Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

25 reviews

jessthanthree's review

dark emotional tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Abortion, Police brutality, Death, Violence, Racism, Ableism, Suicide, Hate crime, Murder, Grief, and Child death

Moderate: Cancer, Death of parent, and Medical content

Minor: Racial slurs

sarah984's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

3.5

Some of the stories in this collection were phenomenal, visceral writing - speculative fiction at its very best - but the rest varied between forgettable and downright bad. I would say it's worth it for the good ones.

Favourites: Through the Flash, Zimmer Land, Friday Black, The Finkelstein Five

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, Torture, Violence, Child death, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Self harm, Toxic friendship, Drug use, Ableism, Abortion, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, and Suicide

Minor: Classism, Homophobia, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Cannibalism, and Child abuse

jesromas's review

challenging dark hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Wow. This is the best short story collection I’ve ever read. Probably going to write a full review. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Gun violence, Racism, Abortion, Murder, and Violence

tey_lynn's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Racial slurs, Suicide, Abortion, Addiction, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Cannibalism, Child death, Classism, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Torture, and Violence

readinghavoc's review

adventurous challenging emotional funny reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Phenomenally written. Super immersive and innovative world building, great pacing, fantastic. Handles incredibly difficult subjects compellingly. Everyone should read it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Torture, Body horror, Racial slurs, Suicide, and Gun violence

aconfundityofcrows's review

challenging dark 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Torture, Cannibalism, Death, Racism, and Murder

Moderate: Racial slurs and Mass/school shootings

cati's review

dark mysterious 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

4.5

It's been a while since I read this collection, but after finishing another one by another author I had to write my review. This is probably the best collection I've read in my life, so far. There are stories in here that I remember even now, months later after finishing this. I would give it a full 5 stars, but the first story, The Finkelstein 5, felt like it dropped the concept of

Emmanuel rating his Blackness on a numerical scale

towards the end, but maybe I took this concept too literally instead of it being something that exists inside his head.
Lark Street had a good premise, but I thought

the talking fetuses was too silly

.
Through the Flash is the story that will stick with me, and has stuck with me, for a very long time. In conclusion, I enjoyed the stories dealing with dystopian settings or satirical political commentary like Zimmer Land the ones set in a retail store. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Death, Mass/school shootings, Violence, and Abortion

Moderate: Suicide and Suicidal thoughts

gattolinos_nerdy_nook's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

I really enjoyed each of the story stories. They were really attention grabbing and different from one another, but still displaying similar messages to the reader.
I'm not often drawn to short stories and if this wasn't a group read, I don't think I would have found and read this. I'm glad that I did get a chance to be introduced to this book and will have to keep an eye on the author for any upcoming writing he has.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Hate crime, Abortion, Blood, Death, Gun violence, and Racism

Moderate: Child abuse and Racial slurs

emily_mh's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Physical abuse, Abortion, Body horror, Child abuse, Mass/school shootings, Suicide, Murder, Violence, Domestic abuse, Self harm, Child death, Death, Cursing, Gun violence, and Torture

Moderate: Gore, Body shaming, Medical content, Blood, Racial slurs, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Ableism, Abandonment, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, and Rape

Minor: Misogyny, Antisemitism, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Fatphobia, Vomit, Cancer, Islamophobia, and Death of parent

Lynching, colourism, loss of a loved one (including a child), eugenics, menstruation, trampling, sick parent, homophobic slur, nuclear bombing

booksthatburn's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad 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

4.5

FRIDAY BLACK is a finely constructed collection of stories which range from simply invoking a certain kind of Black and American existence, to ones where the premise is inextricable from the intersection of these identities. 

Some of them have not literally happened but feel like they could if reality got just a little bit worse (or, more awfully, like they’re already here). Others are more speculative, requiring some shift in reality in order to be plausible, or being altogether impossible. In all of them, the relevant social and existential rules are deftly conveyed to build tiny pockets of a different space, in which a story is told that believes its own premise unabashedly and wholeheartedly. 

Three of the stories have a shared underlying reality, but I’m not certain whether the others are meant to be connected with them or not. None of the premises are mutually exclusive, but a few would definitely be oddly paired if they canonically coexist. My favorites are “Zimmer Land” (for the way it shows the precarious position of a marginalized employee in a job which objectifies his existence even as it exploits his identity), Friday Black” (for making shopping feel like a zombie story), and “Through the Flash” (for unflinchingly capturing the potential and inevitability of brutality in a certain kind of time loop).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Blood, Cannibalism, Child death, Death, Gore, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, and Violence

Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Cursing, Drug use, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Hate crime, Medical content, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Torture

Minor: Death of parent, Vomit, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Homophobia, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, and Abortion