Scan barcode
A review by caughtbetweenpages
Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
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? It's complicated
4.0
Though this book is relatively short--I don't think it breaks 200 pages--it packs one hell of a punch. I used to think that I struggled with novellas and that I didn't like them very much because I always felt that something was missing, whether it come from the plot or the world building or the characters, always something somewhere would give, but perhaps I just hadn't been reading the right novellas up till now, because this had all of those factors in spades.
I think P Djeli Clark is kind of a master of worldbuilding, and not just in the terms of creating the world, but in terms of figuring out how much of it one needs to reveal to create a cohesive narrative in itself. So the Kluxes, the monsters in this world that Maryse and her friends are trying to destroy and save the world from, are kind of monsters hidden amongst men. They were allowed into this world based on the overwhelming festering hatred within members of the KKK that already existed and more and more are let in as this hatred grows in other human beings and other tremendously racist things going on during this time in American history. So they fester within the hatred of these people and eventually they fully take over and consume the vessel from inside out until there's nothing but an inhuman, hungry, evil thing remaining. And what makes it worse is that--not just within the plot of the story but overall within the world that P Djeli Clark has created--these creatures are intentionally spread, this hatred is intentionally encouraged within others to make more room for this monstrous, hungry entity that wants to come in and take over.
On the less horrific and more our-protagonist-centered side of things, there's also a beautiful exploration of the folklore. Each section of this book is begun by a historical exploration of what ring shouts are and they're just woven into The Narrative of this book without, you know, a tremendous amount of explanation. They are as true and as real (even more true and more real) than the hatred and the bigotry of the KKK. But where Ring Shout really stood out for me was its character work. I really loved Maryse and her friends (both those on this world and in the spiritual world where Maryse has a connection to) all of them have suffered a tremendous degree of loss but are still all called together to fight this threat, not just to themselves but to the world at large. But instead of being sort of dour and bound and restrained by this, like, tremendous degree of purpose that they all have, together they find that their community and their love for one another and the support and the joy that they can find together is actually the greatest strength that they have, even more so than magical swords.
A really important element of this story and Maryse's journey overall is Maryse's reckoning with her own emotions and, at first, her refusal to deal with her trauma and her festering of her own hatred against these people who have harmed her and her family seem seems like it is the strength that she needs to defeat the Kluxes and their whole deal. But ultimately where she draws her strength from and where her success in the end comes from is not from hatred but from love, the tremendous amount of love, that she has for her friends and they have for her. Truly have no notes. I cannot wait for the next thing that P Djeli Clark writes cuz I will be picking it up.
I think P Djeli Clark is kind of a master of worldbuilding, and not just in the terms of creating the world, but in terms of figuring out how much of it one needs to reveal to create a cohesive narrative in itself. So the Kluxes, the monsters in this world that Maryse and her friends are trying to destroy and save the world from, are kind of monsters hidden amongst men. They were allowed into this world based on the overwhelming festering hatred within members of the KKK that already existed and more and more are let in as this hatred grows in other human beings and other tremendously racist things going on during this time in American history. So they fester within the hatred of these people and eventually they fully take over and consume the vessel from inside out until there's nothing but an inhuman, hungry, evil thing remaining. And what makes it worse is that--not just within the plot of the story but overall within the world that P Djeli Clark has created--these creatures are intentionally spread, this hatred is intentionally encouraged within others to make more room for this monstrous, hungry entity that wants to come in and take over.
On the less horrific and more our-protagonist-centered side of things, there's also a beautiful exploration of the folklore. Each section of this book is begun by a historical exploration of what ring shouts are and they're just woven into The Narrative of this book without, you know, a tremendous amount of explanation. They are as true and as real (even more true and more real) than the hatred and the bigotry of the KKK. But where Ring Shout really stood out for me was its character work. I really loved Maryse and her friends (both those on this world and in the spiritual world where Maryse has a connection to) all of them have suffered a tremendous degree of loss but are still all called together to fight this threat, not just to themselves but to the world at large. But instead of being sort of dour and bound and restrained by this, like, tremendous degree of purpose that they all have, together they find that their community and their love for one another and the support and the joy that they can find together is actually the greatest strength that they have, even more so than magical swords.
A really important element of this story and Maryse's journey overall is Maryse's reckoning with her own emotions and, at first, her refusal to deal with her trauma and her festering of her own hatred against these people who have harmed her and her family seem seems like it is the strength that she needs to defeat the Kluxes and their whole deal. But ultimately where she draws her strength from and where her success in the end comes from is not from hatred but from love, the tremendous amount of love, that she has for her friends and they have for her. Truly have no notes. I cannot wait for the next thing that P Djeli Clark writes cuz I will be picking it up.