Reviews

After reading this book, I could not understand what the hype over this book was all about. The book is highly praised in many circles. The hype must be because the protagonist is black and gay. That checks off two boxes in their agenda.

I will say that I liked the author’s voice. The prose flowed well and was easy to read. But that is the book’s only redeeming quality. There is a lack of sufficient dialogue tags in the book. In multiple places, several characters are present, each one talking, but tags to identify who is speaking. After several lines of dialogue, it is impossible to determine which character is speaking. Each character sounds alike, and with no dialogue tags, the speaker is a mystery.

The prose is verbose, lengthy, and contains too many scientific details. The average reader will have no clue what the author is talking about. That detracted from the story. The author is simply showing off his chemistry and biology education. Save it for a textbook.

Wallace, the protagonist is completely unlikeable as a person. He is selfish and inconsiderate of others and their feelings. He is a jerk and takes what other people say and twists their words to use against them. He is not someone I would want for a friend. Wallace feels everyone is out to get him for no reason other than he is black and gay. He does not trust his “best friends,” and picks fights with them. Not a good way to nourish a friendship. It is amazing they continue to hang out with them.

The story is told in the 3rd person POV, but from Wallace’s perspective. The prose contains much of what Wallace is thinking so we are privy to his inner monologue, thus we know how he feels about those around him. However, Wallace’s thoughts are often unreliable as he thinks nothing is ever his fault and others dislike and mistreat him because of his race and sexual identity. For example, it is evident he is quite incompetent in the lab, but he blames his deficiencies on racism from his colleagues and mentor.

Speaking of racism, the book is full of comments thought by Wallace, but written by the author, complaining about white people. A few examples, “white and ugly,” “clumps of white people,” a painting of a charitable white man helping children is described as “horrifying,” “white people ruin black people’s lives,” and “every white person is a racist,” just to cite a few examples.

The book’s ending is incomplete and leaves unresolved a number of issues. I won’t mention them so as not to spoil the book or its ending. It was an effort to finish the book and I certainly won’t be reading any more books by this author.

radicalmguy's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

strawberrysword's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional lighthearted reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

mxinky's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

Simply an unforgettable, wonderful novel that feels very real. Nothing is easy here, nothing is settled.

More...