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hanley's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
i think calling your book "Hell of a Book" and then having it be one of those meta stories in which there is an author with a book of the same title creates high expectations. yet Jason Mott managed to surpass them all and I enthusiastically concede-- it's a hell of a book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, and Police brutality
whataboutzana's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Gun violence, Racism, and Death of parent
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Sexism
bookgardendc's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
The title does the book justice. I’ve never read anything quite like this - it’s funny and complex and deeply profound and yet somehow two-thirds of the book manages to
feel fairly light. I clearly felt the inner struggles of the characters, and the generational trauma that African Americans must experience. Beautiful book.
feel fairly light. I clearly felt the inner struggles of the characters, and the generational trauma that African Americans must experience. Beautiful book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Hate crime, Racism, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Violence, Police brutality, Murder, and Alcohol
Trauma is a major feature. This book centers on police shootings of black men and boys. While descriptions aren’t graphic, it is an ever present theme.randisworld's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This was an incredible read. It made me cry. It put into words so many complicated emotions I have about being Black in this country. Stellar achievement and absolutely deserved The National Book Award and all of the accolades it received. Just WOW. It made me cry.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism and Sexism
Minor: Gun violence, Police brutality, and Murder
paigereitz's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
It is, as the name suggests, a hell of a book. It is an intense deep dive into race relations in novel form, from the Black experience, and it is an emotionally heavy read, but it was so, so good. An indictment on modern society, skillfully woven through a story that is disorienting and jarring and hard and emotional. I'll be processing this book for a long time.
From the book, "Laugh all you want, but I think learning to love yourself in a country when you're told that you're a plague on the economy, that you're nothing but a prisoner in the making, that your life can be taken away from you at any moment and there's nothing you can do about it - learning to love yourself in the middle of all that? Hell, that's a goddamn miracle."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Racism, Terminal illness, Police brutality, and Death of parent
Moderate: Cancer, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Slavery, Grief, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
emilye's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Police brutality, and Death of parent
finnft4's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
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
4.25
Liked it!
Good blend of both sad and funny beats, with moments that made me laugh and ones that made me tear up. It offers a unique perspective on society, and it has one of the most interesting and bizarre concepts out of any book I've ever read. Recommended!
Good blend of both sad and funny beats, with moments that made me laugh and ones that made me tear up. It offers a unique perspective on society, and it has one of the most interesting and bizarre concepts out of any book I've ever read. Recommended!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence and Police brutality
Moderate: Racism
heatherilene's review against another edition
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
fast-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racism, Violence, Police brutality, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Alcohol
djvill's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
What a beautiful book this is, a literary accomplishment. It's hard to characterize exactly what this book is. It's a semi-autobiographical meta-novel of the Black Lives Matter moment, wrapped in a romp, with fantastical and psychological elements, and a pinch of magic realism.
The standout narrative device is "the Kid". The book alternates between chapters with an adult first-person narrator (who is apparently an avatar of the author, Jason Mott, himself) and a third-person narrative of a young Black boy nicknamed "Soot" for the deep color of his skin. "Soot" (or some version of him) appears in the first-person chapters as the Kid, an apparition visible only to the narrator. The Kid at first is a comedic foil, asking the narrator silly questions as a kind of unwanted sidekick.By the end of the book, the Kid is a mix between Greek chorus and inner voice for the narrator. What's innovative is that this Greek chorus is not the disembodied vox populi, but with the perspective of a Black boy in America - a reminder that America doesn't let a Black child just "be".
The book ably blurs fiction and reality in a way that reminded me of Slaughterhouse-Five. (Any comparison to Vonnegut is high praise in my book!) Like that book, Hell of a Book makes no bones about this being a meta-novel--the narrator is an author touring for a book called Hell of a Book. And like Slaughterhouse-Five, this book uses the form to dive into the nature of memory and how memory makes us human--or as the case may be, how it robs us of our humanity. But in this book, the meta format is a way to explore the psychological toll of Blackness in America, as both the narrator and Soot drive themselves to schizophrenia just to dissociate from the constant psychological wounds they receive. On the note of psychological tolls, maybe it's because I just read Invisible Man before this, but I couldn't help but notice the parallels. Most obviously, the Kid learns to become invisible in order to be safe.
Finally, I read this book on the eve of becoming a father, and this book was powerful in that respect too. While my child won't have the Black skin of the narrator, the Kid, or Soot, I'll of course be terrified of all the bad things that could happen to her, whether physical or psychological. Seeing parenting through the eyes of the Kid's parents reminded me that parenting, like so much else, means just that much more terror for Black America.
This is a remarkable book that everyone should read! I won't forget it soon
The standout narrative device is "the Kid". The book alternates between chapters with an adult first-person narrator (who is apparently an avatar of the author, Jason Mott, himself) and a third-person narrative of a young Black boy nicknamed "Soot" for the deep color of his skin. "Soot" (or some version of him) appears in the first-person chapters as the Kid, an apparition visible only to the narrator. The Kid at first is a comedic foil, asking the narrator silly questions as a kind of unwanted sidekick.
The book ably blurs fiction and reality in a way that reminded me of Slaughterhouse-Five. (Any comparison to Vonnegut is high praise in my book!) Like that book, Hell of a Book makes no bones about this being a meta-novel--the narrator is an author touring for a book called Hell of a Book. And like Slaughterhouse-Five, this book uses the form to dive into the nature of memory and how memory makes us human--or as the case may be, how it robs us of our humanity. But in this book, the meta format is a way to explore the psychological toll of Blackness in America, as both the narrator and Soot drive themselves to schizophrenia just to dissociate from the constant psychological wounds they receive. On the note of psychological tolls, maybe it's because I just read Invisible Man before this, but I couldn't help but notice the parallels. Most obviously, the Kid learns to become invisible in order to be safe.
Finally, I read this book on the eve of becoming a father, and this book was powerful in that respect too. While my child won't have the Black skin of the narrator, the Kid, or Soot, I'll of course be terrified of all the bad things that could happen to her, whether physical or psychological. Seeing parenting through the eyes of the Kid's parents reminded me that parenting, like so much else, means just that much more terror for Black America.
This is a remarkable book that everyone should read! I won't forget it soon
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Police brutality, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
hannah2186's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
- 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? Yes
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism