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A review by sophiesometimesreads
Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I don't know if "enjoyed" is the right word to describe my experience with this, as it was a rollercoaster, with some very intense scenes at times, but I thought this was a very interesting book that was well-constructed and made the points it was aiming to make well. Just make sure to check content warnings before reading.
There were some very good and interesting conversations and points throughout this book on the prison system (in the USA, specifically) and the treatment of incarcerated humans, as well as demographics of people more likely to be subject to these things. As a non-American, I thought the footnotes were useful to provide context and outline some of the hypocrisy in the system and judgements made. They were also used sparingly so didn't interrupt the overall flow of the story.
There were many points of view, but I found I followed them all well and I liked how we got the intersection of all these stories by the end. I have seen people say they got confused listening to the audio, but personally, having read the book with my eyes, I thought it was easy to follow who the character of interest was each chapter. I think the multiple POVs gave a lot of context to the dystopian world and really hit home the shocking nature of the death games, and how involved the community is.
The characters in here were really interesting. I appreciated how we saw them as human, but their crimes were never pushed to the background. It was a really good way of showing that even people who have committed crimes are human and have the ability to think, feel and change in some circumstances. It was a good way of furthering some of the points made in the book, particulalry about the death penalty and solitary confinement.
The only real thing I wanted more from was the ending. I read it and was like "that's it?", though I did go back and reread the last chapter and it did feel a little more solid of an ending the second time when I knew I was on the last chapter. I'm just not a huge lover of an open ending, so I personally would've liked to see a little more resolution, particularly in the other storylines. But part of me also thinks maybe the point was that, as much as the others fight, it's not going to nicely resolve in such a short period of time. I think I'll be pondering this ending for a while, either way.
There were some very good and interesting conversations and points throughout this book on the prison system (in the USA, specifically) and the treatment of incarcerated humans, as well as demographics of people more likely to be subject to these things. As a non-American, I thought the footnotes were useful to provide context and outline some of the hypocrisy in the system and judgements made. They were also used sparingly so didn't interrupt the overall flow of the story.
There were many points of view, but I found I followed them all well and I liked how we got the intersection of all these stories by the end. I have seen people say they got confused listening to the audio, but personally, having read the book with my eyes, I thought it was easy to follow who the character of interest was each chapter. I think the multiple POVs gave a lot of context to the dystopian world and really hit home the shocking nature of the death games, and how involved the community is.
The characters in here were really interesting. I appreciated how we saw them as human, but their crimes were never pushed to the background. It was a really good way of showing that even people who have committed crimes are human and have the ability to think, feel and change in some circumstances. It was a good way of furthering some of the points made in the book, particulalry about the death penalty and solitary confinement.
The only real thing I wanted more from was the ending. I read it and was like "that's it?", though I did go back and reread the last chapter and it did feel a little more solid of an ending the second time when I knew I was on the last chapter. I'm just not a huge lover of an open ending, so I personally would've liked to see a little more resolution, particularly in the other storylines. But part of me also thinks maybe the point was that, as much as the others fight, it's not going to nicely resolve in such a short period of time. I think I'll be pondering this ending for a while, either way.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder, Violence, and Police brutality
Moderate: Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Self harm, and Suicide
Minor: Sexual assault, Rape, and Domestic abuse