Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

3 reviews

buer's review

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.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Mental illness, Terminal illness, and Abortion

kananineko's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Child death, Hate crime, Mass/school shootings, Blood, Self harm, Gun violence, Abortion, Physical abuse, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Medical content, Medical trauma, Domestic abuse, Bullying, Racial slurs, Torture, Grief, Drug abuse, Addiction, Abandonment, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Suicide, and Gore

Minor: Islamophobia, War, Pregnancy, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Cannibalism, and Cancer

apiersonsmela's review

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I wanted to like this book more than I did. What I feel it does well is to draw attention to many pressing issues in modern (American) society, but where it falls short is in the length and nuance of the stories, so that many are just “wouldn’t it be messed up if this happened?” Personal favorite is Through the Flash, but I wouldn’t recommend other stories to my friends. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Racism, Suicide, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Mass/school shootings, Terminal illness, and Gore