Reviews

The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle

Only show reviews with written explanations

marysaturn's review

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

4.0

morgob's review

Go to review page

5.0

This is a very difficult book to describe. Believe me, I tried to the very polite man when I went to get my oil changed. I went into it knowing nothing but that it was good, and I finished it not knowing much else besides that. This is a fast read, very easy to get into, and it is set in a rather lovely time period, because of the rich history of the time. I enjoyed every page of it, but I still don't think I could explain it to someone if they asked me. I did Google the Supreme Alphabet and did some reading afterwards.

tatyanavogt's review

Go to review page

3.0

So, I think this story was cool. The ending was cool. But I didn't really connect early on. I didn't love the writing and the way information was given to us felt a little disjointed. I do enjoy the vagueness of some of the details but when it comes to the characters I want enough information to connect with them early on so that I'm more accepting of the ambiguity that follows later in the story.

I also felt like the perspective shift that happened later in the book felt a little odd. Like it came out of no where and took away focus. Added confusion. I'm assuming that was part of the point but I didn't like the way it was done. I would have preferred (I think) if we had heard from that perspective earlier on as well so it didn't feel so random when we shifted gears.

I didn't think the story was scary (but I haven't found any horror book that i've read actually scary, so take that with a grain of salt).

Spoiler Thoughts:

Spoiler

Okay so I'm assuming all of the characters are supposed to be unlikeable. I did really like Tom at the end when he regrets what he'd done but before that I didn't really care for him. I only cared that he was being miss-treated. Like I didn't think he deserved that, and it angered me (as a black woman especially) but it didn't make me like him specifically. Which is fine..

I think the thing that got under my skin the most was the unjust treatment of a black man (his money being stolen), and the murder of his father. That "explanation" boiled my blood. How he emptied TWO full rounds on his father because he was holding a guitar that "looked like an assault riffle" or some shit.

The stuff going on with the rich guy and all the thugs and moving building etc, I think it could have been explained just a little more. But I also didn't mind not knowing much so perhaps thats not an issue.

I did think the ending was pretty cool for the most part. I just wished I cared more in the beginning/throughout the book. I wasn't super compelled to finish it. If it hadn't been so short I probably would have DNF'd it.

liz_newbern's review

Go to review page

4.0

The novel takes the reader through a quick but lyrical journey through the streets of 1920s New York City. Charles "Tommy" Tester, a young black man, leads the reader through the mysterious and at times unknowable parts of the city as he encounters personal struggles that transform him into someone as unknowable as the city he walks through. Trigger warning: This book contains violence, some gore, and racial slurs that some readers may find objectionable.