Reviews tagging 'Abortion'

Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

43 reviews

thatokiebird's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Friday Black is a short story collection, without a theme yet connected in the tone of each story. They're dark, heavy, tense and dread and despair fill nearly every page. This was definitely not an enjoyable read, yet I'm glad I read it all the same. I enjoy short story collections typically, and this book is filled with interesting view points and alternate histories and I particularly liked the science fiction and dystopian elements.

The author is so imaginative, processing what different realities would look like. From a virtual realty theme park where people go to murder virtually and come back again and again, to an infinite time loop Groundhog day-esque world, where no rules exist anymore because why not. There were only three connected stories of the 12, which follows a two people working retail, one story detailing an alternate Black Friday where deaths add up casually as just a matter-of-fact.

I do want to read the author's full-length novel, Chain-Gang All-Stars, to get a feel of how they write characters over the course of a novel, instead of just in these short 10-15 page vignettes. Also the cover art of this book is stunning. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mass/school shootings, Violence, Death, Abortion, Gun violence, Hate crime, Murder, and Racism

catsbreadbikes's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This book was not for me, but that's my own fault as i didn't seek out any information about the content warnings for this book. It was really well-written, and vivid in detail though! Some of the stories i liked vetter than others, but even when i didn't lile a particular story, it was still worth listening to. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, Physical abuse, Murder, Gun violence, Gore, Cursing, Violence, Torture, Police brutality, Grief, Cannibalism, Mass/school shootings, Genocide, Racial slurs, Body horror, Xenophobia, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, and Hate crime

Moderate: Abortion, Homophobia, and War

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.

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Content Warnings

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

leahjanespeare's review

medium-paced

4.0

I'm not a huge reader of short stories, but I LOVED Chain-Gang All Stars so I wanted to give Nana's debut collection a shot. I could guess that this came earlier because the writing (while excellent) wasn't as good as his novel, but the ideas are unflinching and it's pretty out there (and yet not at all out there). I hope his next published work is another novel rather than short stories, but will read it all the same either way!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence and Racism

Moderate: Mass/school shootings, Abortion, and Suicide

kelsylee's review against another edition

I got two or three paragraphs into the abortion story, Lark Street, and had to stop. The writing is very good, but some of these just weren’t for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Drug use, and Violence

Moderate: Abortion

mrscorytee's review

dark 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Abortion, Violence, Murder, and Suicide attempt

xwritingstoriesx's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

A brilliant surrealist, satirical exploration of racial suffering, resistance, consumerism and economic materialism. I'm looking forward to picking up Chain-Gang All Stars after this experience. 

The Finkelstein 5 - 4.5 stars

Things My Mother Said - 4.25 stars

The Era - 4.5 stars

Lark Street - 4 stars

The Hospital Where - 4.25 stars

Zimmer Land - 4.75 stars

Black Friday - 5 Stars

The Lion & The Spider - 4 stars

Light Spitter - 4.25 stars

In Retail - 3.75 stars

Through The Flash - 4 stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Racism, Gun violence, Child death, Child abuse, Violence, Hate crime, and Murder

Moderate: Abortion

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

storielore's review

challenging dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Murder, Gun violence, Racism, and Body horror

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Suicide, Death, Animal death, Mass/school shootings, and Child death

literaryintersections's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.25

A lot of this I loved:

The finklestein 5 is an unbelievable story. Heartbreaking and sad. Feels realistic and also highlights the ends people will go to try and get some kind of justice. To get people to say their names. 

Lark Street was WEIRD but also sad. Maybe a take on abortion overall but more a take on how women are impacted by abortion. 

Zimmer Land was disgusting and horrifying and felt like the early stirrings of Chain-Gang All-Stars. The idea of doing something good when really it’s stripping of humanity. 

Friday Blsck - capitalism and materialism. 

Light Spitter - honestly heartbreaking all around. 

Some were so strong and others not as strong. But overall, such a great read. I want a full Finklestein 5 and full Zimmer Land story. 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Gore

wanderingtones's review

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Hate crime, Violence, Classism, Racism, and Gore

Moderate: Suicide, Mass/school shootings, Abortion, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, and Racial slurs

Minor: Mental illness, Torture, and Self harm