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skitch41's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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
4.0
This is one of those books that I think I am going to have to read again in the near future. I both loved and hated this book at the same time. Loved it because the ending was particularly good and brought many things I didn't fully understand into view. I also loved it for just how different this book is. It's just a fascinating world Mr. James has created. However, I hated this book because it was so easy to get lost, which I did very early and never really recovered. Part of that is my fault as I didn't always devote the time and attention to it I should have. But part of it is also the way Marlon James has written this book. Over 600+ pages, chapters could be incredibly long and even tedious. And yet, key plot points could happen very quickly. So, if you lose your focus on this book for just one minute, you could miss a whole bunch of incredibly important information. And it certainly doesn't help that there are so many characters that come in and out of this tale that it is hard to keep a track of them all in your head. Because of that, you may find yourself constantly referring back to the cast of characters at the front of the book, like I did towards the end. In short, this is a book I struggled with mightily for a month and I think i will have to revisit it sometime soon to get a better understanding of everything that happened.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Gore, Murder, Sexual violence, Violence, and Sexual content
leoniec's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child death, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Excrement, Gore, Incest, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, and Violence
siiriainen's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Tracker, a man with a super keen sense of smell, is recruited with a band of mercenaries, including a witch, a giant, and shape-shifting man-leopard, to find a missing boy. Taking place in a fantastical African continent based on African folklore, which was highly original and unique, the story travels across jungles, deserts, and cities to track the missing boy and includes a cast of probably a hundred different characters. The book has been compared as an African based Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit, but I think its fits closer to Ovid’s Metamorphoses due to its sprawling mythology and style. While it is a totally unique book, it is extremely challenging. Not because of the complexity in language, which is beautiful and stylistically interesting, but because of its ultraviolent content. Every single page, and I am not exaggerating here, depicts murder, torture, or rape including men and women, but also towards children and animals. It was a slog to read page after page of endless violence. While the book is by no means short, clocking in at 620 pages in my edition, it took me much longer to read than books of similar lengths due to this content. I knew going in that this book would be violent, as I have read and enjoyed James’ previous novel A Brief History of Seven Killings, but this was too much. Too much grotesque violence that served little to the story. The novel is the first in a planned trilogy which is supposed to tell the same story but from the perspective of different characters in the story, but I think I’ll tap out from reading the next two stories. I barely could finish this one because I was just so exhausted and didn’t care anymore. Great concept for a story but completely wasted potential.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Rape, Child abuse, Pedophilia, and Torture
accidentalspaceexplorer's review against another edition
I was really excited for Black Leopard, Red Wolf. It has a lot of hype and some people I trust were very impressed by it! Unfortunately for me, this just didn't work for me.
First, the good: It's a very unique epic fantasy setting, based off of African cultures. In my opinion, that makes it much more interesting, because the standard epic fantasy tropes are much fewer and far between in a very different society. I also appreciate reading new and different things, which this definitely is! The story structure feels different, the cultures in it are different, the way magic and myth show up in the story is different, all of which made for interesting reading.
Second, the not-so-good: I struggled to get into this a little bit because of the writing, which is good but in a style that I personally struggle to follow. There is a lot of dialogue without tags, which meant that it was sometimes hard to follow who was speaking, and sometimes people would say things that were completely ignored by the other person in the conversation which felt very choppy to me but is like, a thing people do. There also is a lot of ambiguity in the writing, and it's sometimes hard to tell what's actually happening, which can be really interesting! But combined with the dialogue being hard to follow it just made it harder for me to get into the book. I found it easier to follow as I read more, but it reminded me of Binti, where I just found that I didn't mesh quite so much with the style. Not the worst thing in the world, but not the most enjoyable either.
Third, what made me stop: I've seen Black Leopard, Red Wolf talked about in the context of Tolkien, so I was expecting something with his feel to it - that like, evil is pervasive in the land but we are fighting against it with hope. Black Leopard, Red Wolf is not that. It is dark, very dark. I wouldn't call it grimdark, but it was dark enough that I ended up needing to stop reading it. It's very interesting on an intellectual level for me to figure out why I didn't like this, because I enjoyed Game of Thrones when I read it, and I think on the surface the violence is very comparable (although I read ASOIAF far too long ago to make a complete comparison). I think part of what made me stop in this was how pervasive the horrible things were, and how often the horrible things were being done to children - I think I made it to page 190ish, less than halfway through the book, and there was already graphic rape, pedophilia, kidnapping, assault, body horror, torture, child murders, and I expect many other horrible things happened in the rest of the book. I couldn't handle it, and I don't want to be able to handle it, honestly.
