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emmanicoleman's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Drug use, Violence, Drug abuse, Murder, and Gun violence
Moderate: Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Racial slurs, Rape, and Hate crime
Minor: Homophobia, Trafficking, Vomit, War, Pregnancy, and Religious bigotry
spacecars's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Bullying, Blood, Gun violence, Murder, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Cultural appropriation, Drug use, and Drug abuse
Minor: Homophobia and Vomit
mepresley's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Spanning from 1976 to 1991,
The title works on two levels—first, it traces the deaths of seven of the eight men involved in the assassination attempt on the Singer; second, Alex Pierce’s article on the crack house shooting the is the undoing of Josey Wales focuses on seven of his victims. (However, the title doesn’t make any sense until the end of the novel, really, and there are so many deaths in the book that until you’ve read like 670 pages, it’s natural to feel kind of bewildered which ones are meant to be the “seven killings”)
The novel is divided into 5 parts, in each of which the narrative action takes place over the course of a single day: Dec 2 1976; Dec 3 1976; Feb 15 1979; August 14 1985; and March 22 1991. Ultimately, while this was an interesting choice that mostly works, it comes across to me as style for the sake of style in a way that hinders the story. I was also often frustrated with where & how James broke off the chapters.
There are places where I was more confused than I really should have been to enjoy the narrative, too.
James is a great writer and I absolutely want to read his other work. There’s well-written dialogue and action, the story is pieced together from these diverse narrators in a way that works (outside of what I already observed), locations are brought to life, and the characters are fantastic. I even feel like I learned a lot about a particular point in Jamaican history. Had I not stopped part of the way through and teased everything out through detailed notes, I probably would have been very lost for a long time, though. The character list was helpful. A map would also have been useful for me.
Two semi-random notes: I didn’t care for the Sir Arthur Jennings chapter on
Graphic: Drug abuse, Gun violence, Death, Physical abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Addiction, Murder, Violence, and Colonisation
jessies's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Body horror, Sexual violence, Violence, Murder, Sexual content, Gun violence, Police brutality, and Torture
maddsienicole's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Physical abuse, Rape, Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Vomit, Blood, Excrement, Sexual violence, Violence, and Murder
ktrain3900's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, and Murder
Minor: Drug abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, and Police brutality
This book is not for anyone easily triggered by any sort of violence or language.mikayladlewis's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
I think the readers for the audiobook did an amazing job in portraying their characters and it definitely made this book an easier read.
I will admit, I got a little lost at times but could quickly piece together any missing parts as the story went on. I think getting to the flow of the story is more important than understanding every single word. There is definitely a lot of difficult content in this novel, but I think the author has done a brilliant job in portraying the messiness of life and the messiness of Jamaica during this time period.
Graphic: Drug use, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Classism, Colonisation, Violence, Gun violence, Torture, Sexual violence, Homophobia, and War
panoptican's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Homophobia, Sexual harassment, Rape, Mental illness, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Cursing, Trafficking, Misogyny, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Addiction, Racial slurs, Sexism, Physical abuse, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Racism, Bullying, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Torture, Police brutality, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Fire/Fire injury, and Drug use
carlytenille's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Rape, and Excrement
rhinoceroswoman's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Homophobia, Cancer, and Sexism