A review by clmckinney
Hungry Ghosts by Kevin Jared Hosein

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This is about a family in Trinidad. No exact date is mentioned but it seems like it could be semi modern times. We see how this family slowly disintegrates. Hosein tackles race and class. The language is both beautiful and visceral at the same time. There is much that is grime and that is gross in the imagery. He has a definite poetic touch though as well. The plot pulses just as things slow down so there is a trajectory to the story. What I had issues with were two things. Firstly, there seemed to be repetitive uses of descriptions like everyone seemed to have scar at one point, and it seemed to take away from its intended purpose, and over-use of dogs in the tale. They were everywhere, and that might have been on purpose as a metaphor, but it seemed too much. And then near the last third of the novel, the character's arcs started to crowd into the novel and he was doing too much at once. Aside from that it was a good book that had much punch to it. I give this one a 4/5.