So ultimately, I quit, and I don't regret it. I woke up this morning and considered forcing myself to read more of the book, and the reluctance and discomfort I felt told me that I made the right choice. I hope that my review helps you figure out whether or not this is the book for you.
First, the good: It's a very unique epic fantasy setting, based off of African cultures. In my opinion, that makes it much more interesting, because the standard epic fantasy tropes are much fewer and far between in a very different society. I also appreciate reading new and different things, which this definitely is! The story structure feels different, the cultures in it are different, the way magic and myth show up in the story is different, all of which made for interesting reading.
Second, the not-so-good: I struggled to get into this a little bit because of the writing, which is good but in a style that I personally struggle to follow. There is a lot of dialogue without tags, which meant that it was sometimes hard to follow who was speaking, and sometimes people would say things that were completely ignored by the other person in the conversation which felt very choppy to me but is like, a thing people do. There also is a lot of ambiguity in the writing, and it's sometimes hard to tell what's actually happening, which can be really interesting! But combined with the dialogue being hard to follow it just made it harder for me to get into the book. I found it easier to follow as I read more, but it reminded me of Binti, where I just found that I didn't mesh quite so much with the style. Not the worst thing in the world, but not the most enjoyable either.
Third, what made me stop: I've seen Black Leopard, Red Wolf talked about in the context of Tolkien, so I was expecting something with his feel to it - that like, evil is pervasive in the land but we are fighting against it with hope. Black Leopard, Red Wolf is not that. It is dark, very dark. I wouldn't call it grimdark, but it was dark enough that I ended up needing to stop reading it. It's very interesting on an intellectual level for me to figure out why I didn't like this, because I enjoyed Game of Thrones when I read it, and I think on the surface the violence is very comparable (although I read ASOIAF far too long ago to make a complete comparison). I think part of what made me stop in this was how pervasive the horrible things were, and how often the horrible things were being done to children - I think I made it to page 190ish, less than halfway through the book, and there was already graphic rape, pedophilia, kidnapping, assault, body horror, torture, child murders, and I expect many other horrible things happened in the rest of the book. I couldn't handle it, and I don't want to be able to handle it, honestly.
So ultimately, I quit, and I don't regret it. I woke up this morning and considered forcing myself to read more of the book, and the reluctance and discomfort I felt told me that I made the right choice. I hope that my review helps you figure out whether or not this is the book for you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, and Violence
ehmannky's review against another edition
Listen, there aren’t a lot of things that truly can put me off a book and I’m not that squeamish with what I read but after the hyena gang-rape of the protagonist that followed many other instances of sexual assault I have decided that this book, however wonderfully written it may be, just is not for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Gore, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Trafficking, and Violence
Minor: Vomit, Drug use, and Drug abuse
myrto's review against another edition
0.5
Fuck the gods, I hated this book. I had two main issues with this one, the writing style and the graphicness of its content.
To elaborate, I found the writing to be very convoluted and purposefully confusing. I will admit that I'm generally not good with books that are written on the more abstract side of things and therefore, I struggled greatly with following the plot. To be completely fair, I was intersted at certain points but for the most part, I kept zoning out. While it's a book with a strong fantasy element and a very rich worldbuilding I could visualise almost none of it and could hardly understand where everyone was, was going etc.
