Reviews tagging 'Cannibalism'

Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

26 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

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

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

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

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

Moderate: Suicide, Medical content, and Abortion

Minor: Animal death

tam's review

challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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

Oof. Intense.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, and Racism

Moderate: Gun violence, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Torture, Violence, Mass/school shootings, and Cannibalism

danteandvirgil's review

dark emotional funny sad medium-paced

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

4.0

A strong collection of short stories. Characters all seem to be dealing with grief in some form, be it a person now lost, a life once lived, an emotion once felt. My favorites include "The Hospital Where" and "Through the Flash". 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood and Cannibalism

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

rosesofthespring's review against another edition

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

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

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.