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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
Worse book I've read all year. I couldn't even finish it!
Here's a fun drinking game: Take a swig of your favorite beverage every time you have to yell, "That's RACIST/MISOGYNIST/BIGOTED/GAY-HATING/ABLEIST!" at me in this review.
You will be super well-hydrated by the end and I will be a huge asshole.
Ok, so, this is pretty much a Hollywood-style revenge fantasy which is great, I like those. I mean, that's the driving force behind vagina dentata tales and such. Revenge! Such stories are evocative and thrilling and I LOVE revenge! It's also billed as a political thriller and while Grisham and Baldacci and them of those ilks grate on my nerves, I can't say I don't occasionally enjoy their stories because, though terribly-written, they can be exciting.
In this novel, a group of affluent black men have created a retreat where they can take back their black man power by because ok, why not. That sounds pretty interesting, actually, despite the vast amounts of ridiculousness that had to be created just to sustain the concept. Whatever. My disbelief is suspended, let's get on with REVENGE!
Only pretend the revenge tale is super-explainy and told by...well, someone like this guy
Yeah.
It sort of kills the tension to have to hear the same stuff re-described over and over again within a page. So that was a big obstacle for me to overcome.
I was also put off by the portrayal of women in this book. Power to the black man is great but what about the black woman? Why can't she have power? WHY? What era are we in, the 1950's? I mean, these characters have cell phones and stuff, but...
Their praise also reminded Anna to keep her man happy or else some young thing or an unhappy wife would be more than eager to snap him up.
WHAT? Maybe this is why I suck at the marriage thing and maybe this really is all my white privilege blinding me to how things really work but I’ve never believed it is a woman's role to work at keeping her man interested, as such insults both the woman and the man in the relationship (i.e.: he’s just a brainless male who will wander if not leashed to the home somehow) I thought, especially now that it's not uncommon for men and women to both work outside the home, marriage was a partnership where both parties work at keeping house, work on their marital relationship, work on being friends and helpmates, and work on their personal selves, as well. Sure, there are plenty of "traditional" partnerships out there but are they really built around the wife keeping her husband happy in order to keep him at home? Is that why she tends to the house and raises children? It's not because she wanted a career in homemaking or that it makes more sense for him to work and her to provide childcare instead of going to work to pay for the same service? If so, we have really not come far at all, have we?
So, anyway, the above quote is shortly followed by some woman mocking a collective group of husbands who go on white-water rafting trips by saying, ...you know men, always pushing to prove their manliness. And another wife chimes in with She’s right...and that especially applies to the ones who just push paper all day. I’ve seen actual studies, [WTF?] then another says, Men are so damn dense. So now we’ve got the stereotypical chicken clatch bashing men because they find their husbands’ pursuits ridiculous. And of course, they get back at these white-water rafting husbands by going on their own trips. They go shopping in some expensive city somewhere in the world and buy a bunch of crap. Because that's just what women do!
Also, all the women at 40 Acres are blonde and beautiful. Because why not? Makes sense, really, what with all black men having a preference for that type.
So, yeah. Black masculinity is a focal point for this story, exploring how it's misunderstood by the entitled, privileged, powerful black males but not by our noble and upstanding protagonist who is a total boyscout and a bit of a dimwit, to boot, but he has to be because otherwise, he might fall prey to the nefarious goings-on at 40 Acres.
Or something.
Regardless, this is not a tale about feminism. No, I didn't expect it to be but I thought maybe, just maybe, there'd be a couple of decent female characters who weren't awful throwbacks to times long gone (not long gone enough, apparently) and such is not the case so just be prepared. Be more prepared than I was, at least.
Then there's the writing style.
This reads like a NA novel. No, really...let's reframe the synopsis, shall we. We're swapping out Martin for Martha and making it female-centric, k?
