A review by avidreadr
Deacon King Kong by James McBride

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

4.75

James McBride has such a unique way of crafting his novels (at least going by the two I’ve read so far). They start with a look at a community, with certain characters taking center stage. A situation is set up, something happens. And then we go on a long, meandering journey about how that situation happened and what the fall out is for the community. We continue to get sweeping perspectives from all sorts of characters, while getting to know some more than others. Little pieces of the "mystery" (we don’t even realize there is a mystery right away!) reveal themselves...themes and social commentaries start asserting themselves...and suddenly, by the half way point, I am 100% hooked. 

My favorite parts of this book were
the scenes where Potts/Mrs. Gee and Elefante/Guido's daugther fall in love. These sections were so beautifully written!


Rating slightly knocked down because for the first half of the book I wasn’t fully hooked. I totally understand this is intentional and honestly super effective. But it doesn't take away from the fact that I just wasn’t as engaged for a lot of the first half. This is a personal thing - I like really getting into the heads of characters and getting the “psychological drive” of a character/story. As mentioned, this doesn’t really kick in until half way or later when all the pieces start coming together. If I wasn’t already aware of how McBride’s novels pay off, I may have jumped ship at some point. Amazing prose and trust in the author kept me going and I'm glad to say it pays off. 
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