A review by remainsofabook
The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead

dark emotional informative sad medium-paced
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The Nickel Boys is a remarkable book that packs so much into 200+ pages. So much history and realities of Black Americans but there was something lacking that stopped me from rating the book higher or want to put another Whitehead book on my tbr. I don't think it is Whitehead's writing style, like some wrote in their reviews that his writing approach is too journalistic. In my opinion, the ending was really well-written. Even though I'm on the fence about the plot twist. This made me realised that the reason I couldn't rate it higher was the lack of depth in the exploration of the boys' psyche. Elwood is a very interesting character and so much more could have been written on him. If I wanted history, facts and realities to educate myself, I would have picked up a non-fiction. I expect something more from a fiction, especially one that won the Pulitzer Prize. Regardless, The Nickel Boys is still worth a read.
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