Reviews

Leopardo Negro, Lobo Vermelho by Marlon James

stromberg's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

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

2.25

In spite of its well-crafted prose and remarkable ingenuity in building out its folkloric world, this novel never really reached me. It is composed of the sorts of elements I’d normally seek out in a book—unabashed formal complexities, an Enkidu-like protagonist, a lusty embrace of queerness, a “fabulist reimagining of Africa” (in the words of Salman Rushie’s blurb)—but in the end I am not the right reader for this story. I find it to be all id, all cruelty and orgiastic butchery and sexual atrocity, replicated in episode after episode (“this happened, then this, then this, then…”) until the nihilistic tedium of ever-iterating longueurs of caustic brutality numbs the senses. I receive the impression of an author so intoxicated by his powers of expression and invention that he neglects to tell a story. Again, the writing is finely done; I read with appreciation but not interest. Perhaps I am sorely missing the point.

freb's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious fast-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? Yes

5.0

phoebster_x's review against another edition

challenging dark tense

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

kiramydeara's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

rivareads's review against another edition

2.0

I had such high hopes for this book from ready the first 20 pages, only to realise this is well written.
I really didn’t enjoy this book and almost didn’t finish. I enjoyed the story but the way it is written, along with the dialogues really threw me off. The plot has a lot of wasted potential because taps into a very diverse location and it is infused with elements of African mythology. The story is violent and gory, ripe with sexual violence mentions and murder. However, the plot goes nowhere fast and stays there, and the reader is left with something that doesn’t really make sense most of the time.
The characters are hardly interesting, which is not helped by the fact they constantly speak in riddles or omitting important pieces of information. I get it, it’s fantasy, but that doesn't mean everyone has to be very smartly mysterious all the time. It’s infuriating because doesn’t allow the reader to understand the plot.
An attempt was made at writing fantasy and it failed. Miserably.

toxicpick's review against another edition

May need to read this instead listening to audiobook. Had a difficult time getting into the story. 

pkiwi's review against another edition

3.0

Intriguing book, narrative style and language, with a sense of an extremely rich mythology. Unfortunately, i struggled with getting into the story and couldn't motivate myself to finish it.

tishywishy's review against another edition

Barely made it past page 20. Absolutely did not enjoy the writing style.

kieserachel's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

roxtar's review against another edition

I just could not get into it. I don’t mind violence normally but there didn’t seem to be anything else. Just one horror scene after another. I was just trying to figure out what was happening and where I was in the story. I will try this again another time.