Haunting

A deeply unsettling story that needs to be heard. For a non American listener it maybe takes a while to get you eat tuned to the delivery, but it's worth it. Whip smart in points and deeply worrying in others.

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Excellent Novel

You have to be ready for some violence, & very racist attitudes & language - not ‘gratuitous’ though, I’d say. If your a Trump supporter or denizen of the USA ‘deep south’ be ready for what you might, by now, be thinking of as stereotyping. Sorry! A short but fantastic novel that says some needful things & is always going off in unexpected directions.

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1 person found this helpful

Thought provoking and disturbing

Not sure how I feel about this novel. Bits I loved, some made me laugh out loud and some made me feel very uncomfortable.
But overall definitely worth a credit.

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1 person found this helpful

Not so impressed

I really wanted to like this book, but actually I'm surprised by the positive reviews and general acclaim it has garnered. I tend to regard the word literary, in the context of the phrase 'literary thriller' as synonymous with 'bad', and this is no exception. The subject is terrible and needs constant and unremitting examination - we must never let ourselves forget what happened in the American South. But I don't see this book with its ludicrous premise, thin and stereotyped characterisation and clunky humour, as being a worthy example of the way to memorialise it.

While the narrator brings the flavour of the South to his reading, his characterisation is terrible. Throughout the book, one is never sure until there is a clue in the text whether a new character is black or white. Everyone speaks the same, except on the occasions when the plot takes us outside Mississippi, when the attempts to render a non-Southern accents are comic.

Nearly four hours in, finding no particular progress in the plot or startling insights, I'm afraid I gave up.

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4 people found this helpful

Entertaining

It was entertaining, great dialogue (but sweary), fast paced, funny😊 An insight into tragic history. I didn't want it to end or the conclusion wasn't satisfying - I'm not sure which.
it was sometimes hard to discern which character was speaking🤔

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Fantastic combination of humour and righteous anger

This is something which no one should be able to pull off - a funny book about lynching in the south of America yet Everett does it perfectly. It’s never dull, filled with wonderful writing and hilarious scenes but the overall bigger point he makes about racism flies straight to the reader’s heart. I can’t recommend this enough.

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Incredible story, horrible narration

I have never seen a narration this bad. The text loses all its humor, warmth, and meaning. Such a shame for such a brilliant story. Don’t bother with the audiobook, just read the hard copy.

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Series of murders rocks America

Money is the epicentre of a series of white murders linked to historical lynchings/ murders.

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3 people found this helpful

Even better than you’ve heard!

This Booker Prize finalist is funny, gruesome, intelligent, topical, satirical, pointed. Some characters border on stereotypes, but Everett’s sharp details render them realistic. Cannot recommend more highly.

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2 people found this helpful

Black humour

I really loved it. Clever, macabre, ironic, thought provoking and beautifully read. I highly recommend.

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