Reviews with content warning for Alcoholism - Deacon King Kong

Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

Deacon King Kong by James McBride

29 reviews

knkoch's review

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.

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thebowandthebook's review against another edition

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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.

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trilobite's review

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funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Cozy pulp

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bigbuttandabook's review against another edition

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emotional funny sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was a entertaining read. I really enjoy reading books that discuss history but make it more personable by attaching a person or people to it. The crack epidemic, housing issues, the racial divide between Blacks and Italians in New York isn’t new. But this well crafted story that gives you a peak into the loves and connections of the people living it through fictional characters was masterful.

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angievansprang's review against another edition

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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.

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rileyboots's review against another edition

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funny reflective slow-paced

4.0

Unique story with deep characters — thoroughly enjoyed how real the situations and stories felt!

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ncoletti's review against another edition

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emotional funny reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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juliabristow's review

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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

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wkheckler's review

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emotional funny hopeful informative lighthearted 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

4.5

I loved this book. I got is as a recommendation from Tookie in Louise Erdrich’s book The sentence. The dialogue in the book is great. There is a wide cast of characters that can feel overwhelming in the beginning, but he’s really just giving you the feel of the whole neighborhood / community, so don’t get caught up trying to remember all the details. The main plot line follows Sportcoat after the death of his wife Hettie and culminates with a great ending. I listened to this book and really enjoyed the narrator.

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daniellekat's review against another edition

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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.

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