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A review by kathleenandherbooks
Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
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
5.0
This book is so impactful, beautifully written, gripping, horrifying, and incredibly important.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Chain gang all stars is about a new dystopian blood sport and form of “entertainment” that has been presented in the US where incarcerated individuals fight to the death in a program called the CAPE program (criminal action penal entertainment). The fighters can climb the ranks to eventually hit the top where they can become fully freed, but only once they kill enough to entertain and satisfy their owners and spectators. The fighters are heavily advertised upon by varying industries based on how successful they are during the death matches, and they are made to be a spectacle which is beloved by the majority of the viewership. They can earn blood points that they use to have better sleeping accommodations, food, medical supplies, weapons and armor, but these blood points are earned by winning and by killing other prisoners.
This book is multi-POV and even shows us what it’s like for the individuals who support and enjoy watching the fights unfold, and how they rationalize their own personal love of the blood sport and what they view as “justice”. They constantly make excuses about how those imprisoned will “volunteer” for the program and how they deserve it due to their crimes.
Although this book is fiction, it’s just an exaggerated example of the US prison system, mass incarceration, systemic racism and the exploitation of prisoners for profit. The story itself is fictional and dystopian, but the details and themes mirror the real life issues in america’s legal and prison system. There are even non fiction cases sprinkled in the margins of the book to add emphasis and clarification on what is fiction and what is not.
I have become increasingly interested in educating myself more on the prison-industrial complex, the impact that prisons have on our country and oppressed communities, and what it means to live in a country that glorifies prison and “vengeance” over basic human rights.
If you haven’t read this book yet, I highly recommend you do because it not only had a profound impact on me, it was a difficult, important, enjoyable read. I also listened to the first half on audiobook and I really enjoyed the narration.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Chain gang all stars is about a new dystopian blood sport and form of “entertainment” that has been presented in the US where incarcerated individuals fight to the death in a program called the CAPE program (criminal action penal entertainment). The fighters can climb the ranks to eventually hit the top where they can become fully freed, but only once they kill enough to entertain and satisfy their owners and spectators. The fighters are heavily advertised upon by varying industries based on how successful they are during the death matches, and they are made to be a spectacle which is beloved by the majority of the viewership. They can earn blood points that they use to have better sleeping accommodations, food, medical supplies, weapons and armor, but these blood points are earned by winning and by killing other prisoners.
This book is multi-POV and even shows us what it’s like for the individuals who support and enjoy watching the fights unfold, and how they rationalize their own personal love of the blood sport and what they view as “justice”. They constantly make excuses about how those imprisoned will “volunteer” for the program and how they deserve it due to their crimes.
Although this book is fiction, it’s just an exaggerated example of the US prison system, mass incarceration, systemic racism and the exploitation of prisoners for profit. The story itself is fictional and dystopian, but the details and themes mirror the real life issues in america’s legal and prison system. There are even non fiction cases sprinkled in the margins of the book to add emphasis and clarification on what is fiction and what is not.
I have become increasingly interested in educating myself more on the prison-industrial complex, the impact that prisons have on our country and oppressed communities, and what it means to live in a country that glorifies prison and “vengeance” over basic human rights.
If you haven’t read this book yet, I highly recommend you do because it not only had a profound impact on me, it was a difficult, important, enjoyable read. I also listened to the first half on audiobook and I really enjoyed the narration.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, and Murder
Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual violence