Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

46 reviews

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

readingwithgoose's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Racism, and Murder

m_papaya's review

4.0

Bleak, violent, read in one sitting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Gore, Torture, Self harm, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Murder, Mass/school shootings, Child death, and Abortion

Moderate: Bullying, Addiction, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Islamophobia

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

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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

daniellekat's review

challenging dark reflective slow-paced

3.5

Like all short story collections there were a few misses here for me, but overall the writing was strong and thought provoking. Stand out stories include: The Finkelstein 5, Zimmer Land (my favourite), Friday Black, and Light Spitter. I disliked that a few stories were somewhat connected. Having read the author’s novel Chain-Gang All-Stars, you can tell that he has a lot he wants to say. For me, the short story collection was more successful in achieving that goal despite being more disjointed. Each story felt more focused on a theme or topic where the novel tried to take on everything. It’s obvious he is a talented writer. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Racism, Self harm, Abortion, Blood, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Bullying and Child death

Minor: Abandonment

nana_sillylilbooks's review

dark emotional reflective sad fast-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? N/A

5.0

Roxanne Gay is quoted in Friday Black as saying if you like This is America [by Childish Gambino] youlll love Friday Black. I second this and raise it with a if you enjoy Jordan Peele movies or Black Mirror you’ll love it too.

This collection is electric and genuinely one of the most start to finish enjoyable, thought provoking and honestly quite disheartening, short story collections i’ve read in maybe years.

I fell in love with Nana Kwame about 3 stories in and am thrilled to already have his next novel on hand.

Dystopian , aware and insightful. My only ‘thoughts’ would be that it started off with such fireworks in  The Finklestein 5 and maybe we had a few too many on the consumerism theme later on but these are so minor because that being said I still loved 95% of the stories which is unheard of.

If Nana Kwame has no fans that means im no longer on earth…

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, and Murder

Moderate: Racism

seasonedreadings's review

challenging dark mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Gun violence, Murder, Racism, Torture, and Mass/school shootings

bookedbymadeline's review

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

4.0

I was pulled in by the first story but there were a few afterwards that were just okay or I had no idea what was going on. I almost DNFd but the stories become more interesting again/less confusing and pulled me back 😁

Overall a dark and interesting read where I liked more stories than didn’t. It’s well written and uniquely told. Highly recommend for any horror or dystopian/speculative fiction fans!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Gun violence, Racism, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, and Violence

Moderate: Child death, Mass/school shootings, and Abortion

Minor: Racial slurs, Suicide, and Cannibalism

aubrey_cody's review

dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Gripping. Gory. Immersive. Thought provoking. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Cursing, Gore, Violence, Torture, Abortion, Cannibalism, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Suicide, Racism, Murder, and Xenophobia