Reviews with content warning for Racism - Friday Black

Like all short story collections there were a few misses here for me, but overall the writing was strong and thought provoking. Stand out stories include: The Finkelstein 5, Zimmer Land (my favourite), Friday Black, and Light Spitter. I disliked that a few stories were somewhat connected. Having read the author’s novel Chain-Gang All-Stars, you can tell that he has a lot he wants to say. For me, the short story collection was more successful in achieving that goal despite being more disjointed. Each story felt more focused on a theme or topic where the novel tried to take on everything. It’s obvious he is a talented writer.

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nana_sillylilbooks's review

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dark emotional reflective sad fast-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? N/A

5.0

Roxanne Gay is quoted in Friday Black as saying if you like This is America [by Childish Gambino] youlll love Friday Black. I second this and raise it with a if you enjoy Jordan Peele movies or Black Mirror you’ll love it too.

This collection is electric and genuinely one of the most start to finish enjoyable, thought provoking and honestly quite disheartening, short story collections i’ve read in maybe years.

I fell in love with Nana Kwame about 3 stories in and am thrilled to already have his next novel on hand.

Dystopian , aware and insightful. My only ‘thoughts’ would be that it started off with such fireworks in The Finklestein 5 and maybe we had a few too many on the consumerism theme later on but these are so minor because that being said I still loved 95% of the stories which is unheard of.

If Nana Kwame has no fans that means im no longer on earth…

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seasonedreadings's review

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challenging dark mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

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brotlord's review

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dark sad 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? It's complicated

4.5

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katepilled's review

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challenging dark hopeful inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Adjei-Brenyah’s debut collection of short stories is timely and powerful, with his finger on the pulse of racism and late-capitalism in America. Sharp and illuminating read. I highly recommend his parables- except for Lark Street, I admit I simply could not fuck with the talking fetuses.

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joann3's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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bookedbymadeline's review

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challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

4.0

I was pulled in by the first story but there were a few afterwards that were just okay or I had no idea what was going on. I almost DNFd but the stories become more interesting again/less confusing and pulled me back 😁

Overall a dark and interesting read where I liked more stories than didn’t. It’s well written and uniquely told. Highly recommend for any horror or dystopian/speculative fiction fans!

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aubrey_cody's review

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dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Gripping. Gory. Immersive. Thought provoking.

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