Reviews tagging Medical content

Friday Black, by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

5 reviews

rickstadt's review

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

3.75

Some of the stories in this collection are a bit dark and can be a little depressing to sit with afterwards, but nevertheless the messages behind them also sit with you - poignant in a meaningful way. Some of the short stories were more gripping than others.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Gun violence, and Death

Minor: Medical content

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

hpfan9501's review

challenging dark emotional reflective 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Racism, Racial slurs, Torture, Violence, and Child abuse

Moderate: Abortion, Medical content, and Suicide

Minor: Animal death

rosesofthespring's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

As with most collections of short stories, these were very hit-or-miss for me. They range from magical realism to complete sci-fi, with quite a bit of variation. I appreciate that  Adjei-Brenyah was not afraid to get experimental and strange. 

Unfortunately, the last story now exists in my worst nightmares and intrusive thoughts, so reader discretion is advised.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mass/school shootings, Medical content, Racism, Torture, Violence, and Child death

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Grief, and Sexual content

Not all content warnings apply to all stories. Unfortunately I don't have access to a copy anymore, so I can't give a more detailed breakdown.