Ok I have a lot of very complicated feelings about this book.

I loved Friday Black, the author's short story collection, so I went into this with very high expectations. And it pains me to say that if this has been a short story in Friday Black, it would have been a skip for me.

There's individual portions of Chain Gang All Stars that work amazingly. I was much more gripped by the side stories and the factual interjections than I was by the main plot. I really appreciated the very harrowing exemplification of how cruel solitary confinement and forced mutism are, and how much they damage a human psyche. The balance between "yes they did bad things (although some of them didn't, but false imprisonment is a separate theme) but nobody deserves this torture" was masterful.

So why the low rating? Frankly, I just couldn't get into it. I devoured Friday Black in what feels like a day or two, but I almost DNFd this one. The writing style largely didn't work for me and neither did the pacing. It became a case of "if every single page is high stakes, then nothing is". I struggled to connect with the characters and I struggled with being curious about what happened next.

I feel like I would have enjoyed this more had there been a deeper exploration into character's inner lives and pasts, more portrayals of how the general public reacted (the protests, complacency, and direct enjoyment were interesting and under explored), and less focus on the actual gladiator battles, nicknames, and weapons.

Recommended if you have a strong interest in the racism of America's prison system and don't mind books with a large cast of characters and POVs. But I would first recommend diving into Friday Black, the author's stunning short story collection.

2.5 stars rounded down to reflect "not for me, but it definitely has merit and I see why other people would like it"