BOOK REVIEW: Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah |

This is a no-spoiler review of Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah. I'll be talking about this book for the rest of the year. Enjoy!
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Books Mentioned in Video:
Chain Gang All Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
www.nanakwamea...
bookshop.org/p...
Are Prisons Obsolete by Angela Davis
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Freedom Is A Constant Struggle by Angela Davis
bookshop.org/p...
Punching The Air by Ibi Zoboi & Yusef Salaam
bookshop.org/p...

[@galenbaby]

He’s brilliant. I cried telling my son about Simon J Craft’s moment of empathy in the ring for the man with 1 arm. Amazing book-classic shit along with Friday Black. I loved your review! I’ll check out other videos.

[@ToBeBlackandLoved]

I definitely have to read Friday Black! Thanks for watching.

[@Gamin-yyd]

That scene was done amazingly. There was no other way simon would of lost!

[@ANicoleTeacher]

I value your thoughts

[@cheekiereynolds]

Just got my copy today for my book club. I cannot wait to get into this.

[@haileysoriano9591]

I expected tears by the end of the book. I expected an uncontrollable, sobbing mess. Instead I'm left mourning in silence, for the fact that I will never read this book for the first time again. It was beautiful, heart wrenching, and infuriating. It was so amazing, I really am just speechless. I flew through the book not wanting it to end, but so badly needed to know the end of all this.

[@P.EnglishLiterature]

This author's name sound Ghanaian. Great review.

[@muddywatersbookshelf7758]

I read this book a few weeks ago and I am still thinking about it’s central themes. Such an important book

[@PrincessDiana8]

I highly recommended reading the physical version of this book! I read this in a book club and everyone else was using audio. One of the most powerful aspects of this book are the footnotes. From what my book club said, most of them were missing from the audio version.

[@haileysoriano9591]

The footnotes gave me chills, it really adds to the experience. The "don't look down. Help me." Killed me.

[@kellyhunsaker3775]

I am listening to this one today. It's fantastic

[@BeingTiffany]

I finished reading this book last week and I'm kinda sad I read it so fast but I just couldn't help myself, I devoured it! I've already proclaimed it as my favorite read of the year. It's so beautifully written, almost poetic-like. Gonna go listen to the podcast you mentioned. Great review!!!

[@PoorPersonsBookReviewer]

Great video I just finished the book it was ok , love the prison reform theme but I wanted a better story

[@CheMoniAlt]

I had put this on my TBR list some time back and removed it after prioritizing other reads, but you've convinced me that doing so was a mistake lol. I'm definitely looking forward to checking this one out soon!

[@Tayday12]

thanks for this review, i was hungry to hear talk about it after reading the audiobook because i feel like this book has so much to talk about and consider. Im struck by just how intelligent and brave the author is for doing the etical research and physical work of writing a modern abolitionist book. other media sort of like this to consider: notes from a dead house and deadman wonderland

[@isenhobbitz]

📚Added to TBR!

[@jessicaandfamily1985]

Thanks for the thoughtful review and pitching the audiobook. As a mom of two small kids, audiobooks are my go-to way of reading. I also really appreciate your deliberate efforts in creating videos without spoilers. The effort is greatly appreciated. ❤🎊🎆🏅
Prison abolition/reform remains a hot button topic among conservatives, which is why books like this are so important to help people empathize with the harm our current prison system does. Every semester, some of my students write research papers about prison reform, usually abolishing solitary confinement, usually because they are the children of an incarcerated parent. Would you say this book is a good recommendation for my students who are children of incarcerated people? I just want to make sure I'm being considerate and recommending a book that might help them feel seen rather than trigger more worries about their parent's safety.

[@bookshelfbyla]

Hi! I read this book and what age are the kids? There is a lot of violence and death in this book and I would say the tone is pretty serious and dark so it could be triggering, if I'm being honest.

[@Nalie-kw2vb]

Want to watch this vid but are there spoilers?

[@ToBeBlackandLoved]

There are no spoilers!

[@NiteOwl2000]

Bro am I high right now? I’m sorry, but this book is ass. Everyone’s singing its praises, even Seth Meyers like how tf 😂
Once I learned it was originally supposed to be a short story in Friday Black everything made sense. I liked most of the stories in Friday Black. You can tell short fiction is Nana’s strength and you can also tell he was out of his depth when it came to a project of Chain-Gang’s scope.
As far as messaging and world-building goes, he knew what he was doing. He put a lot of detail into how his dystopia would work. I liked his message about the American prison industrial complex and state-sanctioned violence.
But oh my god, this isn’t sufficient in itself to make people enjoy your story. Setting is only a third of the equation. You need to have a compelling plot and characters, this book had neither. It’s apparent from the first chapter.
Characters behave as if they know they’re characters. For example, Melancholia makes a dumb decision purely for the sake of plot and that makes for a dull opening. And it’s not just her, it’s everyone. When people enter gladiator fights, I don’t feel anything for them. It doesn’t feel frightening for our protagonists.
Some people have complained that you can’t care for the Links because they’re guilty of the crimes they’re being punished for, but I disagree. I think we don’t care because Nana doesn’t make us want to care.
Which leads to my next point, the stakes suck and the plot meanders. I’m only ~50 pages in, but that’s more than enough space to give people stakes and characters to latch onto. But he wastes all of it on verbosity, aimless fight scenes, and an equally aimless activism B-plot.
I feel like Nana is trying to reach a word count rather than particular story points. He’ll spend so long yapping about extraneous stuff that you almost forget what’s happening in a given scene. It makes you feel like the story isn’t building up to anything!
This book has no excuse for being this boring to read. It’s not long. It doesn’t inundate you with technical details and jargon. It’s action-packed. Plus its premise is Sorry To Bother You meets The Hunger Games. I should be on the edge of my seat.
In the end, I’m left thinking this should’ve remained a piece of short fiction, perhaps in the novelette to novella range. He could’ve focused on one particular character in a gladiator fight. Like Ralph Ellison’s Battle Royale. He clearly didn’t know what to do with this much length. What matters isn’t the size of the boat, but the motion of the ocean.