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nillech's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.5
Graphic: Body horror, Racism, Medical trauma, and Violence
Moderate: Animal death and Death
Minor: Sexual content
qqjj's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Cultural appropriation, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Animal death, Vomit, Medical content, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Racism, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, Death of parent, Hate crime, and Murder
salemander's review
5.0
Graphic: Slavery, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Racism, Gore, and Death
ktkeps'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
4.5
Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Murder, Body horror, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Racism
emco_0's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Hate crime, Medical content, Medical trauma, Racism, and Racial slurs
destynee's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Racial slurs, Blood, Death, Gore, Violence, Grief, Hate crime, and Racism
Minor: Death of parent, Grief, and Medical trauma
bookishbutch'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
5.0
Also, if you're able to, please listen to the audiobook! Channie Waites breathes life into this book brilliantly. Frankly, that's the best way to experience this novella in my humble opinion.
Come for the strong Black women kicking racist ass, stay for the beautiful writing and the huge amount of heart.
Graphic: Cursing, Racism, Grief, Racial slurs, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Slavery, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Body horror, Medical content, Alcohol, and Medical trauma
Minor: Animal death
rorikae'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
Maryse Boudreaux hunts Ku Kluxes, monsters that parade as members of the Ku Klux Klan. With her friends and a group of resistance fighters, she is determined to wipe out these creatures. When they learn about a showing of Birth of a Nation that will call a new demon into their lands, Maryse and her friends cook up a plan to take out the group once and for all.
P. Djeli Clark continues to be one of my favorite novella writers. His ability to create such an expansive, evocative world in such a short amount of words is truly unparalleled. Each of his stories are unique from one another and yet they all suck you in and spin a full fledged narrative even with few words. This is true for 'Ring Shout' as well.
Through flashbacks and more fantastical experiences, Clark fleshes out Maryse as a character. We come to know and understand her strengths and her weaknesses as she is directly dealing with them. One of the strengths of this story is the balance between the true to life horrors of America during the early 1900s with the fantastical elements that Clark uses to elevate this horror. The mix of folklore, body horror, and badass fight scenes create a story that is fast paced but also full and complete. The ending leaves itself open for a sequel that I hope Clark will write. His worldbuilding shows that there is even more to this world that we could explore.
Graphic: Body horror, Cannibalism, Death, Gore, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Racism, Torture, Blood, Hate crime, Medical trauma, and Violence
Moderate: Death of parent and Kidnapping
howlinglibraries's review
- 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
“What I have is beautiful music inspired by struggle and fierce love. What he got ain’t nothing but hateful noise. Not a hint of soul to it.”
I've been meaning to check out P. Djèlí Clark's writing for far too long, and I'm so happy that I finally did, because Ring Shout absolutely blew me away and Clark is a new auto-read author for me, 100%. This novella was incredible! It's packed tight with action, intensity, history, and it all revolves around a trio of badass monster-hunting Black women that I immediately loved upon meeting. It isn't often that I read a book that leaves me feeling genuinely privileged to have experienced it, but Ring Shout is one of those special few.
I truly don't know where to begin with how highly I recommend this book. I loved the characters, the narrative voice, the fantastical elements, and the entire general premise of Ring Shout. Not only was it such a tremendously enjoyable story, but there was the added element of having learned a few things about Black history that I didn't know before. (I've learned since reading the novella that the author is also a historian, so that checks out!)
“Girl, every choice we make is a new tomorrow. Whole worlds waiting to be born.”
I also have to shout out the audiobook narrator, Channie Waites, for going above and beyond. Even when I wanted to read the book visually, I ended up putting my headphones in and listening while I read along with the ebook because the narration added so much extra jazz to the story! (I think this was the first time I'd ever done that, if that tells you what a raving compliment that is from me, someone who doesn't listen to audiobooks particularly often in the first place.)
Seriously, if you haven't picked up Ring Shout yet, do yourself and favor and fix that. Meanwhile, I'll be over here adding all of Clark's other works to my TBR! (Oh, and sincerely hoping that we get another novella in this world, because I was not ready to say goodbye.)
✨ Representation: almost all characters are Black; Chef is queer
Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with this review copy in exchange for an honest review!
Graphic: Racism, Violence, Murder, Body horror, Medical trauma, Death, and Grief
Minor: Animal death
raebelanger's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Racism, Gore, Body horror, Hate crime, and Violence
Moderate: Grief and Medical trauma