jenni_luvsbooks's review
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
melm1216's review
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Abortion and Murder
lilyaronovitz's review
3.0
I really thought I was gonna like this book so much more than I did. The first few narratives were entertaining, I liked the characters, and was getting into the story. But almost somewhat abruptly, I lost all understanding of how the different perspectives related to each other, and even to the Speaker of the House. I kept waiting for the main plot point about the Speaker's attack to be expanded on, to finally feel like what I was reading and the book's blurb were matching up—but it never came. I think one might enjoy this collection more if you go in without the expectation of a cohesive novel, but several stories very loosely related based on theme. The stories themselves were hit or miss. Some of them I found to be very immersive, I felt enveloped by the characters and their narration. But—and this connects to my earlier point about hoping for a more cohesive overall novel—I sometimes found it hard to understand what certain stories were supposed to be saying, they seemed detail-ridden and aimless. But all in all, the writing in this novel is engaging and far from subpar. I think that my personal opinion of the novel came from misplaced expectations. However, looking at this as a collection of stories somehow grounded in politicics/current events, one might get a lot more out of this read.
shelby1994's review
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
3.0
TW: Animal death, mention of infant death, slurs
I think Pietrzyk thought that these stories were more more scathing than they actually are. You can feel the scorn for DC politicos tear under the surface of each story, but that's kind fo par for the course nowadays.
I found that the stories that were most cloely intertwined to eb the least compelling; they started to turn this collection into somehting more of a novella, which is not the vibe. The best stories were the vignettes of people only loosely connected to the Speaker of the House's orbit.
I would recommend picking up the story "Wealth Management" as soon as you can. I'm fascinated by the concept of "work husbands" and "work wives," and the weird denial and implementation of boundaries that come along with these intense platonic relationships. That story is probably the best of the collection at creating and holding space for humor and tension at the same time, and it's the best short story I've read in a while.
Read if:
-- you read Politico's Playbook every morning
-- you are intimately familiar with DC's geography
-- you're looking to have your cynicism reinforced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
Minor: Child death
jhowarddc's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
5.0
For this native Washingtonian, these stories set in DC hit close to home in sometimes uncomfortable ways. That's a testament to the writer's ability to capture certain kinds of lives on the edge of political power in the nation's capital.
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