Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Deacon King Kong by James McBride

14 reviews

knkoch's review

Go to review page

emotional funny mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

The story that takes shape in Deacon King Kong is as colorful and ambiguous as the cover and title. It takes a long time to establish, but the more you learn, the more that gets revealed, the more the tension and stakes slowly ratchet up to a satisfying conclusion. There's a lot of character humor in this similar to The Good Lord Bird, leavened in both with darkness and truth. While that story took place all over the US, however, this one is centered in a south Brooklyn housing project community. McBride is better than any author I've yet read at creating not just characters but a large community of people, full of intersecting families, histories, grievances, and alliances. There's so much context to explain and tangential stories to lay out, but it's all worth it. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

thebowandthebook's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced
  • 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

4.25

Incredibly vibrant description and characterization, felt like I was transported straight to NYC. Storyline was good, intertwining in interesting ways. Good emotional attachment to some characters (especially the Elephant), but not all of the characters were likable, but they were very lifelike. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

angievansprang's review against another edition

Go to review page

funny mysterious reflective slow-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

3.75

Loved this story by the end. There was a good mystery plot that keeps you engaged plus a vivid cast of endearing characters. I felt that the pacing of the book was very slow until the last ~150 pages hence the lower rating. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

juliabristow's review

Go to review page

hopeful lighthearted mysterious medium-paced
  • 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

3.5

Main gripes with this are that even though the characters have a lot of backstory, they don't feel very flushed out as individual people which leads to some plot-convenience actions happening. There's also a few things that never got wrapped up or just didn't make sense, but overall it was relatively enjoyable. It's a book about the NY projects in the 60's and the main character is an eccentric but charming guy that /sometimes/ makes up for the things I didn't like about it. It's also pretty goofy at times but in a good way 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

daniellekat's review against another edition

Go to review page

slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

If I wasn’t reading this for a book club I would have DNF’d after the first chapter. The whole book was a slog to get through. I didn’t get the humour and I found the writing extremely over descriptive. The characters were unlikeable and I never found myself invested in any of their stories. Overall, boring and way too long. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

alyssagirardi's review

Go to review page

challenging emotional funny reflective medium-paced
  • 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? Yes

5.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

agnesg's review

Go to review page

challenging dark funny medium-paced
  • 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? Yes

4.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

btothebooks's review

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Its a good read, but I found it very slow at the beginning and hard to engage with. There’s a lot of run on sentences (one filled half of a page) that can make it difficult to read in passing. Around half way it picked up and moved faster, which made it easier to get through. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

abbeyreadthis's review

Go to review page

adventurous funny reflective 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

5.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

planreadrepeat's review

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny 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

5.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings