shando 's review for:

The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead

4.5

challenging dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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Colon Whitehead’s writing is masterful, lyrical and precise. He moves between intimate, careful detail and broad brushstrokes of context. I love reading his writing. And he is a storyteller. The arc of this story is expansive and wraps around itself to make a complete and compelling narrative. The story itself is brutal, a horrifying and essential fictionalized account of one of the real life nameless boys who lived and died at the Dozier School for Boys. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Abandonment

Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Death of parent, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail