[Book Review] The Pink Heist by Adam El Shalakany

The Pink Heist by Adam El Shalakany was such a fun read! I was laughing out loud on almost every page. From very early on, I decided that it definitely had a similar humorous tone as Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, so of course I loved every single second of it!

If you’re a Hitchhikers fan, stop right here and go pick up this book!

Full disclosure: I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my rating in any way. 

My Thoughts on The Pink Heist by Adam El Shalakany

The last line of the synopsis is key, “Read on if you like to laugh.” This book was absolutely  hysterical! 

I was chuckling on almost every single page, but one scene specifically made me laugh to the point of tears! A quick backstory; in the virtual world, there’s a scene where Zenbot locks Mr. Qruise in a warehouse and tells him to make tea before he returns. Qruise ends up pulling out electrical wires and using his clothing to start a fire to heat the tea. But the fire gets out of control very quickly and Qruise almost dies. 

Later this happened and I just couldn’t stop laughing: 
“Mr. Qruise, as my pupil I believe you should accompany us. There is always a lesson to be found, in the clean and dirty.”
“Yeah, yeah. I remember your lessons. Didn’t work so well for me with the damned tea.” 
“I went back to the warehouse, in Woshu, looking for you. The tea was burnt but you achieved what I asked of you. Though to be honest you may have made a bit too much fire. Too much ying Mr Qruise. I believe this next lesson will be to focus on the yang.” 

Needless to say, the writing style was right up my alley! The plot was interesting and always kept me guessing at what would happen next. The pacing of the story was perfect and there was never a dull moment, even during the slower bits between the larger action scenes.  

There were so many elements of the story that I found incredibly interesting, whether that was the virtual world, the space race, or the Blasticore (which was a creature that takes the shape of whatever you’re afraid of, but actually looks like a bunny if you can overcome your fear), or anything in-between! 

Then there were the characters… The main characters were all so wonderfully developed. I really loved each and every one of them! I’d love to read another book about their adventures. 

My Favorite Passages from The Pink Heist

…the exoplanet’s name is Disappear. Which is why throughout the ‘verse when someone says they’re going to disappear you can never really know what they mean. These statements are usually followed by questions as to whether the ‘D’ is capitalized or not. 

Calling the GBG a bar is an exaggerated compliment to the run down old saloon, with its creaky broken swinging doors, bad alcohol, bad service and even worse clientele. 

“…So now we’re all on the same page, let’s forget the plan and get this bomb out of my noggin and let bygones be bygones, what do you say, Mancy? I’ve always said you’re a wonderfully rational person, for as long as I’ve known you, these past few hours.”

He made rude hand gestures to the both of them and exited the room. A few moments later he re-entered the room picked up a bottle of rum and made his final exit in a huff. 

The swearing was followed almost immediately with screams in the unified dialect of pain and fear, “Arrgghhhh!!!”

My Final Thoughts on The Pink Heist

I cannot recommend this book highly enough. If you enjoy stories set in space with a hysterical cast of characters, you have to give this one a go!

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