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A review by foldingthepage_kayleigh
When the Reckoning Comes by LaTanya McQueen
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
This book grabs the reader by the throat and forces us to reckon with the horrors of the past along with the characters and understand how these structures loom over us today. Like the FMC Mira, we are witnesses, and how can we just go along with our complicity after we’ve seen, heard and felt our way through this story?
Overall, this was powerful, necessary, unrelenting, brutal and harsh. This was also the first book I’ve ever read that had satirical elements that were so deeply unfunny and made me realize that satire doesn't hinge on humour.
A note on format:
I read this 50/50 audio and physical. I did prefer the physical, but only because I needed more time with the book. To read and re-read, to sit and think about the passages I read. To re-visit certain chapters for reflection. And to immerse myself in the lyrical writing of LaTanya McQueen.
That being said, the narration was superb, and I think there were certain performance elements the narrator made that increased the horror of the book. My preference for the physical was despite the fact that the narrator was great.
Overall, this was powerful, necessary, unrelenting, brutal and harsh. This was also the first book I’ve ever read that had satirical elements that were so deeply unfunny and made me realize that satire doesn't hinge on humour.
A note on format:
I read this 50/50 audio and physical. I did prefer the physical, but only because I needed more time with the book. To read and re-read, to sit and think about the passages I read. To re-visit certain chapters for reflection. And to immerse myself in the lyrical writing of LaTanya McQueen.
That being said, the narration was superb, and I think there were certain performance elements the narrator made that increased the horror of the book. My preference for the physical was despite the fact that the narrator was great.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail