Reviews with content warning for Medical trauma - Chain-Gang All-Stars

I've sat on this review for quite some time and honestly haven't been able to stop thinking about this book and its impact since I put it down. Therefore, it will be added to my 6-star reads for 2024. I was nervous to read this book - it received a lot of hype, and some said it was slightly challenging to follow (writing style-wise). But, this book WORKED for me. I doubt I'll be able to articulate why and how it did in the best way, but it's truly a phenomenal book.

The plot: We are thrown into chaos on page one - Loretta Thurwar is introduced by way of having to kill another inmate named Melancholia Bishop through Criminal Action Penal Entertainment (CAPE), which is a top-rated "extreme sports program" that takes inmates from the private prison industry and turns them into...gladiators of sorts. Colloquially, they are known as the Chain-Gang All-Stars, and we walk through Thurwar's life in CAPE and plenty of others, including Hamara "Hurricane Staxxx" Stacker. The CAPE program is heavily explained because Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah wants you to understand how thought-out this program is, and we see, in detail, how the characters get to CAPE and what they have to do while they are in CAPE. We intimately meet these characters and their lives while getting doses of "regular" folks on the outside immersed in this dystopia-like world. In the process of reading this fictional story, we also get to read some footnotes about the mass incarceration system in our current world and reckon with what it means to be in an unchecked capitalist society.

What I loved: Everything. This was poignant, devastating, and brutal. There is no way around it - the book contains incredible violence. However, what is ALSO incredibly sad to read is the thought processes of those in the prison system who have learned that CAPE is the only way, who then adopt this violence-like mindset. There is a little bit of Stockholm Syndrome here - the stars of CAPE get used to the fame and "fortune" in this program (the further you get, the better food and clothing you have, etc.). While distant from what you just read, every chapter is connected in some way, and it's interesting to read about inmates, protesters, spectators, and even those involved in the CAPE program. Everyone you read about feels exceptionally human. The inmates are never portrayed as fantastic or good people, but they know this is an awful program.

Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah was masterful in his storytelling - a perfect example of "what could be" in our current society. Even on page three, Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah decided (likely strategically) to connect the game contractually to mention the Super Bowl; it made me laugh, not out of actual laughter but because I can actually imagine that happening. There are mentions of "Whole Market" and other brands that we can assume and infer....this novel seemed like a dystopia but was entirely too relatable. There are incredible juxtapositions that just had me thinking. For example, we get chapters from someone named Emily's point of view - just a regular ole' white married woman who seems not to love CAPE and the games but somehow can't look away. One night, she's watching an episode of the Chain-Gang All-Stars on her smart refrigerator (just in case you can't get to your TV in time!). Emily is watching LinkLyfe, where cameras follow Chains/Links into nature and watch them "March." When the camera comes to Hurricane Staxxx, she covers her face with her arms that have "Xs" tattooed on them for every death she causes. The Xs on her arms align perfectly with her eyes, and she sticks her tongue out, pretending to be a dead cartoon character. We see this from Emily's point of view from her Fridge TV, and the irony of it all is just palatable.

One of my favorite parts is how connected I felt to the characters. Some who've read this book have mentioned that the chapter structure and how the story is told could be better, leading to them forgetting about the characters or not feeling as connected. I disagree; I don't know how Adjei-Brenyah did it, but I was fully immersed in all the characters and their stories.

This is satire, though. We must remember that this is told from what we view as "an extreme." However, you can't help but feel its relevance and its importance.

What I didn't like: I liked everything. Literally, everything was important to me, and this book had an incredibly profound impact on me. It's an essential conversation starter about our current US system regarding justice and rehabilitation. I loved it so much, in the worst way possible. To love this book means that you likely hated it and were uncomfortable. It was the point. It is NOT a cozy read by any means, and the ending will stun you somehow. But I cannot recommend this book enough.

"LinkLyfe might be a nature show if people cared more for the canvas and less for the blood painted all over it."

"When you think of us, remember that just because something is, doesn't mean it can't change, and just because you haven't seen something before, that doesn't mean it's impossible. They call this the freeing ground. So who's going to be freed: me or you?"

Content Warnings