You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
mwohlbrandt 's review for:
Deacon King Kong
by James McBride
I was so wrong about this book. Honestly I only put it on my to-read list because it had such good reviews and I only actually started reading it because my library had a 'skip-the-line' copy available. I thought this would be a story where the focus was on a hard look at society through the lens of a fictional story set in public housing with no real attention paid to the plot or story other than as a vehicle for the overall message about how messed up society is in terms of racism and how it shapes all societal opportunities and interactions, the drug trade, things like that. Books like that definitely have their time and place, I'm just tired of reading about horrible things and I wasn't really looking forward to reading what I thought was another book in that vein. I was so very wrong.
This book is amazing. Surprisingly funny, just sharp enough to make me think but not make me feel stupid, the characters are all insanely likable and real, I don't know that I have a bad thing to say. The plot has elements of a treasure hunt, romance, mystery, action, and so much more. That isn't to say that important topics like race relations and the cycle of poverty aren't touched on at all, they're just wrapped in a story that's charming and hard and bittersweet and hopeful all at the same time. The ending was maybe vague on a few bits, but mostly all the loose ends were tied up. I loved getting to be a part of the community in this book for a bit and I'm really glad I read this.
This book is amazing. Surprisingly funny, just sharp enough to make me think but not make me feel stupid, the characters are all insanely likable and real, I don't know that I have a bad thing to say. The plot has elements of a treasure hunt, romance, mystery, action, and so much more. That isn't to say that important topics like race relations and the cycle of poverty aren't touched on at all, they're just wrapped in a story that's charming and hard and bittersweet and hopeful all at the same time. The ending was maybe vague on a few bits, but mostly all the loose ends were tied up. I loved getting to be a part of the community in this book for a bit and I'm really glad I read this.