This is the third of Cantero's books that I've read, and I'm not as head over heels about it as I was the others. As with the previous, it is a fascinating combination of meta-textual commentary on a set of genre tropes, and a completely over the top example of the same. I think that the reason that it didn't work for me is that I'm not as familiar with the genre, and so rather than being engaged with the cleverness (and the bits I did get were so very clever) sections felt really flat.

Also, I think the pace of the story was best described as frenetic. Which when there are madcap criminal Things happen, including car chases and shootouts, kind of makes sense, but I did find it exhausting to read and it took me significantly longer than I would have expected. I dialed it down to only attempting to read a chapter at a time, and that helped for dealing with the overwhelm, but meant that I wasn't as focused on the details of the plot as I might have been.

The central conceit, of two people in the same body, kind of worked, but there were lots of times where the science side of my thoughts got in the way, because the plausible deniability wore thin. Be interested in knowing whether other people find the same thing, and whether it is more that I just wasn't engaged enough. After all, I'm perfectly willing to hand wave lots of science bullshit when a story sells it to me.

As would be expected for detective noir, the characters are all a bit over the top, a bit charicatured, a bit flimsy. I didn't really mesh with any of the major players, finding the most believable one a bit part -- Ursula, kid sister of the fellow whose death is being investigated.

There are many great paragraphs, several fabulous scenes, but few gripping chapters.

All in all, Cantero stays on my 'buy on sight' list because their all in investment in deconstructing stories makes for a great read. ( )

Two and a half stars. Too much of a good thing.
When I first tried to read this, it had massive hype around it, which I thought was great. I made the grave error of trying to read it in ebook format and -did not get it-, and disliked it and was unhappy. My roommate handed me a physical copy a few days ago. I went in, thinking of how I hadn't gotten it. And suddenly, I did. This time, reading the physical copy, it clicked. I laughed a lot reading this, and found certain decisions quite novel (no pun intended). I want this to be a movie. This is a fascinating commentary on people outside the gender binary; and especially on autism and ADHD together as a stereotype. Sibling rivalry between twins here was -amazing-. I was so glad for Adrian's monologue on how much he hated his sister. How refreshing. How unapologetic. How neat that A Z Kimrean was in a series of foster homes and mental wards. I thought of dynamics between conjoined twins when I was reading this. Some of them scratch and punch each other when angry. Being quiet is their way to be alone. They can still hate each other. The stark differences between A Z Kimrean were fascinating. It probably goes without saying that Zooey would be the "cooler" twin if they were separate twins, and Adrian knows that. He probably doesn't care, but sometimes, when he does care, he probably cares -a lot-. I was glad that Adrian balanced her out and kept her in check. Being around someone like that IRL would quickly become exhausting. Now imagine you're never able to get away from them.

Making A Z move like a marionette and look androgynous while actually being intersex was -fascinating-. Coinjoined twins attached at the torso mention that they had to get physical therapy, so the author may have been referring to that. There was some realism in this book that surprised me..

Zooey fits in well as a character in such an outrageous comedy. Adrian fits in well in the crime noir of this book. I remain surprised that A Z survived with so few injuries after such car crashes in this book. My roommate and I both want a sequel and a movie. Zooey would be a wonderful ambulance driver as long as there were no roadrunners. "The main character upstaged the story," my roommate remarked after I handed her the book back. I agree wholeheartedly with the statement. I'm really glad I read this.. ( )

Edgar Cantero has come up with a truly bizarre character for this detective novel. Kimrean suffers from an incredibly rare chromosomal disorder, being two persons equally sharing the one body. They are male and female. The male, Adrian, owns the left brain, and so he is 100% logic and rational thought. The female, Zooey, owns the right brain and she operates purely from impulse. The two switch control of the body between themselves at unpredictable moments.

That have set up a private investigator's office in San Francisco, and Adrian's peerless logical thought makes him an in-demand resource for the local cops, at least those that can deal with such a bizarre person. However Adrian cannot prevent Zooey from taking over at the most inopportune times, creating a Kimrean that acts out her impulses with no rational thought at all.

Cantero is a cartoonist, and you could easily see this concept working well in graphic novel format. The characters and action are overblown and silly at times, and the narration bristles with wise-cracking and jokes. The plot, surrounding the death of a local mobster and the subsequent repercussions, is pretty good and Cantero gets a few good plot twists and red herrings in. He did lose me a bit at the end, but overall I thought this was a unique take on the PI genre and a lot of fun. ( )

Have to say, I had a love/hate relationship with this book. There are times it is simply brilliant and funny and exactly what I was hoping for.

But there are spots where all the irreverent wink wink self-indulgence just becomes a little too much. I enjoy intelligent humour, and I don't even mind if the author intrudes for a specific purpose, but there were things in this one—certain phrases and such—that completely popped me out of the story and made me start thinking of Cantero's writing process.

I really enjoyed Meddling Kids but I feel like, in this one, Cantero's editor told him that all that fun stuff that worked so well in that last book? Yeah, amp that shit up to eleven!

It was just a bit too much.

Still, I enjoyed the convoluted story and most of the humour. ( )

This Body's Not Big Enough For The Both of Us by Edgar Cantero and narrated by January LaVoy is a snarky, witty, clever, and funny book! The opening prologue had me laughing but confused at first. Was this person mentally ill or what? Then as the book started it's explained that they are brother and sister joined together sharing a body and brain! It is hilarious! They are Private Investigators where the brother is calm natured and a genius Sherlock Holmes type. The sister is wild, sex crazed, and no control or filter! No one wants her on the cases but they all want the brother! This is one of these cases and I giggled all the way through it! It is funny, inappropriate at times that makes it even funnier, very witty, and full of action! Great characters and plot! I want more of this series! I hope he writes more of these PI siblings!
The narration was so good! It's not easy to do comedy and make it funny but she did! I think I enjoyed it more by hearing it from this narrator than if I had just read it myself. ( )