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rainbowarpaint's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Mental illness, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Murder
paigereitz's review
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, Mental illness, Police brutality, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Terminal illness, and Death of parent
Moderate: Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Cancer, Slavery, and Grief
axo17's review
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- 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
I really loved it. Not a huge fan of books where they jump back and forth between voices/narrations. But once you get a feel for the characters it helps a lot. I loved how it touched on a lot of different arguments to racism or what “isn’t” racism/the problem. The reason I ranked it a lower than the full 5 is because even though I understand where the the author is coming from by also using mental health as an example with the (?Schizophrenia?) I feel like that’s a whole separate issue. Yes, it adds another level to it, but it left me wanting a little more of that side to the story. Be it clarity, meat, whatever.
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Hate crime, Mental illness, Racism, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Bullying, Racial slurs, and Child death
heatherilene's review
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: Police brutality, Death of parent, Gun violence, Cancer, Child death, Alcohol, Bullying, Violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Racism, Mental illness, Death, and Murder
djvill's review
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, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Police brutality
kelsimarirobb's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Mental illness, Police brutality, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Murder, and Racism
Moderate: Alcoholism
nicoleisalwaysreading's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
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
4.5
Wow. I’m in awe. This concept just continued to expand and expand and encompass so much more beauty and difficulty as it grew. The technical side of this writing is genius. Would be 5 stars if not for a slight doubt that this exact narrative structure was 100% effective. There was a building sense of a “reveal” that never quite came, but that ended up being what I thought all along. So I’m wondering if some of the mystery or uncertainty throughout was completely necessary/clouded the poignancy and clarity of the themes which were already so complex…nevertheless, this is EXCELLENT. Please read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Police brutality, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Slavery, and Child death
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
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- 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
This book is no joke. Charlie Kauffman-esque in its surrealism that devolves into almost fever dream. The most unreliable narrator ever. Fantastic writing, and meaning, and it should be read by the masses.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death of parent, Death, Addiction, Alcoholism, Grief, Gun violence, Vomit, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Racism, Racial slurs, Police brutality, Panic attacks/disorders, and Mental illness
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