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zidian's review against another edition
- 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? No
4.0
Pros: incredible world-building (from the kingdoms and their traditions to the creatures that live within it), such a diverse and nuanced cast of characters (you could give me only dialogue and I could probably tell you who's speaking), captivating mystery
Cons: pacing (the chapters were too long, and it bounced from being too slow to too many things happening at once), overly-open content (the writing style itself was pretty good but sometimes felt like it was vulgar for vulgarity's sake - like I get it, the tracker can smell *everything* when he hunts someone down, you don't need to tell me that he can smell the person's shit after the third time), too many trigger warnings (especially within the first half of the book, there was some form of
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Blood, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, and Sexual harassment
hagwife's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
One of my favourite aspects of the novel is its narrative style. The entirety of the book is Tracker relaying his version of events to an inquisitor, though we never hear the inquisitor speak. As far as Tracker's story, most of that is told through conversations between characters, thus making the book almost entirely dialogue. Given that we are only receiving Tracker's version of events, there's a malleability to the story that is different from other uses of unreliable narrators. It feels less like intentionally diverting attention (Westworld) or subconsciously lying (Mr. Robot) and more so like an oral history. What is truth but the way one man saw the events and how he then chooses to remember them? And even if his version of the story doesn't match the "actual" events, what is to say that those events are any more true? This is a story where authenticity is not yoked to correctness, where truth is not an absolute because people are not absolute.
The theme of truth, the oral history style, and James' use of language combine into a worldview that feels authentic to the world in the novel. While written in English, it doesn't sound like English. James put a lot of effort into crafting a voice for his characters that sounds like a dialect, and not one where it's been translated, but one where the reader has a Star Trek-esque translation device – the characters speak and we understand. Perhaps the last novel I read where I was conscious of the amount of effort put into the way language works and how characters communicated was Zora Neal Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. The fact that many readers have found it hard to read means, at least in my opinion, that James succeeded in writing pre-colonial communications with a post-colonial language. There's that has been written on this, but recently I've been thinking about a quote from wa Thiong'o's Decolonizing the mind: "language was the most important vehicle through which that power fascinated and held the soul prisoner...Language was the means of spiritual subjugation".
I also enjoy how unapologetic and frank this book is in its queerness. We see many examples of platonic love, romantic love, and sexual attraction in all its various combinations between men. These relationships and encounters are vivid and intense; for Tracker, the line between love and hate is extremely thin and are characterized by the intenseness of his feelings, of the time and energy and many ways in which Leopard and Nyka and Mossi are intertwined with his life. And this queerness is shared and explored in a way that honors and explores the broadness of masculinity and how that impacts one's identity and vice versa.
I should point out that for any test related to the treatment and inclusion of women, this novel fails, and I think that's intentional. Tracker's relationships with women are extremely fraught, and though born out of trauma, extremely unfair to generalize, as several characters point out. It's interesting, because we don't meet any women or female presenting characters who challenge Tracker's beliefs with their actions, but we're left to wonder whether that is how these characters are or how Tracker sees them. I'm extremely interested in the second book in the trilogy, which tells the same tale, but from Sogolon's perspective.
This is also an incredibly hard book to recommend. James does not care about your sensibilities, particularly if they are European or derive historically from European ones; he's not interested in White-washing events or making them more palatable. He has built a stark reality in the world of Black Leopard, Red Wolf, one that understands that you gain nothing by trying to make it pretty or talk around it. You're going to be uncomfortable and you should be uncomfortable; it's not supposed to be easy to read about violent acts or intense grief. Most importantly though, please, please, please read the content warnings and take care of yourself first and foremost.
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Dysphoria
Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Incest
This book is not written with regards to Western conventions. It does not condone or uplift violence towards others but it is also not going to shy away from the realities of such acts. You will be uncomfortable because you should be uncomfortable.nrhilmer's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
lochnessmaddy's review against another edition
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Excrement, Murder, and War
trippalli's review against another edition
1.0
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
vedpears's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.25
Abundant run on sentences took some getting used to, but I managed to navigate that just fine.
I enjoyed how the story was written in such a way that it was like viewing a large photo by zooming in, then zooming out a bit, zooming in somewhere nearby, zooming out again until the whole picture is revealed.
What I did not enjoy was the overwhelming number of elements that would warrant trigger warnings: sex, rape, child abuse, pedophilia, slavery, bodily harm, mutilation, murder, combinations of all of those at once with a gratuitous serving of explicit language.
The overarching story is intriguing. The characters and concepts borrowed from African history and mythology were woven in very well. If this were written to be less corrosive on the psyche, I would have rated it higher.
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Biphobia, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Stalking, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
It basically has all the trigger warnings, including infanticide.ren_fox's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, and Murder
Moderate: Cannibalism
econsidine's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
NOTE THAT THERE IS A LOT OF HEAVY/DARK MATERIAL AND IMAGERY. I've tagged everything I can possibly think of below but have likely missed something. If you do not want to read something that involves any of the usual suspects of what people consider "dark" or "gory" or "messed up," then this is not for you. It's not a horror book, but it is often disturbing. And even for me—someone who loves fictional horror and grotesque shit and frequently reads books about cannibalism for fun—this one is a lot to get through and had me physically flinching at some moments while reading. It didn't read like it was just for shock value, as weird as that may sound, but the tone of the narrator through the whole book is very matter-of-fact, so many disturbing events are described in full detail but without much direct inflection/editorializing.
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Confinement, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Blood, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
nate_b's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
It was hard to follow at times but well worth the effort and time. It's a long book but so exquisitely told!
The author does not shy away from extremely graphic depictions of the acts of his characters, including sexual assault, murder, and war crimes against children. I actually had to set it aside after the first time I tried listening to it until a time when I was more able to handle the violent opening scene and get into the fascinating characters beyond. Maybe next year I'll be up to listen to the sequel! I hope they get the same narrator. He did a phenomenal job!
Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Biphobia, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
t_thekla's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
lotsa bad stuff