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city_girl_writer's review
challenging
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
I gave the audiobook another chance since the first time I was really busy while listening. This time around...the audiobook came in clutch! I am not sure what to say to be honest. It is a slow read, so you have to come in with patience and allow the story to guide you. Even though it is not a favorite, I will definitely read more from Tochi Onyebuchi.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism
Moderate: Death
Minor: Gun violence
jennikreads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
3.75
This is a tough one for me. I got a lot out of this book and I think it has a lot to say, but i didn't enjoy reading this at all. It was hard to read and a little too close to the bone at times, but it really does highlight how a lot of the things were are dealing with in terms of race and class if left unchecked will only worsen and intensify. Climate change and the exodus from earth and how those things are experienced differently across race and class is brought into stark relief in this book. As i said, a lot to unpack here.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, and Classism
blackmetalblackheart's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Goliath is not an easy read. Onyebuchi takes his time with weaving all the pieces of the story together, and he leaves it up to the reader to fully map out what this near apocalyptic future looks like. That being said, Goliath is a book that has a big pay off by the end. It is intelligent, deep, political, brutal, beautiful, and honest all mixed together. I can see why some people will bounce early on with this book, but for those readers who do not mind a little hard work. stick with it. It is worth it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Racism, Terminal illness, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, and Classism
Minor: Rape and Vomit
foreverinastory's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Y'all this book fucked me up!
Hoping to reread this later this month when my audio hold comes in because I need another read to process everything this book did.
Goliath is a post-climate apocalypse story that studies several characters: the ones left behind on Earth, and the ones privileged enough to escape to the space Colonies and are now migrating back.
This book is something else y’all. And I mean this in the best way. My brain is sometimes able to sit for like 30 mins and read, but this book had me captivated. I spent around 2 hours sitting on my couch (a miracle in itself) finishing the second half of this book.
Goliath will be a challenging book for many to read, especially white readers. This book offers a hard look at the future. One that doesn’t pull any punches from the racism and anti-Blackness that is rampant in the world. I don’t say this to dissuade anyone from reading, but to be aware of what you’re getting into. This is a book that needs an open mind and one that’s willing to juxtapose the truth with what society wants us to believe.
Rep: Mainly cishet Black and Brown cast, white gay MC, achillean MC with two moms, sapphic elderly female side character.
CWs: Death, drug use/abuse, addiction, violence, murder, colonisation/re-gentrification, child death, cursing, genocide, blood, gore, gun violence, racial slurs, racism, mentions of climate disaster and mass radiation exposure. Moderate: police brutality, rape, sexual violence, suicide attempt, imprisonment, prison riot, hostage situation, kidnapping, child abuse.
Hoping to reread this later this month when my audio hold comes in because I need another read to process everything this book did.
Goliath is a post-climate apocalypse story that studies several characters: the ones left behind on Earth, and the ones privileged enough to escape to the space Colonies and are now migrating back.
This book is something else y’all. And I mean this in the best way. My brain is sometimes able to sit for like 30 mins and read, but this book had me captivated. I spent around 2 hours sitting on my couch (a miracle in itself) finishing the second half of this book.
Goliath will be a challenging book for many to read, especially white readers. This book offers a hard look at the future. One that doesn’t pull any punches from the racism and anti-Blackness that is rampant in the world. I don’t say this to dissuade anyone from reading, but to be aware of what you’re getting into. This is a book that needs an open mind and one that’s willing to juxtapose the truth with what society wants us to believe.
Rep: Mainly cishet Black and Brown cast, white gay MC, achillean MC with two moms, sapphic elderly female side character.
CWs: Death, drug use/abuse, addiction, violence, murder, colonisation/re-gentrification, child death, cursing, genocide, blood, gore, gun violence, racial slurs, racism, mentions of climate disaster and mass radiation exposure. Moderate: police brutality, rape, sexual violence, suicide attempt, imprisonment, prison riot, hostage situation, kidnapping, child abuse.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Colonisation
Moderate: Child abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Police brutality, Kidnapping, and Suicide attempt
perpetualpages's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
CWs: depictions of vomit; references to rape; graphic instances of drug use and addiction; descriptions of corpses, murder and death; racism, anti-Blackness, and racial slurs; references fo lynching and suicide; descriptions of police brutality, incarceration, violence, and gun violence
I remember when I first heard Tochi talk about his inspiration for this book during an interview for Quarantined Pages (hosted by Britney of Melanin Eclectic) where he described it as "gentrification in space". Cue everybody in the audience absolutely *losing* their mind. To see the story go from a buzzy tagline in a video interview to becoming a fully-fledged novel is so gratifying, especially as a reader.
Goliath is a novel that is incredibly cerebral and abstract. It patchworks together a ton of different characters and perspectives in this not-so-distant vision of the future where those with the means to do so have left the planet for dead in favor of colonizing space. Though Goliath is very much a sci-fi story, it's also firmly grounded on earth as it strives to explore how systemically "forgotten" characters attempt to build their own future from the ruins.
