Reviews

**Trigger warnings for rape and violence, strong language and semi-spoilers ⚠️**

I’m no prude but this book should have some form of warning on it.

The cover intrigued me, the blurb inside intrigued me and all of that was backed by the ringing endorsement from Neil Gaiman on the back. I had wanted to get it for months, I finally bought it on my birthday and couldn’t wait to read it.

I have never been so disappointed in a book ever. Not because Marlon James isn’t an extraordinary writer, he is and he paints an incredibly vivid world, but this book was so far from anything I expected. It is, in fact, utterly horrible. I’ve read dark fantasies before but this is in a whole other level....

I nearly gave up after the first page when a man fucks a goat. (It’s not the only mention of beastiality - there’s more)

I nearly gave up when every single female character (the number of which I can count on one hand) turned out to be either a witch or a whore.

I nearly gave up at the mention of fgm

I nearly gave up at the endless description of men and women as just a collection of holes to be fucked. It is all cocks and cum, like the very worst porn.

It is literally page after page after page of excessive, extreme and very graphic rape and violence.

I kept going because he won the Man Booker Prize and I felt he deserved to be heard, I kept going because I’ve never given up on a book yet. I kept going because behind the horror was a fascinating story that was so unfortunately drowned out by everything else.

I have never been so relieved to finish a book before! Unless this is very much your cup of tea, do yourself a favour and don’t read this.

mattd453's review against another edition

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4.0

Fuck the gods, this was a hard read. It took me way longer than I'd like to admit. I would only read when i could seriously devote my attention completely otherwise I'd feel lost in the story. Even with that, i often felt lost in the story. Stick with it though and you'll see that you will find the story within a story in the story. I enjoyed the book enough to finish it, but it really became just a challenge to finish it by the time i got to the end. I enjoyed the frequent twists and turns but it felt like there are no cut and dry rules to the magic in this land. People can die and come back but then be killed again and never return? Yes, no? Wait, I'm confused.... I'd love to see this on the big screen to see it match up against how i internalized it. Overall, I'm glad i read it and I'll read book 2 when it's released. There's a cliff hanger at the end so i do not feel satisfied enough to completely move on. I need to know what happens to Tracker. He's narrating the whole story from jail to an inquisitor? Fuck. This is how it ends!? Yes. This is how it ends.

samykookis97's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

aleksandra08's review

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dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

1.25

zenalth's review against another edition

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"My father is not my father, but he is my father."

DNF @10% because frankly, no matter how many praises are sung about this book, the chaotic writing masquerading as 'deep, lyrical and meaningful' actually makes my brain hurt. It reads like someone condensed the world's secret stash of weird modern art into a book and added some extra hallucinogens for good measure. It's certainly original and ~*~different~*~, but I'm not going to slog through it. The effort would only make me hate the book and probably push me into a reading slump. I was on the fence for ages--I was willing to challenge myself and fight for James' story--but reviews on Goodreads, blogs and Booktube have sealed the deal for me. This book just doesn't sound like my cuppa tea, which is a damn shame since African mythology sounds awesome.

The verdict: life's too short and my TBR too large for me to spend any more time twisting my brain into knots trying to understand James' cryptic writing.

meep17's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

5.0

aniastef86's review against another edition

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4.0

4,5⭐️

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