A review by laynemandros
Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative 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? It's complicated

4.75

If a book embodied a gut punch, then this would be it; and this book found me at a time that I feel is particularly poignant. 

I wake up after a full night’s sleep, uninterrupted by violence, and I think about Palestine. 

I cook food in the comfort of my own home and I think about Palestine. 

I call my parents and know they’re safe, and I think of Palestine. 

I read this book and all I can think about is Palestine. 

I think about the interconnectedness of oppression, struggle, and liberation. I really think this book found me at a time when its message would be the most impactful.

I loved this book— Adjei-Brenyah is a fucking mastermind. Even though the writing style was a bit jarring (wouldn’t recommend this one on audio because there are times where the POV switches within chapters) there are very few books where I feel like, as a reader, the author has reached through the pages of a book and slapped me in the face. When reading you follow so many characters and at the beginning it is not clear how their narratives will come together, but when they do it’s a chaotic, beautiful web. From a craft perspective, this is uniquely and creatively executed. 

This book will make you think deeply, critically about abolition. About our country’s relationship with money and profit over people. You’ll think about the way our society has become increasingly more desensitized (even further than that, like a collective bloodlust, a fascination) to violence. 

The scariest part about this book is that none of it was far fetched, none of it was out of the realm of possibility. It feels as though we’re actively teetering on the brink of something like “Chain-Gain All-Stars” becoming a reality. 

If you’re looking for hard-hitting fiction about the dark potential future of America then this is it. This novel deftly balances conversations about prison abolition, race, class, morality, and so much more. I will think about this one for a long, long time.