Ring Shout

Ring Shout is one of the most gut wrenching stories I\’ve ever experienced, in a good way. One chapter in particular, in which Maryse Boudreaux confronts her deepest pain, tore me apart and put me back together again. This is a story about love, camaraderie, surviving trauma, and the power of righteous anger to remake the world. P. Djeli Clark has become an autobuy author for me on the strength of his worldbuilding, myth-making, and how he writes fully fleshed-out female characters. At first I wasn\’t sure all the elements would gel – the history of the KKK, African myth, Lovecraftian monsters, and Gullah magic. But when he pulled everything together, it created something astounding and special. Ring Shout is a fresh take on the old tale of good confronting evil that centers the experiences of people of color. I thought it was his best work yet.

I would think anyone who loves Lovecraft Country TV show would absolutely adore this. This is easily my favorite book of 2020!

This is, hands down, the best book I\’ve read this year. There are some interesting parallels between this book and Matt Ruff\’s LOVECRAFT COUNTRY, which I liked but didn\’t love. Ultimately, I felt like this book accomplished something similar that Ruff had set out to do in his novel, but P. Djèlí Clark did it better than Ruff. It\’s possible that the difference is in the authors\’ lived experiences and racial identities… The narration for this audiobook is excellent. I\’m looking forward to reading more works by Clark and listening to more books read by Chance Waites.

I purchased Ring Shout, anticipating a vivid world, populated by fascinating characters, because it\’s P. Djeli Clark after all. He has this ability to create characters I can both identify with and relate to, no matter how different their world is from mine or they are from myself. I guess that\’s the mark of a brilliant story teller. I\’m always on the look out for anything he publishes and haven\’t been disappointed yet. Ring Shout is set post WWI. The feel of the time is beautifully recreated, the social structure, the gravitas of the situation and Clark adds in Lovecraftian supernatural elements that heighten the threat of what\’s at risk of being enacted – the KKK coming to power in the United States. (I researched Birth of a Nation, chilled by the movie\’s message and influence on society at the time.) The book also has a bit of a feel like a documentary, with interviews at the start of the chapters from people who participated in a ring shout, that adds validity to the events that unfold in that section. As the story grows there\’s also a deep attachment to the characters, warts and all. Great story and Channie Waites\’ narration is _fantastic_. I especially liked how she perfectly captured the lyrical beauty of a song\’s description and then illustrated it by staying in character and singing their lines. Wow. Well worth the credit.

This is a book that may have been a better read than listen. There were things in the story that I liked-the side characters, the aunties, the Night Doctors. The heroine was the most boring character, in my opinion, and I think the story suffered from her first person point of view. My biggest problem with this Audible production is the HORRENDOUS narration. If I could give it less than one star I would. I almost gave up on it several times. in fact, it took me about a week to finish a 5 hour book, even though I have about an hour and a half commute each day. I felt like this was read like an audioplay more than an audiobook-every single word was read with over-the-top melodrama. The quiet times were read in the same style as the action times-too much drama! It REALLY distracted me from the story and I often had to just stop the book. I appreciate that she created different voices for different characters but the volume changes and the pitch changes were very jarring. This narration was a choice but it isn\’t one I liked. I\’m quite disappointed because I really wanted to like this book.

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