A review by ehmannky
The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle

dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This novella was so good that it almost made me want to read the Lovecraft story it was based on, just to get the full scope of the craft that went into turning it here. I loved that LaValle uses this story to just really prod at the terror that white people, from the random lady on the block, to the cops in the force reinforce racial terror that is both targeted (towards all Black folk) and random (it doesn't matter to the white powers that be which Black person dies). There's a lot of power packed in so few pages, and the ending was so moving. I want a book club to discuss the last chapter, because to talk about it here would be a spoiler. But I loved the way it looks at who is a monster and how does a monster (as the dominant society defines it) become into being. 
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