Martha Grey, a smart, talented black lawyer working out of a storefront in Queens, becomes friendly with a group of some of the most powerful, wealthy, and esteemed black women in America. She’s dazzled by what they’ve accomplished, and they seem to think she has the potential to be as successful as they are. They invite her for a weekend away from it all—no husbands/kids, no cell phones, no talk of business. But far from home and cut off from everyone she loves, she discovers a disturbing secret that challenges some of her deepest convictions…
Still think that sounds like a political thriller? Or does it sound like maybe she's going to learn something about the sex she's about to have for the first time ever despite the fact she had been crazy-intent on saving herself for marriage?
Or! OR! Let me describe the first quarter of the story, again using Martha as the main character. This is seriously what happens in this book, as recounted by me and told with a gender swap:
Martha goes head-to-head with rich, bad boy lawyer Damon...and wins! Afterward, Damon courts Martha’s attentions and she starts hanging out with him and his pack of rich guy friends. Ignoring concerns brought up by her BFFs, Martha follows Damon’s lead so as not to give him and his pack of rich guy friends any reason to think less of her. When Martha begins asking questions, she’s given some fancy alcohol and passes out. Finding out she’d been drugged is just the beginning of her nightmare.
Now change “Martha” to “Martin” and the related pronouns to “she/her” and what does it become? THIS BOOK!
It goes from New Adult fiction to Political thriller and back with the flip of a penis!
AMAZING!
So what I'm getting at is it's a terribly interesting premise, one that should have left me on the edge of my seat with eyes open way too wide in horror/fascination.
However, the story is so clunky and overwritten that it becomes silly and worthy of many an eye-roll.
You know, much like many of the popular suspense/thrillers of today.
Because editing is no longer a thing, apparently.
What is the literary world coming to, I ask you.
You will be super well-hydrated by the end and I will be a huge asshole.
Ok, so, this is pretty much a Hollywood-style revenge fantasy which is great, I like those. I mean, that's the driving force behind vagina dentata tales and such. Revenge! Such stories are evocative and thrilling and I LOVE revenge! It's also billed as a political thriller and while Grisham and Baldacci and them of those ilks grate on my nerves, I can't say I don't occasionally enjoy their stories because, though terribly-written, they can be exciting.
In this novel, a group of affluent black men have created a retreat where they can take back their black man power by
Spoiler
being masters to white slaves, supposedly descendants of former slave owners, whom they've kidnapped off the streets of AmericaOnly pretend the revenge tale is super-explainy and told by...well, someone like this guy
Yeah.
It sort of kills the tension to have to hear the same stuff re-described over and over again within a page. So that was a big obstacle for me to overcome.
I was also put off by the portrayal of women in this book. Power to the black man is great but what about the black woman? Why can't she have power? WHY? What era are we in, the 1950's? I mean, these characters have cell phones and stuff, but...
Their praise also reminded Anna to keep her man happy or else some young thing or an unhappy wife would be more than eager to snap him up.
WHAT? Maybe this is why I suck at the marriage thing and maybe this really is all my white privilege blinding me to how things really work but I’ve never believed it is a woman's role to work at keeping her man interested, as such insults both the woman and the man in the relationship (i.e.: he’s just a brainless male who will wander if not leashed to the home somehow) I thought, especially now that it's not uncommon for men and women to both work outside the home, marriage was a partnership where both parties work at keeping house, work on their marital relationship, work on being friends and helpmates, and work on their personal selves, as well. Sure, there are plenty of "traditional" partnerships out there but are they really built around the wife keeping her husband happy in order to keep him at home? Is that why she tends to the house and raises children? It's not because she wanted a career in homemaking or that it makes more sense for him to work and her to provide childcare instead of going to work to pay for the same service? If so, we have really not come far at all, have we?
So, anyway, the above quote is shortly followed by some woman mocking a collective group of husbands who go on white-water rafting trips by saying, ...you know men, always pushing to prove their manliness. And another wife chimes in with She’s right...and that especially applies to the ones who just push paper all day. I’ve seen actual studies, [WTF?] then another says, Men are so damn dense. So now we’ve got the stereotypical chicken clatch bashing men because they find their husbands’ pursuits ridiculous. And of course, they get back at these white-water rafting husbands by going on their own trips. They go shopping in some expensive city somewhere in the world and buy a bunch of crap. Because that's just what women do!
Also, all the women at 40 Acres are blonde and beautiful. Because why not? Makes sense, really, what with all black men having a preference for that type.
So, yeah. Black masculinity is a focal point for this story, exploring how it's misunderstood by the entitled, privileged, powerful black males but not by our noble and upstanding protagonist who is a total boyscout and a bit of a dimwit, to boot, but he has to be because otherwise, he might fall prey to the nefarious goings-on at 40 Acres.
Or something.
Regardless, this is not a tale about feminism. No, I didn't expect it to be but I thought maybe, just maybe, there'd be a couple of decent female characters who weren't awful throwbacks to times long gone (not long gone enough, apparently) and such is not the case so just be prepared. Be more prepared than I was, at least.
Then there's the writing style.
This reads like a NA novel. No, really...let's reframe the synopsis, shall we. We're swapping out Martin for Martha and making it female-centric, k?
Martha Grey, a smart, talented black lawyer working out of a storefront in Queens, becomes friendly with a group of some of the most powerful, wealthy, and esteemed black women in America. She’s dazzled by what they’ve accomplished, and they seem to think she has the potential to be as successful as they are. They invite her for a weekend away from it all—no husbands/kids, no cell phones, no talk of business. But far from home and cut off from everyone she loves, she discovers a disturbing secret that challenges some of her deepest convictions…
Still think that sounds like a political thriller? Or does it sound like maybe she's going to learn something about the sex she's about to have for the first time ever despite the fact she had been crazy-intent on saving herself for marriage?
Or! OR! Let me describe the first quarter of the story, again using Martha as the main character. This is seriously what happens in this book, as recounted by me and told with a gender swap:
Martha goes head-to-head with rich, bad boy lawyer Damon...and wins! Afterward, Damon courts Martha’s attentions and she starts hanging out with him and his pack of rich guy friends. Ignoring concerns brought up by her BFFs, Martha follows Damon’s lead so as not to give him and his pack of rich guy friends any reason to think less of her. When Martha begins asking questions, she’s given some fancy alcohol and passes out. Finding out she’d been drugged is just the beginning of her nightmare.
Now change “Martha” to “Martin” and the related pronouns to “she/her” and what does it become? THIS BOOK!
It goes from New Adult fiction to Political thriller and back with the flip of a penis!
AMAZING!
So what I'm getting at is it's a terribly interesting premise, one that should have left me on the edge of my seat with eyes open way too wide in horror/fascination.
However, the story is so clunky and overwritten that it becomes silly and worthy of many an eye-roll.
You know, much like many of the popular suspense/thrillers of today.
Because editing is no longer a thing, apparently.
What is the literary world coming to, I ask you.
4.75 moral questioning stars… so close to my coveted 5 stars.
This book is GREAT!! My heart raced, I cried and questioned my own morals during the entire thing. Loved it.
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Suggested by a friend, I picked up Forty Acres and felt like very familiar with Dwayne Alexander Smith's tone, style and cadence. I also felt that after a short while, I knew the direction the story was going. That didn't stop me from continuing forward as it was not only written quite well, but at times seemed quite feasible. This was some of the best Black fiction I've read in some time and I really enjoyed the new spin on old ideas...
Wow! It was a real page turner for me, so many times I couldn't put it down, but, I was both anxious to see what would happen next, yet dreading it at the same time!
I don't like the concept of this book at all. It was well-written, at least. I had to force myself to finish, because I had to know how it ended. Again, well-written, but I couldn't get with the concept.
3.5 * a very fast read and enjoyable on a purely fictional level - but one could only wonder if the tables were truly turned