great expanse of time had passed. Other times, it felt like no time at all. Some flashbacks weren't clear, and I understand that part of that is the style, but it was a personal gripe. There were also a few errors in grammar/syntax that weren't enough for me to put the book down, but I noticed them in the Courtroom scene. This may also be because I am an attorney by trade, so I know that some conventions aren't super well-known. (For example, whenever referring to the specific room, you say Court).

Concluding Thoughts:

Overall, this was a fun, short, and entertaining read. There were some issues, but not enough to either make me dislike the story or hate it. While I think that some stories could have been tightened up and amended here and there, I think that the bulk was worth the read.

Recommended to:

It's hard for me to come up with comparisons, but I will say that if you want to have a book that you can come and go from that is based in a sci-fi world but isn't too heavy-handed, I would recommend it.