Reviews with content warning for Gore - When the Reckoning Comes

When the Reckoning Comes has many layers to its horror. First, there's the genocidal legacy of chattel slavery. Then there are the deeply sadistic acts of this specific plantation's owner. Third, there are groups of murderous ghosts. Fourth, there's deep-seated modern racism and classism. Lastly, there's the unique terror of a plantation becoming a luxury resort.

Like all of the horror in this novel, the latter element of terror is inspired by reality -- many former plantations throughout the American South have been renovated into deluxe event spaces. McQueen skillfully depicts this unique and ignorant glossing over of the truth. That a place of such immense suffering can be turned into a for-profit monument to a romanticized version of antebellum America? How deeply twisted. At the Woodsman plantation central to this novel, not only have the grounds been turned into a resort BUT one of the paid "entertainments" is reenactment of slave labor. Reenactments that are done by local Black people - the very descendants of the folks originally enslaved at that exact location.

Ultimately, When the Reckoning Comes is revenge horror at its finest. The ghosts of slaves that had been brutally tortured ultimately force many white descendants of owners and staff to reckon with their legacy of death and terror. Not only that, but McQueen's story itself pushes readers to consider the myriad, nuanced ways in which genocide echoes throughout the modern American South. The bloody echoes of slavery are still here. And that's the real horror.

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ecn's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.75

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brianna_moye's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

3.5

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eed8's review

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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albernikolauras's review

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dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This book was a solid blend of thriller and murder. You follow Mira as she comes back to her hometown for a wedding of one of her childhood friends. While they hadn't talked since Mira left, she is drawn back in for this extravagant wedding on a local plantation. From there, you are drawn into the mystery of this plantation and the reasons behind this wedding.

I found the start of this to be slower than I expected, but as the end starting coming together, all of the groundwork in the beginning fell into place. The book did an excellent job alternating between the horrors of simply being black in America and the horror of the what might be lurking at the plantation itself. It was tense and it kept you on your toes.

Highly recommend for a thriller, and if you want to pair it with a non-fiction, I would recommend 'How the Word is Passed' as the themes between the two find a lot of overlap.

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mysterymom40's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.5

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archaicrobin's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

Overall I enjoyed this story and the lens it uses to demonstrate how slavery is still around in a way, we just call it different things now. When the Reckoning Comes gives us a glimpse of the daily horrors that people of color and minorities deal with day in and day out. Some of the most horrifying scenes on this novel had nothing to with the supernatural and were all just everyday evils, both present and past.

The true horror in this novel is society, racists, and the dark past of our country. With that said, I did enjoy the social commentary and the topics covered however, when it came to the horror elements, I was a little disappointed. This story wasn’t scary in the traditional sense, the ghosts never really do anything and when they do you don’t see it. If they kill someone you never find out how. You just read about Mira finding their dead body. The ghosts are not scary, and honestly I don’t know why this was even horror to begin with and not a thriller.

The beginning of the book was amazing and I was immediately invested, but halfway through, once the “horror” begins the story starts to drag, the characters become flat, and I honestly just wanted it to end. Overall, I would not recommend this to anyone looking for a horror book but more for someone that’s interested in the more literary themes or into thrillers.

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