Top positive review
4.0 out of 5 starsI admire the fact that this author dared to write this.
Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2022
This story was disturbing in a good way. It had to be to get the point across. There is a lot of shock value here for anyone not currently aware of the black or POC struggle (not the best first-time diversity read for a non-POC). Other than that, it's right on point. I don't agree with everything that happens in this story and doubt the author does either (but I don't know this person so that's just speculation). I admire the fact that this author dared to write this.
While I hope other non-black people, especially non-POCs will read this and appreciate it, I totally recognize that this is not written for them. This is a story about a black person, written by a black person, for black people. This is going to make anyone who reads it, especially a non-black person feel uncomfortable and that's okay. It's okay to feel uncomfortable sometimes. Discomfort can start great conversations.
I think this is a great adult read but could be suitable for teens with parent approval. It has some really dark themes and violent imagery. One issue with a cat rubbed me a bit wrong, but when I think about depictions of things done to slaves in books, TV, and movies, I got over the cat fairly quickly. It's hard to read but purposeful- not exploitive.
With some caution, I highly recommend this to fans of dark speculative fiction, Afrofuturism, and fiction by black authors.
