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rainbowarpaint's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Child death, Mental illness, Racism, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
paigereitz'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? It's complicated
5.0
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
axo17's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Ultimately, for me Hell of a Book really showed more of what I have never experienced, as far as this depth. The only other comparison I have to what people of color could go through is as a woman, I was taught to not dress a certain way, carry keys in my fingers, tell friends where I am are going on a date, dealing with misogyny, so on and so forth. I think that might be the only way I related on occasion to the multiple examples given. But. It’s just a whole world I’ll never know and I think reading it and trying to understand that hurt, is one small aim from the book in a much larger - seemingly never ending - story.
I recommend this to anyone. It might put something into perspective a little more.
Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Death, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
heatherilene's review against another edition
- 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
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
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
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
Graphic: Gun violence, Police brutality, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
kelsimarirobb's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Racism, Police brutality, Death of parent, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Alcoholism
nicoleisalwaysreading's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Child death, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Police brutality, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Alcohol
Such an interesting way to play with magical realism or a bending of how we perceive “reality” in something that is already fictional.isnotacrayon's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis