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kboykin's review against another edition
5.0
Quite interesting. Wouldn't have expected to like this but I did. All types of things going on involving witches, racism and craziness but it worked out in the end. Lol
hirvimaki's review against another edition
3.0
(Three and a half stars from me.) A bit ambivalent about this book. It's a mash-up of social commentary on race relations in mid-twentieth century America and Lovecraftian horror. Or that's what it wants to be.
At the former it is successful; it is steeped in the ugliness that is prejudice. And it does it both plainly and artfully, subtly and brashly. Ruff shines a light on the dark times that was Jim Crow-era America, and what it shows is as ugly as any fantastical creation of fiction. At times hard to read, showing us the worst of what we as a country, as a people, can be, it is the story of (a small sliver of) the extreme racism faced by African Americans.
At the latter, not so much. Cults and other-worldly places and bizarre creatures and malevolent sorcerers. It has those. But that's not the horror of Lovecraft. The world of Lovecraft is the creeping, unknowable dread of a "something else". It is the madness that is so far beyond mortal understanding that not only can we not comprehend it but just the attempt creates more insanity. It is dread on a cosmic level. I understand what Ruff was tying to do, but it just did not click for me in as satisfying a way as I was hoping. The reality is that prejudice in 1950s America, or anytime America, or anytime anywhere, is not a unknowable horror. It is a known horror that we must understand and confront.
Yes, Lovecraft was a racist. But that fact does not make this work. (Perhaps better than using, say, The Mists of Avalon to illustrate child molestation, but drawing that line is tenuous, especially for those familiar with the Lovecraft stories.) The metaphor flounders, perhaps because there is just too little actual Lovecraftian dread present but also because the types of horror do not align in a substantive way, at least for me. And so the melding of these two themes, Lovecraft and the evil that is prejudice, does not work as I assume Ruff was intending.
That being said, it is still a very good read. It works as a historical horror novel, just not solidly as a Lovecraft horror novel. I'm glad I read it. I will recommend it to others. But I wish I had not gone into it expecting so much Lovecraft. Had that expectation not been in my mind my appreciation and enjoyment would have been much greater.
At the former it is successful; it is steeped in the ugliness that is prejudice. And it does it both plainly and artfully, subtly and brashly. Ruff shines a light on the dark times that was Jim Crow-era America, and what it shows is as ugly as any fantastical creation of fiction. At times hard to read, showing us the worst of what we as a country, as a people, can be, it is the story of (a small sliver of) the extreme racism faced by African Americans.
At the latter, not so much. Cults and other-worldly places and bizarre creatures and malevolent sorcerers. It has those. But that's not the horror of Lovecraft. The world of Lovecraft is the creeping, unknowable dread of a "something else". It is the madness that is so far beyond mortal understanding that not only can we not comprehend it but just the attempt creates more insanity. It is dread on a cosmic level. I understand what Ruff was tying to do, but it just did not click for me in as satisfying a way as I was hoping. The reality is that prejudice in 1950s America, or anytime America, or anytime anywhere, is not a unknowable horror. It is a known horror that we must understand and confront.
Yes, Lovecraft was a racist. But that fact does not make this work. (Perhaps better than using, say, The Mists of Avalon to illustrate child molestation, but drawing that line is tenuous, especially for those familiar with the Lovecraft stories.) The metaphor flounders, perhaps because there is just too little actual Lovecraftian dread present but also because the types of horror do not align in a substantive way, at least for me. And so the melding of these two themes, Lovecraft and the evil that is prejudice, does not work as I assume Ruff was intending.
That being said, it is still a very good read. It works as a historical horror novel, just not solidly as a Lovecraft horror novel. I'm glad I read it. I will recommend it to others. But I wish I had not gone into it expecting so much Lovecraft. Had that expectation not been in my mind my appreciation and enjoyment would have been much greater.
italorebelo's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
4.0
daumari's review against another edition
4.0
I started reading this after we watched the HBO series, and while it's only 4 episodes, I do think this is one of the adaptations that builds on the source material in a good way. I think that's because the adaption becomes an #ownvoices story, with Black creators adding nuance and depth to some already solid characters. Ruff does a decent job, as an example of writing outside your experiences because you do the homework to back it up. It does feel a little "I learned about X, gotta mention it", but what this novel does well is combining real life horrors with creeping pulpy horror. The chapters feel like issues of a comic book following different characters, though there is an overarching story.
Really solid read, and good addition to a 2020 reading list if you want to add fiction to your nonfiction.
Really solid read, and good addition to a 2020 reading list if you want to add fiction to your nonfiction.
barning's review
3.0
Ich wollte dieses Buch lesen, bevor ich mir die Serie anschaue. Ich beschäftige mich schon länger mit Lovecraft als Rassisten und bekam durch dieses Buch noch einmal weitere Eindrücke wie die klassische Science Fiction aus der Sicht von POC gesehen wird.
Hier ist auch schon mein großes Problem mit dem Buch. Ruff ist weiß und schreibt aus der Sicht einer schwarzen Familie eine Geschichte in der Jim Crow Zeit. Dadurch eignet er sich eine bestimmte Wortwahl aus der Zeit an, oder benutzt Wörter, die er eigentlich nicht nutzen sollte. Ich fühlte mich konstant unwohl und suchte sogar nebenbei auf Reddit nach Meinungen von POC. Immerhin war laut Reddit alles sehr realistisch erzählt.
Das Buch selber würde ich nicht unbedingt als Lovecraft Horror bezeichnen. Es erscheint mir dafür zu zahm und dafür sind die episodischen Kapitel zu kurz. Hier merkt man, dass das Buch eher ein Pitch für die Serie war. Trotzdem werden gegen Ende alle offenen Enden in ein zufriedenstellendes Finale zusammengeführt.
Spoiler: Am Ende kann eine Person sich bei Bedarf in eine weiße Frau verwandeln um sich somit Türen für ein besseres Leben öffnen. Slowclap für dieses fragwürdige Entscheidung vom Autor.
Hier ist auch schon mein großes Problem mit dem Buch. Ruff ist weiß und schreibt aus der Sicht einer schwarzen Familie eine Geschichte in der Jim Crow Zeit. Dadurch eignet er sich eine bestimmte Wortwahl aus der Zeit an, oder benutzt Wörter, die er eigentlich nicht nutzen sollte. Ich fühlte mich konstant unwohl und suchte sogar nebenbei auf Reddit nach Meinungen von POC. Immerhin war laut Reddit alles sehr realistisch erzählt.
Das Buch selber würde ich nicht unbedingt als Lovecraft Horror bezeichnen. Es erscheint mir dafür zu zahm und dafür sind die episodischen Kapitel zu kurz. Hier merkt man, dass das Buch eher ein Pitch für die Serie war. Trotzdem werden gegen Ende alle offenen Enden in ein zufriedenstellendes Finale zusammengeführt.
Spoiler: Am Ende kann eine Person sich bei Bedarf in eine weiße Frau verwandeln um sich somit Türen für ein besseres Leben öffnen. Slowclap für dieses fragwürdige Entscheidung vom Autor.
thechanelmuse's review
4.0
Hmm. There’s a lot of interesting, uncomfortable, and disturbing things happening in this tale, but it’s presented in a disjointed way. Feels more like an anthology than a cohesive book for the most part. It explains why the tv series based on this novel is structured that way.
thinkingbookishthoughts's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
awesomeallie's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- 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
4.25