As for my other issue... Oh boy. The number of characters that haven't murdered/raped/enslaved or been murdered/raped/enslaved in this book is... zero? Apparently, this was marketed as an African Game of Thrones but in reality it makes Game of Thrones look like a bedtime story for kindergarteners. This book if filled to the brim with graphic descriptions murder, rape, gang-rape, mutilation, sex, bestiality, slavery, genitals, butts, bodily fluids and everything and anything that can be considered explicit in its content. I would argue that the vast majority of these scenes had no impact on the plot and therefore served no purpose other than to set the mood? But there are only so many rapes of underaged children that are needed for that and so many that I can stomach. And don't get me started on all the unnecessary and frankly disgusting tidbits about genitals, excrements, and scents. I kid you not, our protagonist has a nose and this entails smelling things like this:
To elaborate, I found the writing to be very convoluted and purposefully confusing. I will admit that I'm generally not good with books that are written on the more abstract side of things and therefore, I struggled greatly with following the plot. To be completely fair, I was intersted at certain points but for the most part, I kept zoning out. While it's a book with a strong fantasy element and a very rich worldbuilding I could visualise almost none of it and could hardly understand where everyone was, was going etc.
As for my other issue... Oh boy. The number of characters that haven't murdered/raped/enslaved or been murdered/raped/enslaved in this book is... zero? Apparently, this was marketed as an African Game of Thrones but in reality it makes Game of Thrones look like a bedtime story for kindergarteners. This book if filled to the brim with graphic descriptions murder, rape, gang-rape, mutilation, sex, bestiality, slavery, genitals, butts, bodily fluids and everything and anything that can be considered explicit in its content. I would argue that the vast majority of these scenes had no impact on the plot and therefore served no purpose other than to set the mood? But there are only so many rapes of underaged children that are needed for that and so many that I can stomach. And don't get me started on all the unnecessary and frankly disgusting tidbits about genitals, excrements, and scents. I kid you not, our protagonist has a nose and this entails smelling things like this:
"I did not tell her there were two different shits in this cloth, one from him and another from him pleasuring someone's ass."
Having several bits of explicit and disturbing content littered throughout your book is one thing but having several per chapter is quite another.
I think it's clear enough that I would NOT recommend this book and I would urge anyone considering reading this to look up more reviews because there are a lot of people who are far more eloquent than I am and possibly a lot with different opinions.
I think it's clear enough that I would NOT recommend this book and I would urge anyone considering reading this to look up more reviews because there are a lot of people who are far more eloquent than I am and possibly a lot with different opinions.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Biphobia, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Excrement, Gore, Grief, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Trafficking, Transphobia, Violence, and Xenophobia
marcellaandherbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Incest, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, and Violence
malloryfitz's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
1.5
Premise- (2.5/5) I'll be honest, I was intimidated by Black Leopard, Red Wolf even before I started it. I've had was was originally an ARC on my shelf for...a full year now? Which I feel bad about. The premise does sound excellent--African myth and history, with a scrappy crew on a rescue mission? Sounds so excellent! But I'd heard that this book was extremely challenging, which made me wary.
Characters- (2/5) In some ways, I feel like there was a lot going for the characters. We do see character growth from Tracker (BUT IT'S ALL REVERSED BY THE END OF THE BOOK. SCREAMS.), and his relationships with Mossi and Leopard are really interesting. He himself is a complicated person, with a heavy past, lots of trauma, and single-minded focus. But but but...almost all of the characters, at some point or another, did pretty awful things. Which is tough when all the characters are doing it. I was frustrated with the treatment of the female characters throughout the book, and as I said above, at the end of the book it seemed like Tracker lost all the character growth he underwent over the course of the book. His various companions, who come and go throughout the story, brought interesting skills to the table, and everyone had their own motivations. But in the end, it was just a lot of backstabbing and name-calling.
Plot- (1/5) The plot was extremely difficult for me to follow. I'm sure that was intentional; this felt like a case where James' primary concern was not telling the story for the audience, but talking about bigger themes, sometimes using the plot to further those conversations. And that is not what the premise set me up for. Admittedly, the 600+ page count should, perhaps, have tipped me off. But I found myself frequently lost in the meandering trails and tricky time twists of the plot, and not in a way that I enjoyed. On a related note, everything seemed to take about three times as long as it needed to.
World- (1.5/5) I feel sort of bad rating the world so low because I do think part of the problem was my ignorance of any of the African cultures James was working into the novel. I had very little understanding of which elements he was totally making up, which he was borrowing but reworking, and which were drawn more directly from real-world cultures. And the world he's created is undeniably rich with color and detail. But he isn't interested in explaining any of it. Which he has no obligation to do, but that definitely contributed to my confusion about the plot and I think made some of the violence and gore even more unpalatable because I didn't understand why it was happening. (And yes, I get it, sometimes those things happen without a reason. But that's not why I read.)
Writing- (1/5) James' writing style isn't for me. It's very literary, difficult to work through, and loaded with descriptions that I often got bogged down in. And the blood and gore! I like to think I'm not terribly squeamish, but Black Leopard, Red Wolf was filled with so much violence. Sexual violence, violence against children, body horror, absolutely brutal, often detailed and graphic descriptions of those acts. If the aim was to shock, it was certainly achieved, but it was way too much for me.
Overall- (1.5/5) Part of the problem with Black Leopard, Red Wolf was that I was totally unprepared for what I was getting into. Though I'd heard that this was a challenging read, I was still expecting a centralized plot with an ensemble cast of magical characters. What I got was a lengthy, rambling journey that looped back on itself time and again in a confusing crossing of paths. While I sometimes sympathized with Tracker, he and the other characters were ultimately difficult to connect with, especially when at the end of the novel they felt static and unchanged. Black Leopard, Red Wolf is a novel that definitely isn't for everyone. Though some may enjoy its rich descriptions, fantastic African world-building, and twisting plot, the difficulty of the text, its frequent excessive violence, and lack of connection to the characters were stumbling blocks I couldn't overcome.
Characters- (2/5) In some ways, I feel like there was a lot going for the characters. We do see character growth from Tracker (BUT IT'S ALL REVERSED BY THE END OF THE BOOK. SCREAMS.), and his relationships with Mossi and Leopard are really interesting. He himself is a complicated person, with a heavy past, lots of trauma, and single-minded focus. But but but...almost all of the characters, at some point or another, did pretty awful things. Which is tough when all the characters are doing it. I was frustrated with the treatment of the female characters throughout the book, and as I said above, at the end of the book it seemed like Tracker lost all the character growth he underwent over the course of the book. His various companions, who come and go throughout the story, brought interesting skills to the table, and everyone had their own motivations. But in the end, it was just a lot of backstabbing and name-calling.
Plot- (1/5) The plot was extremely difficult for me to follow. I'm sure that was intentional; this felt like a case where James' primary concern was not telling the story for the audience, but talking about bigger themes, sometimes using the plot to further those conversations. And that is not what the premise set me up for. Admittedly, the 600+ page count should, perhaps, have tipped me off. But I found myself frequently lost in the meandering trails and tricky time twists of the plot, and not in a way that I enjoyed. On a related note, everything seemed to take about three times as long as it needed to.
World- (1.5/5) I feel sort of bad rating the world so low because I do think part of the problem was my ignorance of any of the African cultures James was working into the novel. I had very little understanding of which elements he was totally making up, which he was borrowing but reworking, and which were drawn more directly from real-world cultures. And the world he's created is undeniably rich with color and detail. But he isn't interested in explaining any of it. Which he has no obligation to do, but that definitely contributed to my confusion about the plot and I think made some of the violence and gore even more unpalatable because I didn't understand why it was happening. (And yes, I get it, sometimes those things happen without a reason. But that's not why I read.)
Writing- (1/5) James' writing style isn't for me. It's very literary, difficult to work through, and loaded with descriptions that I often got bogged down in. And the blood and gore! I like to think I'm not terribly squeamish, but Black Leopard, Red Wolf was filled with so much violence. Sexual violence, violence against children, body horror, absolutely brutal, often detailed and graphic descriptions of those acts. If the aim was to shock, it was certainly achieved, but it was way too much for me.
Overall- (1.5/5) Part of the problem with Black Leopard, Red Wolf was that I was totally unprepared for what I was getting into. Though I'd heard that this was a challenging read, I was still expecting a centralized plot with an ensemble cast of magical characters. What I got was a lengthy, rambling journey that looped back on itself time and again in a confusing crossing of paths. While I sometimes sympathized with Tracker, he and the other characters were ultimately difficult to connect with, especially when at the end of the novel they felt static and unchanged. Black Leopard, Red Wolf is a novel that definitely isn't for everyone. Though some may enjoy its rich descriptions, fantastic African world-building, and twisting plot, the difficulty of the text, its frequent excessive violence, and lack of connection to the characters were stumbling blocks I couldn't overcome.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, and Torture
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