Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

23 reviews

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

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

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

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

havelock's review

challenging dark medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Racism, Violence, Police brutality, and Murder

adamnoel's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Racism, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, and Abortion