This is a constantly-shifting kaleidoscope of a story where the reader is almost secondary to the storytelling process. It's one of those reading experiences where the world-building is fully-realized and the reader is left to try and catch up on their own as they go. In that way, it's a story that refuses to hold the readers hand at any point, which is something I really respect. This is a story that's best enjoyed slowly, because it forces you to engage, to be present and attentive, and I think the pay-off is worth that little bit of work.
What really struck me about Goliath is its sense of urgency. The story is set in the not-so-distant future, and even though it paints a completely different planetary landscape, it feels eerily familiar and realistic. It reads more like an inevitable trajectory for humanity as opposed to a fictional futuristic projection that spontaneously sprang from the author's imagination. I think what Tochi has highlighted so well is that the issues under-served communities are facing now are the same ones they’ve always faced and the same ones that they will *continue* to face if nothing changes. This vision of the future illustrates how even after the system "collapses," it will continue to function as intended to further marginalize already-vulnerable communities.
I also really appreciate the way Tochi develops dialogue between his characters, because it feels real. He allows characters to talk to each other in the discordant, chaotic way that people actually speak, where there's no way to tell where one thought begins or ends. Every conversation feels like being dropped right in the middle of a story at its climax, but it also feels familiar and grounds the reader amidst this new futuristic technology and landscape.
Above all, I think the question at the heart of this story is how do we understand and determine “value,” especially when it comes to society, community, and people themselves? What kind of legacy are we creating and imparting when we become comfortable with erasing people and leaving them behind, and who are we allowing to be heroes? I think the story presents a really interesting take on those questions, and even though I had some minor issues with the structure of the story towards the end, I still think it gets that message across very effectively.
If you enjoy gritty sci-fi, social commentary, and complexly character-driven narratives that ask big questions about humanity and the future, then Goliath is absolutely the book for you. I continue to be excited by the SFF worlds Tochi Onyebuchi is excavating from his imagination, and I can't wait to see what comes next.
I remember when I first heard Tochi talk about his inspiration for this book during an interview for Quarantined Pages (hosted by Britney of Melanin Eclectic) where he described it as "gentrification in space". Cue everybody in the audience absolutely *losing* their mind. To see the story go from a buzzy tagline in a video interview to becoming a fully-fledged novel is so gratifying, especially as a reader.
Goliath is a novel that is incredibly cerebral and abstract. It patchworks together a ton of different characters and perspectives in this not-so-distant vision of the future where those with the means to do so have left the planet for dead in favor of colonizing space. Though Goliath is very much a sci-fi story, it's also firmly grounded on earth as it strives to explore how systemically "forgotten" characters attempt to build their own future from the ruins.
This is a constantly-shifting kaleidoscope of a story where the reader is almost secondary to the storytelling process. It's one of those reading experiences where the world-building is fully-realized and the reader is left to try and catch up on their own as they go. In that way, it's a story that refuses to hold the readers hand at any point, which is something I really respect. This is a story that's best enjoyed slowly, because it forces you to engage, to be present and attentive, and I think the pay-off is worth that little bit of work.
What really struck me about Goliath is its sense of urgency. The story is set in the not-so-distant future, and even though it paints a completely different planetary landscape, it feels eerily familiar and realistic. It reads more like an inevitable trajectory for humanity as opposed to a fictional futuristic projection that spontaneously sprang from the author's imagination. I think what Tochi has highlighted so well is that the issues under-served communities are facing now are the same ones they’ve always faced and the same ones that they will *continue* to face if nothing changes. This vision of the future illustrates how even after the system "collapses," it will continue to function as intended to further marginalize already-vulnerable communities.
I also really appreciate the way Tochi develops dialogue between his characters, because it feels real. He allows characters to talk to each other in the discordant, chaotic way that people actually speak, where there's no way to tell where one thought begins or ends. Every conversation feels like being dropped right in the middle of a story at its climax, but it also feels familiar and grounds the reader amidst this new futuristic technology and landscape.
Above all, I think the question at the heart of this story is how do we understand and determine “value,” especially when it comes to society, community, and people themselves? What kind of legacy are we creating and imparting when we become comfortable with erasing people and leaving them behind, and who are we allowing to be heroes? I think the story presents a really interesting take on those questions, and even though I had some minor issues with the structure of the story towards the end, I still think it gets that message across very effectively.
If you enjoy gritty sci-fi, social commentary, and complexly character-driven narratives that ask big questions about humanity and the future, then Goliath is absolutely the book for you. I continue to be excited by the SFF worlds Tochi Onyebuchi is excavating from his imagination, and I can't wait to see what comes next.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Racism, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Addiction, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Police brutality, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Rape and Vomit
tonysipsandreads's review against another edition
There was a whole lot going one. Too many characters trying to tell their stories all at once. The story jumps from character to character so much, it's hard to keep track or remember what's really going on. The pace was too slow for me as well. Overall I just didn't enjoy this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, and Alcohol
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