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iirreeaadd's review
- 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? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Torture, Child abuse, Medical content, and Pregnancy
oodles17's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Blood, Death, Child death, Murder, Pregnancy, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Violence
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, and Racism
foxo_cube's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- 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
Nonetheless, it wasn't a dealbreaker, and I'm very glad I continued reading because it's a HELL of a story. If ever you think you know where the plot's going - which, for me, was often - you are proven wrong pretty quickly. It heavily telegraphs one thing, then does something else entirely. The book narrowly avoids going into the territory of silliness, and I mean that in a good way. At least, I like that sort of thing.
I do think some of the "Internet bad" messaging is a little heavy-handed. It's not preachy, or even totally anti-Internet - part of the book's sentiment is simply about caution when using social media, which is a pretty important thing. Still, I can't not mention it. The troll bit is especially obvious as a metaphor. The only other big criticism I have of this book is that the characters are a little flat. They're enough to be invested in - what shines through most is Apollo's absolute adoration of his son, and that is beautifully expressed - but it's sort of... just enough for that, if that makes sense.
The thing that made this story work for me is how curious it made me to find out the truth. Because you mostly know only what Apollo knows, and uncover things along with him, you will often find yourself led to believe one version of events only to discover, later, a whole different truth entirely. The way that LaValle pulls that off is fantastic.
I think this will be a book worth re-reading because, having read this in two sittings, more-or-less, I noticed that there was a sort of breadcrumb trail for the curveballs in the plot, and I'd like to see if this is more visible the second time round.
Graphic: Gore, Grief, Body horror, Mental illness, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Cursing, Blood, Forced institutionalization, Stalking, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, and Torture
Minor: Racism
halbo's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Murder, Confinement, Child abuse, Gore, and Grief
Moderate: Sexual content, Blood, Child death, and Pregnancy
reading_rainbow_with_chris's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
Moderate: Medical content, Pregnancy, Grief, Mental illness, Blood, Abandonment, and Violence
hannet's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Murder, Blood, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Death of parent
shesaidlividly's review
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Child death, Grief, and Racism
Moderate: Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Murder
Minor: Fatphobia
literarylion's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
2.0
Graphic: Child death, Child abuse, Blood, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, and Violence
malloryfitz's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Violence, Pregnancy, Grief, Gore, and Murder
Moderate: Abandonment, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Racism, Mental illness, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Alcohol, Confinement, Excrement, Fatphobia, Police brutality, and Vomit
madarauchiha's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
I read LaValle's 'The Ballad of Black Tom' in an anthology I don't even recall the name of. And I was hooked. Instant fan, I'll follow LaValle's works ANYWHERE.
PHEW. Jeus christ. This was so much. It was a mildly slow, meandering start, but it benefited from laying down the groundwork. Everything you'd want to know gets answered in a satisfactory way. It does cover some heavy topics like child abuse, but it's not over the top graphic, romanticized, or gorey.
The book summary is a lil misleading in that it's not a straight up fairy tale. It has modern settings, and the fairy tale portions are relayed as just that: fairy tales. It was fantastic when the fairy tale and modern settings come together and you finally get the whole picture. This really needs a reread or three because there are LAYERS to this onion, baby! Please for the love of montressor, read this book!
Content warnings:
minor toxic masculinity, NSFW, alcohol, slavery,
medium diseases, insects, NSFW, throat trauma, suicide attempt,
police brutality, murder, gun violence, breast feeding, gun violence, hostage attempt, sharps,
major breast feeding, house fires, demolition, fire, cyber bullying, unsanitary, body horror, religion christianity, toxic workplace, sexual harassment, child neglect, pregnancy, childbirth, child abuse, domestic abuse, police, unsanitary, antiblack racism, police brutality, murder, child abandonment, mass murder, demolition, misogyny, domestic abuse, stalking, violence, drowning, torture, gore, confinement?, violence, domestic abuse, child death, prisons, child death, animal death, animal gore, police, unsanitary,
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexual content, Stalking, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Gun violence, Police brutality, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Alcoholism and Slavery