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hagwife's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.5
One of my favourite aspects of the novel is its narrative style. The entirety of the book is Tracker relaying his version of events to an inquisitor, though we never hear the inquisitor speak. As far as Tracker's story, most of that is told through conversations between characters, thus making the book almost entirely dialogue. Given that we are only receiving Tracker's version of events, there's a malleability to the story that is different from other uses of unreliable narrators. It feels less like intentionally diverting attention (Westworld) or subconsciously lying (Mr. Robot) and more so like an oral history. What is truth but the way one man saw the events and how he then chooses to remember them? And even if his version of the story doesn't match the "actual" events, what is to say that those events are any more true? This is a story where authenticity is not yoked to correctness, where truth is not an absolute because people are not absolute.
The theme of truth, the oral history style, and James' use of language combine into a worldview that feels authentic to the world in the novel. While written in English, it doesn't sound like English. James put a lot of effort into crafting a voice for his characters that sounds like a dialect, and not one where it's been translated, but one where the reader has a Star Trek-esque translation device – the characters speak and we understand. Perhaps the last novel I read where I was conscious of the amount of effort put into the way language works and how characters communicated was Zora Neal Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. The fact that many readers have found it hard to read means, at least in my opinion, that James succeeded in writing pre-colonial communications with a post-colonial language. There's that has been written on this, but recently I've been thinking about a quote from wa Thiong'o's Decolonizing the mind: "language was the most important vehicle through which that power fascinated and held the soul prisoner...Language was the means of spiritual subjugation".
I also enjoy how unapologetic and frank this book is in its queerness. We see many examples of platonic love, romantic love, and sexual attraction in all its various combinations between men. These relationships and encounters are vivid and intense; for Tracker, the line between love and hate is extremely thin and are characterized by the intenseness of his feelings, of the time and energy and many ways in which Leopard and Nyka and Mossi are intertwined with his life. And this queerness is shared and explored in a way that honors and explores the broadness of masculinity and how that impacts one's identity and vice versa.
I should point out that for any test related to the treatment and inclusion of women, this novel fails, and I think that's intentional. Tracker's relationships with women are extremely fraught, and though born out of trauma, extremely unfair to generalize, as several characters point out. It's interesting, because we don't meet any women or female presenting characters who challenge Tracker's beliefs with their actions, but we're left to wonder whether that is how these characters are or how Tracker sees them. I'm extremely interested in the second book in the trilogy, which tells the same tale, but from Sogolon's perspective.
This is also an incredibly hard book to recommend. James does not care about your sensibilities, particularly if they are European or derive historically from European ones; he's not interested in White-washing events or making them more palatable. He has built a stark reality in the world of Black Leopard, Red Wolf, one that understands that you gain nothing by trying to make it pretty or talk around it. You're going to be uncomfortable and you should be uncomfortable; it's not supposed to be easy to read about violent acts or intense grief. Most importantly though, please, please, please read the content warnings and take care of yourself first and foremost.
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Grief, Rape, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Gore, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Violence, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Death, Death of parent, Sexism, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Vomit, Pedophilia, Cannibalism, Kidnapping, Abandonment, Dysphoria, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Excrement, and Infidelity
Minor: Drug abuse, Incest, and Drug use
This book is not written with regards to Western conventions. It does not condone or uplift violence towards others but it is also not going to shy away from the realities of such acts. You will be uncomfortable because you should be uncomfortable.bitter_critter's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Pregnancy, Confinement, Excrement, Child abuse, Torture, Sexual violence, Addiction, Stalking, Sexual harassment, Rape, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Child death, Death of parent, Violence, Sexism, Grief, Body horror, War, Trafficking, Slavery, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Kidnapping, and Cursing
abnerbee's review against another edition
3.0
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Kidnapping, Rape, Child abuse, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Body horror, Sexual violence, Torture, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, and Violence
It's so violent and so graphic, just know that going in.samanthaleereads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Graphic: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Violence, Death, Gore, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Child abuse, Fatphobia, Murder, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Sexism, and Confinement
emalderwood'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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Rape and Sexual violence
Moderate: Confinement, Child death, and Homophobia
Minor: Child abuse
kaseyd'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? It's complicated
2.0
Graphic: Excrement, Cursing, Sexual assault, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Blood, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Child abuse, Kidnapping, and Misogyny
Minor: Body horror, Ableism, Slavery, Confinement, Homophobia, and Cannibalism
nrhilmer'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? No
5.0
Graphic: Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Violence, Abandonment, Body horror, Cannibalism, Cursing, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Trafficking, Child death, Death, Grief, Animal death, Blood, Gore, Infidelity, Transphobia, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Addiction, Alcohol, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Torture, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Incest, Sexism, Rape, War, and Xenophobia
lanid'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
Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Sexual assault, Grief, Rape, Misogyny, Blood, Torture, Violence, Animal death, Cannibalism, Death, Gore, and Murder
malimaan's review against another edition
every time I thought about opening the book i started to feel dread because it just made me so uncomfortable.
the writing itself is really complicated and often poetic, which I appreciated. in the end, however, neither the promising story nor the writing style was entirely to keep me interested enough to finish.
i feel like this book is a good book for some people but the graphic details were just too much to make it enjoyable for me.
Graphic: Sexual assault, Incest, Cannibalism, Rape, and Pedophilia
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death of parent, Excrement, Gore, Sexual assault, War, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual content, Confinement, Slavery, Xenophobia, Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Trafficking, and Torture
there is a scene in which the MC is gang raped by hyenas. additionally there are several instances of bestiality.trippalli's review against another edition
1.0
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Kidnapping, Racism, Violence, Bullying, Child death, Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, Infertility, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Genocide, Gore, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Ableism, Animal death, Hate crime, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Rape, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Body horror, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Confinement, Grief, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Trafficking, Physical abuse, and Sexual violence