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A review by ihateprozac
Solo by Kwame Alexander
5.0
If you read this book, pleeeeeease get the audiobook format! Not only does Kwame Alexander’s writing totally come to life in audio format, but the recording includes acoustic performances of the beautiful songs within.
I really loved Blade’s arc. I am always here for a toxic parent relationship in fiction and he has that in SPADES. Some of the people in Blade’s life don’t have his best interests at heart, and he’s forced to reevaluate what his friends and family mean to him while simultaneously re-examining his own identity. I really connected to Blade as a character.
Another element I enjoyed was the LA setting and the lavish but toxic Hollywood lifestyle. Blade has grown up in excess thanks to his rockstar father, but his father’s addiction and exploitation by the media cause so much pain for the people around him. Money truly can’t buy happiness and while it’s better to cry in a Maserati than a Camry, either way you’re still crying.
There’s also some great discussion here about Western “saviours” travelling to African nations and throwing their cash around to “save” people, without asking what the people in question actually want. And doing so for the glory and vanity rather than a genuine sense of altruism and philanthropy. LOUDER FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK PLZ.
I really loved Blade’s arc. I am always here for a toxic parent relationship in fiction and he has that in SPADES. Some of the people in Blade’s life don’t have his best interests at heart, and he’s forced to reevaluate what his friends and family mean to him while simultaneously re-examining his own identity. I really connected to Blade as a character.
Another element I enjoyed was the LA setting and the lavish but toxic Hollywood lifestyle. Blade has grown up in excess thanks to his rockstar father, but his father’s addiction and exploitation by the media cause so much pain for the people around him. Money truly can’t buy happiness and while it’s better to cry in a Maserati than a Camry, either way you’re still crying.
There’s also some great discussion here about Western “saviours” travelling to African nations and throwing their cash around to “save” people, without asking what the people in question actually want. And doing so for the glory and vanity rather than a genuine sense of altruism and philanthropy. LOUDER FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK PLZ.