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A review by jrhartauthor
Soul Kitchen by Poppy Z. Brite
4.0
I feel like a lot of a person's enjoyment of this book comes from what they like about the Rickey and G-man series. If you're reading it for the crime, the kitchen talk, the food? You'll enjoy this one. If you're reading it for Rickey and G-man's relationship, you may not love it. Here's why:
*spoilers*
I'm going to preface this by saying it was arguably my least favorite book of the Rickey and G-man series. The book was still great, but to me it marked a clear turning point for Brite, one that showed they were ready to be done with the series.
There were definite strengths in Soul Kitchen, don't get me wrong. Realistic depictions of addiction and important talks on race relations shined through an otherwise less thrilling story. Rickey's descent into Vicodin dependency was painful, but hit close to home, and it was incredibly well-done (pun intended). It was also, as always, wonderful to see the unending, unconditional love that Rickey and G-man have for each other, regardless of the struggles they face. It's part of why I love them so much.
That said, if you primarily read this series for Rickey and G-man's banter, you'll find it missing through most of the story. On the one hand, that's because this goes to show how isolating addiction and dependency can be, but on the other, their missing banter was hard to go without. I found myself missing it, and as a result, this book took me a lot longer to finish reading than anything else in the series.
Good book, but missing the charm of what makes the series so great to read.
*spoilers*
I'm going to preface this by saying it was arguably my least favorite book of the Rickey and G-man series. The book was still great, but to me it marked a clear turning point for Brite, one that showed they were ready to be done with the series.
There were definite strengths in Soul Kitchen, don't get me wrong. Realistic depictions of addiction and important talks on race relations shined through an otherwise less thrilling story. Rickey's descent into Vicodin dependency was painful, but hit close to home, and it was incredibly well-done (pun intended). It was also, as always, wonderful to see the unending, unconditional love that Rickey and G-man have for each other, regardless of the struggles they face. It's part of why I love them so much.
That said, if you primarily read this series for Rickey and G-man's banter, you'll find it missing through most of the story. On the one hand, that's because this goes to show how isolating addiction and dependency can be, but on the other, their missing banter was hard to go without. I found myself missing it, and as a result, this book took me a lot longer to finish reading than anything else in the series.
Good book, but missing the charm of what makes the series so great to read.