Reviews with content warning for Suicide - Deacon King Kong

Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

Deacon King Kong by James McBride

12 reviews

avidreadr's review

emotional funny hopeful 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

4.75

James McBride has such a unique way of crafting his novels (at least going by the two I’ve read so far). They start with a look at a community, with certain characters taking center stage. A situation is set up, something happens. And then we go on a long, meandering journey about how that situation happened and what the fall out is for the community. We continue to get sweeping perspectives from all sorts of characters, while getting to know some more than others. Little pieces of the "mystery" (we don’t even realize there is a mystery right away!) reveal themselves...themes and social commentaries start asserting themselves...and suddenly, by the half way point, I am 100% hooked.

My favorite parts of this book were

the scenes where Potts/Mrs. Gee and Elefante/Guido's daugther fall in love. These sections were so beautifully written!

Rating slightly knocked down because for the first half of the book I wasn’t fully hooked. I totally understand this is intentional and honestly super effective. But it doesn't take away from the fact that I just wasn’t as engaged for a lot of the first half. This is a personal thing - I like really getting into the heads of characters and getting the “psychological drive” of a character/story. As mentioned, this doesn’t really kick in until half way or later when all the pieces start coming together. If I wasn’t already aware of how McBride’s novels pay off, I may have jumped ship at some point. Amazing prose and trust in the author kept me going and I'm glad to say it pays off.

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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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habeels's review against another edition

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emotional funny inspiring lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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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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sarahnh's review

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challenging emotional funny mysterious 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

This book grabs you from page one - Mcbride has a unique voice and a knack for prose that is both funny and beautiful. There is not a lot of plot in the first half of the book but this is not a bad thing. One main event happens, and we learn about all the main characters though it. All the subplots and unanswered questions wrap together nicely at the end, and the last few pages made me cry. I absolutely loved it!

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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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