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vigil's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Deportation, Gore, Gun violence, Racism, Violence, Death of parent, Grief, Murder, Blood, Death, Cursing, and Racial slurs
sofipitch's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Racial slurs, Police brutality, Racism, and Violence
librariabillie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Racism, and Torture
Moderate: Death of parent, Murder, and Violence
Minor: Racial slurs
the_bees_books's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Police brutality, Death of parent, and Racism
Moderate: Blood, Grief, Gore, and Violence
grimdark_dad's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Moderate: Racial slurs, Blood, Classism, Death of parent, Gun violence, Hate crime, Police brutality, and Racism
eliasaurus's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Racism and Blood
Minor: Racial slurs
amandadevoursbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
In this book, Lavalle takes HP Lovecrafts arguably most racist story and reworks it with a Black Protagonist and very white detective.
Charles Thomas Tester is a street musician. He's not very good. He makes most of his money busking, and he occasionally delivers packages. As he goes about his day, he meets a rich eccentric white man who invites him to play at a party in his mansion. The story unfolds in a matter of days as Tester copes with the world he's been invited into.
The white cop's POV was hard to read. Both men use their identities to keep themselves safe and both men learn what happens when their identities are removed.
If you are a person who likes reimagining of HP Lovecraft's work like the City we Became and if you like speculative fiction, you will likely appreciate this book.
Graphic: Police brutality, Racism, Violence, and Xenophobia
emzhay's review against another edition
- 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? N/A
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, and Gun violence
Moderate: Death of parent, Torture, and Xenophobia
dandaloriian's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Police brutality, Racism, Racial slurs, Gore, and Gun violence
Moderate: Death of parent
shereadytoread's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
4.0
This book does play a lot on identity and transformation by power and circumstance. As it is a novella, the story is concise, but unfortunately this means that many meaningful scenes happen off-page and are discussed by the characters. I like this one a lot, and would have loved an expanded version where we get to see those happenings.
I think something that is a slight draw back for me is the MC acceptance of the racist assumption that he is a monster. He is thought to be one, so he loses his humanity and turns into one. But it felt close to equalizing the violence of an oppressive system to the reactions to that system. I think that the author's note adds a lot of context, and as someone that does not read author's notes often, I read this one twice.
Graphic: Police brutality, Racism, and Violence