ignescentsky's review
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Really interesting book, I guess the genre would be historical fiction or historical fantasy.
I picked this up because the premise of the tv series was really interesting but I knew I wouldn’t have an HBO max sub for a while and wanted to read the book first anyway.
It is short story format which I normally dislike, but they are all related and tie together nicely at the end so I’m willing to look past that. It did make it easier to read in shorter segments. With most of the stories I wished they had been extended a bit longer to add to the buildup/intrigue.
The stories are set some time in the 1950s and mostly follow various members/friends of a black family as they interact with the supernatural.
One of the many interesting aspects of this book was the brief exploration of tension between liking a genre and having to deal with its abundance of racist elements and authors. I appreciated that the author had notes at the end which provided sources on the history and sources of inspiration for the work; it sounds like someone wrote a larger piece exploring this which acted as inspiration.
Content warning for racism and sexism to a lesser extent, violence
I picked this up because the premise of the tv series was really interesting but I knew I wouldn’t have an HBO max sub for a while and wanted to read the book first anyway.
It is short story format which I normally dislike, but they are all related and tie together nicely at the end so I’m willing to look past that. It did make it easier to read in shorter segments. With most of the stories I wished they had been extended a bit longer to add to the buildup/intrigue.
The stories are set some time in the 1950s and mostly follow various members/friends of a black family as they interact with the supernatural.
One of the many interesting aspects of this book was the brief exploration of tension between liking a genre and having to deal with its abundance of racist elements and authors. I appreciated that the author had notes at the end which provided sources on the history and sources of inspiration for the work; it sounds like someone wrote a larger piece exploring this which acted as inspiration.
Content warning for racism and sexism to a lesser extent, violence
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Violence, Police brutality, and Racism
Moderate: Sexism
librarianmage's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Blood, Death, and Sexism
Minor: Gun violence
zombiezami's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Hate crime, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Murder, Body horror, Violence, Gore, Religious bigotry, Racism, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Sexual content, and Sexism
Minor: Slavery, Child death, and Antisemitism
melaniereadsbooks's review
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
Honestly a white person writing a book about Jim Crow era racism from the perspective of Black people is not it for me. That and the slurs that were completely unnecessary to write down.
Then there is the fact that this story was pretty disjointed at best. It had an interesting plot, but that is about all that was going for it.
Then there is the fact that this story was pretty disjointed at best. It had an interesting plot, but that is about all that was going for it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexism, and Violence
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