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A review by lisacanteven
Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This book was way out of my comfort zone, but I think I did well with it. CGAS is a character driven story that takes us through an alternate future (or is it?) of what the beast of the prison industrial system becomes, where inmates fight each other gladiator style to the death for three years to earn their early freedom. The reader is left with the question, does prison really reform a person if they are forced to kill others for sport? This book just proves that prison is not about reforming a person; it never has been. In this future, prison evolves to be about entertainment for the masses. Prison is no longer just about slave labor and capital punishment- now there is sport about it.
Each chapter is aptly named instead of numbered- most chapters are pretty short. Each chapter also contains a specific POV, one that takes a little bit of reading into the chapter before you figure it out. I felt like the first half of the book I was being introduced to new characters every few chapters just to never hear from them again. This is the reason I couldn't give CGAS a perfect rating. I just felt lost sometimes. Even at the end of the book, I had to read the ending a few times just to make sure I had a solid grasp on how it ended.
As far as character development goes, this was brilliantly done. I felt like I was there with the characters at times, and because of this I feel like a sequel would be great. There is much more to do in this alternate future (hopefully) to do to make things right.
What I did find very unique to this book was the footnotes. The author included footnotes, some related to the story, while some were plucked from our reality and given as facts to educate the reader on just how close this is to becoming our future.
Each chapter is aptly named instead of numbered- most chapters are pretty short. Each chapter also contains a specific POV, one that takes a little bit of reading into the chapter before you figure it out. I felt like the first half of the book I was being introduced to new characters every few chapters just to never hear from them again. This is the reason I couldn't give CGAS a perfect rating. I just felt lost sometimes. Even at the end of the book, I had to read the ending a few times just to make sure I had a solid grasp on how it ended.
As far as character development goes, this was brilliantly done. I felt like I was there with the characters at times, and because of this I feel like a sequel would be great. There is much more to do in this alternate future (hopefully) to do to make things right.
What I did find very unique to this book was the footnotes. The author included footnotes, some related to the story, while some were plucked from our reality and given as facts to educate the reader on just how close this is to becoming our future.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Police brutality, Blood, Grief, Racial slurs, Classism, Death, Murder, Gore, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Torture, Body horror, Racism, Self harm, and Violence
Moderate: Hate crime, Misogyny, and Racism