Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

5 reviews

buer's review

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dark funny tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

In this series of short stories Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah chooses several hot-button topics and takes them to their most illogical extremes in a way that allows the reader the opportunity to explore these issues in a new light. 

The stories range widely, exploring topics like abortion, white supremacist violence, school shootings, over-consumerism, and more. Adjei-Brenyah is a visceral, visual writer exploring violent themes, so his writing is often stomach-churning. If you can handle a hefty amount of gore, though, these stories are sure to inspire a lot of interesting (maybe even productive) conversations.

The only thing keeping me from a full five star rating is that several of the stories are all center around the same retail environment. If all of those had to be included, I think grouping them together would have been more effective.

I recommend this for people who are politically minded, thoughtful, and a little twisted.
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wanderingtones's review

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challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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mateoj's review

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challenging dark tense fast-paced

2.0

life tip: 'I should have stopped reading after the one about aborted fetuses' will always be a true statement. 
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borireads's review

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challenging dark funny tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.75

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adamnoel's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I really enjoyed this book. Some stories sincerely left me breathless. Obviously, they're horror stories, but this was horror not meant to scare the reader, but to leave them truly horrified. More than one story left me anxious, almost nauseated as I contemplated them. More than once, I finished the story and had to put the book down and recoup before starting the next. Adjei-Brenyah wonderfully executed what he set out to do, and I look forward to reading his next release. However, not all stories were as strong as others, sometimes by a wide margin. A few left me mystified as to what the point even was. I suppose they could've been grotesque for the sake of it (which is a valid form of horror, don't get me wrong) but in a book that was so clearly centered on social/political commentary and metaphors that beg you to ponder them later, I felt like some were out of place. But overall, I was really impressed, and what few stories I didn't like were outweighed tenfold by how much I enjoyed the others. Adjei-Brenyah has a really intriguing style and his creativity is intense. Definitely give this book a try if you're on the fence about it!
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