A review by bealmg
Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark

challenging dark fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I think this totally deserved a full-length novel. I really liked the premise and I thought it was really thought-provoking in its discussions of hate vs justice. I went into this feeling a bit scared because I'm not into horror, but I was actually okay with even the most gruesome of elements of this story (I think I stopped myself from imagining those things and it helped). Were this a tv show or film, I would have skipped those parts!
However, the storyline and the characters were not as fleshed out as I would have liked - I think this is, in part, due to this being a novella and, thus, necessarily shorter. I wanted to be more emotionally connected to these characters, but everything happened so fast and the plot was so condensed that it lacked the necessary emotional depth for me. Nevertheless, considering this is a novella, I was pretty impressed with the creativity, the world-building and the themes it explored!
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