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destdest's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
- 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? Yes
1.5
For this story, I think the humor would translate better on film, whether TV or movie. It comes off dry, awkward, and slightly offensive in writing. I get where the jokes are coming from; it’s like The Office meets Sorry to Bother You meets Boondocks vibes, but the execution is all over the place.
Darren/Buck was insufferable. It’s hard to root for him when he starts talking to everyone like dirt. Majority of the Sumwunner guys act like frat boys meets Wallstreet. Rhett was interesting, but I hated Clyde soooo much. Please stick a foot up his behind and push him down a stairway. If you read the story, you’ll want to kick his teeth in too.
In addition, the female characters outside of the mom and some aspects of Rose leave a lot to be desired. Sorry to be vulgar: But Soraya’s just there to be the voice of reason and hop on Darren’s dick. And Jason you hating ho, why are you here? I feel like he helped push Darren away. He was too defensive and hating so hard even before Darren lost his way.
The microaggressions get heavy and gaslighting abounds in this satire about Corporate America and startups. There are some clever digs at work culture and companies who pretend to care about diversity, but ultimately, this one wasn’t for me.
Darren/Buck was insufferable. It’s hard to root for him when he starts talking to everyone like dirt. Majority of the Sumwunner guys act like frat boys meets Wallstreet. Rhett was interesting, but I hated Clyde soooo much. Please stick a foot up his behind and push him down a stairway. If you read the story, you’ll want to kick his teeth in too.
In addition, the female characters outside of the mom and some aspects of Rose leave a lot to be desired. Sorry to be vulgar: But Soraya’s just there to be the voice of reason and hop on Darren’s dick. And Jason you hating ho, why are you here? I feel like he helped push Darren away. He was too defensive and hating so hard even before Darren lost his way.
The microaggressions get heavy and gaslighting abounds in this satire about Corporate America and startups. There are some clever digs at work culture and companies who pretend to care about diversity, but ultimately, this one wasn’t for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Death and Death of parent
internationalreads's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
tense
medium-paced
- 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? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship
piperlee's review
reflective
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? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism
Moderate: Confinement, Death of parent, Death, Drug use, Grief, Terminal illness, and Violence
Minor: Torture and Kidnapping
jainnyreads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Death, Racism, and Torture
paolina's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
informative
tense
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
4.5
The thing about satire is that it exaggerates the truth, to show us how ridiculous the reality is. The success of Black Buck as a satire is due to it not being all that far off from the truth. I found the book to be incredibly engaging, and I couldn't look away when the plot events started to go really south. I look forward to what Askaripour comes out with next.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, and Racism
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Death of parent, Cancer, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Torture, and Violence
autumn_alwaysreadingseason's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
I finished this over a week ago and I still don't know how I feel about it. I listened on audio (which I recommend, but be warned that the frat-bro-esque yelling gets to be too much sometimes).
Black Buck follows Darren, who has been working at Starbucks for four years. His mom wants him to do something else and an opportunity arises when one day he recommends an executive of a startup a different drink than his usual. He then is christened Buck and put through arduous sales training with two other newbies. But Buck is the only Black employee in the company and he faces racist jokes and increased torment, especially from his immediate supervisor. When tragedy befalls him personally and Buck single-handedly saves the company from bad publicity, he decides that he will change course and focus on getting more BIPOC in sales.
I was most interested in this aspect and it took a long time to get there. Then, when the Happy Campers are formed and start getting hired, shit hits the fan.
Overall, the plot was gripping, but sometimes it was too over-the-top, even for satire. And I found the ending deeply unsatisfying, although upon reflection it does fit.
Black Buck follows Darren, who has been working at Starbucks for four years. His mom wants him to do something else and an opportunity arises when one day he recommends an executive of a startup a different drink than his usual. He then is christened Buck and put through arduous sales training with two other newbies. But Buck is the only Black employee in the company and he faces racist jokes and increased torment, especially from his immediate supervisor. When tragedy befalls him personally and Buck single-handedly saves the company from bad publicity, he decides that he will change course and focus on getting more BIPOC in sales.
I was most interested in this aspect and it took a long time to get there. Then, when the Happy Campers are formed and start getting hired, shit hits the fan.
Overall, the plot was gripping, but sometimes it was too over-the-top, even for satire. And I found the ending deeply unsatisfying, although upon reflection it does fit.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Death
amressing's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
tense
fast-paced
- 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
4.0
Highly recommend the audiobook -Zeno Robinson’s narration is great.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism
Moderate: Misogyny and Bullying
Minor: Death and Violence
adoras's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
informative
fast-paced
- 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? Yes
3.5
This book really took me on a wild ride. Every time I felt like I understood where things were going and became used to the current status quo, there would be another twist and something entirely new would be happening, although still connected to the primary themes. I loved the satire and over-the-top nature of the plot and the world, but at the same time there was a disconnect because of that tone, and because of the many changes the protagonist went through over the course of the book. I really enjoyed reading something that felt new and different, and the way racism, particularly how it impacts employment and the workplace environment, was discussed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Cancer, Death, Death of parent, and Racism
Moderate: Drug use, Sexual content, and Violence
akhcreates's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- 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
When this book is advertised as a fast and wild ride, that is accurate. I checked this out from the library on a whim, since it was the New York Public Library's Book of the Month, or something, and it sounded interesting. It was so interesting I had to force myself to put it down and go to sleep, even though normally I'll start drifting off 20-30 minutes in to my bedtime read. This book is fast-paced, contains interesting characters, twists I didn't see coming (and I pride myself on seeing twists), and food for thought around race/racism, family, what success is, and what is worth fighting for. I would highly recommend it, and I may buy it for a friend to support the author.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Death
araeofbooks's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
“I realized it was freedom that had motivated me from the very beginning. Not money, power, the need to prove myself, or even to make Ma proud, but the freedom to breathe where I want, when I want, how I want, and with whom I want in my beautiful brown skin.”
I finished this book a few days ago and honestly, I’m still thinking about and processing this book. It’s fiction, but it’s written as part memoir of our protagonist Darren and part self-help/sales how-to. I’ve never read anything quite like it. Darren is kind of stuck in his life. At 22, he forewent college and is working at Starbucks. He engages with the CEO of a tech start-up in the coffee shop, accidentally getting himself an opportunity as a saleman in this vague new company. The first part of this book felt to me like a satire about majority white, fraternity bro start-up culture. Darren is the only person of color in this workspace and there’s this running motif in which Darren’s new colleagues are constantly telling him he looks like a famous Black person and never the same famous Black person (he gets everything from Malcom X to Morgan Freeman). We see Darren get sucked into the cult-like mentality of this tech start-up.
This part of the book was really engrossing and uncomfortable (in a good way!) as a white reader. There are so many things I don’t necessarily think about the spaces I exist in, because I am very often in the majority, that this book really made me think long and hard about. That’s what I want in most of the books I read.
There was a dramatic turn in this book where it becomes something else -- still what I felt like was a satire about race and the way we talk about and view it, but at the beginning of this turn even our narrator Darren admits that the turn is “half absurd, half jaw-dropping, and a whole heaping of crazy.” I don’t know what I feel about this half of the book. It definitely felt absurd, but I appreciated that the narrator is like, yes, you are not crazy for feeling this way. This is intentional. This book was darkly funny, engrossing, and cringe-worthy, and I’m excited to see what Mateo Askaripour writes next.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Racism
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Drug use, Terminal illness, Torture, and Violence