5 out of 5 stars
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Just Looking by Matthew Tree is set in the 2030s. Jim had gone on a cruise ship for leisure after selling the house he had inherited from his father for a huge sum. He had retired, and not long after that, his wife Sally had quietly left him. While on the cruise ship, he ran into a journalist called Jean-Pierre with his partner, Helen. That turned out to be a meeting of fate instead of mere coincidence. Jim also met a sociologist, Raluca, on the ship, and they had a sexual relationship that continued after the cruise was called off. They all got into France at a time when a certain political party, NSLF, was gaining ground, and in more ways than one, they got involved and realized that there was more to it than meets the eye.
There was an influx of immigrants from the Ukrainian-Belarus border into France, and the Nous Sommes La France (NSLF) was against foreigners, especially dark or brown-skinned ones. Jean-Pierre, who worked for a newspaper that churned out articles to favour their shareholders, which Célestine Buchard of the NSLF was leading, thought of a prank that would expose the lies and deceit of the paper. He carried it out, but the response was not something he had anticipated. The response to his little prank led to a nationwide demonstration that opened the doors to the repatriation of helpless foreigners.
I like the lessons behind this story. Each part of this book contained lessons that would be very useful in the present day. Important and sensitive topics like racism, xenophobia, political corruption, and so on were well discussed in this book, and it was seen from the characters' dialogues. I also liked the slight imagery the author used in this book when describing characters and events. I appreciated the fact that the author did not allow the minor themes to change the course of the book but instead stuck to the original storyline. The division of the book into parts instead of chapters worked out well too.
There was little to be displeased about in this book. I was not totally satisfied with the story's ending as the whereabouts of a certain important character were still unknown or left to the reader's imagination. I wouldn't name the character to avoid spoiling the story for readers. Also, the crime perpetrators were not brought to book, and though it may have been left like that to depict what happens in the real world, I found it rather unsatisfactory.
I give this book a 5 out of 5 stars rating. The storyline was superb and thought-provoking. The characters were well-written, and I found the story engaging. The inconclusiveness of a story didn't form enough reason to remove a star from the book, as it can be argued that the author is entitled to his preferred open-ended style of telling a story. I also didn't remove a star because the book was exceptionally well edited.
Just Looking by Matthew Tree is embedded with a lot of adventures, so I recommend it to lovers of adventure stories with hopeful endings.
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Just Looking
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