Reviews

Apex Hides the Hurt by Colson Whitehead

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marci7's review against another edition

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funny mysterious reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

hellosyeda's review against another edition

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fast-paced

1.5

Very Meh.

rickwren's review against another edition

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4.0

Social commentary and parody told with straight-faced irony. I really liked it because of what he was saying about our society through the lens of the names we give things. Nicely done.

zellreads's review against another edition

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2.0

I have experience with Whitehead's writing and generally really like it. For some reason this book just didn't live up to the extremely high standard he has set for himself. It felt trivial and meandering, with the potential to address some big issues that just wasn't ever met. I would have liked it to have been longer and had more about the town and its history.

pestosito's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

2.5

Had such a difficult time with this. For such a small book, it took me far too long to get through. Some beautiful sentences in here, but felt the overall flow left me feeling confused more often than not after setting it down for a few days and picking it back up. Mediocre message and ending but did give me some food for thought regarding “what’s in a name?”

rsinclair6536's review against another edition

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3.0

A confection. A bonbon from a serious author. A good satire about the field of marketing with an underlying message about the importance of the meaning of words -- particularly words that we use as names for things. Nicely narrow in scope to match its brevity. Would have been stronger with more biting satire, but it must be hard for a writer to make fun of people who focus on words as their business. The race dimension is thoughtful but is also underdeveloped.

mikaelarose's review against another edition

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funny reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

Rather enjoyed the concept and the prose. Thought the tone was super interesting and gripping. I found at times it was just a little too slow for me. Loved that whitehead left the ending open