lcl_reads's Reviews (211)

It took me a little bit to get into this once, but once I did, I could not put it down! Gyasi hops from one lineage to another through time and weaves together a story that centers the depth of Black stories. I love the way she was able to perfectly pull the threads together across time, continents, decisions, and beliefs. I really respect that she ties each person's story together without reducing them to a monolith. This is a truly well-written book.

I wanted to read this after watching American Fiction and seeing Sinatra reading it. In that context, it is very interesting to consider the context of the movie and I'd recommend watching that movie in conjunction with reading this book.

Now, back to the book itself. I appreciate that Jackson gets highly specific in her references and is very detailed. I believe that is essential on this topic as it is one where it is easy for some to minimize the significance and prevalence of cultural appropriation. I found the book to be very engaging and easy to follow and thought it was interesting how she woven seemingly unrelated topics together (which makes perfect sense when considering that cultural appropriation in the US touches literally everything). 

This is my second book by Jason Reynolds and after A Long Way Down, I was a little disappointed. Overall it is a good read, although I did find myself cringing a few times (women are referred to as "females" once). I thought the overall premise is as interesting, particularly in thinking about how one deals with grief, but certainaspect were a little unbelievable (a teenager living alone with very little income? How was he paying rent?) I wish it would have dived a little deeper into Matthew's thoughts on attending funerals. 

I particularly liked the beginning when everyone is introduced. It is clear that care was taken to provide a careful and full portrayal.

I did not like how restorative justice was approached and there is a section about the use of restorative justice in a school setting, but I don't think the connection was there to the crime in this book. I think I would have like a more balanced approach to restorative justice because while I do believe it can be powerful and useful, I think it is important to confront the reasons some are hesitant. I wish an example of the use of restorative justice with the criminal system was used (I wonder if that example was not available)

This is not my typical genre, but I think it did a very good job of weaving information into stories that are interesting. I don't know that I will retain all of the detailed information because there is a lot, but th broader strokes are easy to retain and I appreciate knowing I can go back to specific chapters  (they are organized by countries/regions) to refresh my memory. 

Overall, a very comprehensive history of the AR-15 and related guns. It is a bit slow, especially at the beginning and spares no detail at all (almost to a fault. I nearly put it down in the middle because it was just so detailed, to the point of starting to become boring).

The second half picks up a bit as it shifts from the invention of the gun to politics and mass shootings. Understanding the history of the gun does underscore the major point that this gun was never meant for civilian use and the explanation of gun mechanics also helps to understand how attempts at gun regulation have fallen short.

As someone who is not as interested in guns or how they work some parts felt very in the weeds for me. It definitely felt like it was written for a gun history buff, which I am not.

I also struggled with references to gangs, gun regulation, and the War on Crime without any connections to race. Some reviews laude the book as "unbiased" (I don't believe a book can be unbiased) which is what I think the authors were going for by not mentioning race, but it made the political discussion feel sanitized and superficial.

It starts off a little slow, but the alternating perspective keeps the build up interesting. What u love most about this book is how the climax is a sudden crescendo and fall. The climax and falling action are all packed into the last few pages.