Cover Image: Chain Gang All Stars

Chain Gang All Stars

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Member Reviews

This book has been on so many "must-read" lists and I now know why. This book, like the characters within, is a powerhouse. I won't repeat the plot, but I will share my thoughts.
You may see this labeled as "dystopian", but is it? A dystopia is defined as. "relating to or denoting an imagined state or society where there is great suffering or injustice". Guess what? it's not all plagues and EMPs. BIPOC have been living in a dystopia for quite some time. Is it really such a jump to imagine private prisons making money by using prisoners for blood-sport entertainment?
This book contains a lot of violence, but don't let that stop you. There are statistics scattered throughout the story that are far more disturbing than fictional violence.
#NetGalley

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The best book i've read in some time. Amazing characters, succinct interconnecting stories, the whole shabang. Highly reccomend!

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I loved Friday Black so much and was both excited for this novel and nervous it wouldn’t live up to the author’s short story collection. Well there was nothing to be nervous about this is one of the best if not the best novel I have read so far this year.

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Its like the Hunger Games and 1984 mixed together into a twister, horrifyingly realistic tale. Readers are going to be engrossed in the story till the end, but will always be left wanting more.

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Thank you so much to Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this incredible book early! I knew this book would be devastating going into it, but I didn't expect to be hit in the heart/gut/or both with each chapter. It might be easy to consider this book to be a dystopian version of the United States, but I would disagree with that statement. The version of the country depicted in this novel is one that feels eerily familiar (the country deeply rooted in capitalist gain and institutional racism) and one that does not feel very far off (prison inmate death matches for entertainment).

This is definitely a book that I cannot wait to get my hands on physically. Reading it on the kindle was difficult with the footnotes, and I believe they (the footnotes) would pack much a deeper punch if I were reading them on the page rather than focusing on skipping around on my e-reader. But nevertheless, I love when footnotes in a novel lend another dimension to the reading experience, such as when they provide not only historical detail but also emotional and symbolic prose that simply just adds another layer.

As always, I loved the lgbtqia+ representation, especially the characters' rejection of bi-erasure as well as their perfectly imperfect depictions. Many times in literature queer characters are put on a pedestal, and I loved that this book refused to do so and just made them simply human.

This book is both a fast-paced, high-tension read as well as a devastatingly difficult read due to its subject matter, but it is one not to be missed.

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Wow, what a triumph. I absolutely loved Chain-Gang All-Stars!

This book expertly weaves together a compelling plot, fascinating characters, and highly relevant social commentary. I couldn't stop reading. It's a searing critique of American entertainment culture and prison systems. The characters all felt so fleshed out, even those we only met briefly. I'll be thinking about this book for a long time.

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Chain-Gang All-Stars has already been receiving a ton of buzz, and rightfully so. The synopsis both intrigued and horrified me: in a private prison system, prisoners fight each other to the death for a chance at freedom. Fights are held in packed arenas, and their lives are binged by audiences across the world. These gladiators become celebrities, but murmurs of protests start bubbling to the surface.

The world-building was impressive, and readers are immediately dropped into the action. I would have loved to learn more about the characters' pre-prison backgrounds, but there are countless other important moments - the brutal action, the gossip, and the hopeful strategizing. The story is violent and graphic, yet that's kind of the point. I was at a loss for words by the time I reached the final page.

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This book is so very good, and ambitious and bold. I am glad it was written and think it will spark lots of conversations. The book tries to cover a bit more than it needed to, and can get a little lost in itself, but overall this is one of the most ambitious books that will come out this year.

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An incredibly intriguing and explosive take on a dystopian future and America's prison system.

While this book gives no definitive answer to the multitude of issues in current day prisons across America, this still left me feeling like my eyes are more open to the very real problems at hand.

This story seems to jump all over the place, featuring quite a few different characters and viewpoints, but mostly, this story follows Loretta Thurwar. Thurwar is the reigning champion of a cruel TV show that pits prisoners in fights to the death. The prize for winning, which is beyond difficult, is freedom.

This is a startling but necessary social commentary on many things besides just the prison system. And, without a doubt, this has rattled me. This is a thought-provoking and insightful look into humanity, and I am really glad I read this.

Out May 2, 2023

Thank you, Netgalley and Publisher, for this Arc!

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Dystopian world where prisoners gladiator-style fight to the death for their freedom. 100% agree with the critiques of the American prison system, but I struggled with the pacing and shifting perspectives. I also don’t’ enjoy reading action scenes, which were aplenty here. This author is so incredibly talented and I think the right readers will love it.

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A brutal dystopia that uses the US prison system and militarization of the police as its backdrop. This is a tough read due to its violence and graphic nature, but I think that was necessary in order to provide the kind of criticism our present day deserves, as well as a compelling story. Incredible writing. This is a must-read for abolitionists, activists, and anyone who thinks our current way of doing things should be different.

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I am blown away. I didn't think it would be for me at first, there is a lot of violent action, but once the story began to delve deeper into the characters I was hooked and could not put it down for the last quarter. What's more, there is more than one very real problem with our society that has a light shone on it here. As a former prison librarian, I can say there is so much truth behind this outlandish (or is it) scenario. This will be an important book, I think.

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The book starts incredibly strong with solid world-building and great characters. It quickly loses steam by switching perspectives too often and not making the narrator or timeline clear. The author had interesting commentary about the corrupt prison system, but the lack of focus had me drifting in and out of the story. Not for me.

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This book was gruesome but impossible to turn away from. In the (maybe not so distant) future, prisoners are used for entertainment as part of the CAPE program - a televised gladiator-style battle. You win enough times and you are freed. You lose and well, you're free but you're also dead. There are so many aspects to this story that are upsetting and disturbing. Somehow Adjei-Brenyah gives hope for a better future through all of it. I'm going to be thinking about this book for a long time.

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What a vicious, vivid world. While I had some issues with the pacing--the middle drags, in my opinion--this is a rich and brutal story that will stick with me, and I absolutely raced through the last 25% or so.

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Wow! What a wonderful book -- not wonderful in the uplifting fashion, but wonderful in the harsh reality of the criminal system with footnotes that link today with this futuristic novel of tragedy, heroism, and redemption among the voyeuristic predators of the media and its users -- both those of the prison system who see a way to capitalize on murder and violence and those of the viewers who take some degrading pleasure from watching those who are not deemed worthy of rehabilitation destroy each other. All I can say is hold on to your hats, folks, because this is a brutal view of the future in which the citizens are just as guilty as the criminals who participate in the game. The guiltiest of all (as usual) is the privatization capitalists who own prison system with their endless need to make more and more money at the expense of the prisoner slaves who have no recourse.

Thank you to the author Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah for weaving truth into the footnotes of this unbelievable violent story of where our justice system may end up in the near future. Thank you to Net Galley for allowing me to read an early copy of the book in return for an honest review.

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This is a book that you'll keep thinking about for months! Adjei-Brenyah seamlessly combines elements of reality tv, celebrity culture, and the profit-driven prison system into one dystopian world, unique from any other book I've read. I was a bit confused in parts and wasn't a fan of certain plot decisions (no spoilers!), but overall I was impressed. 4/5 stars from me!

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Thanks to NetGalley and Pantheon for an ARC of this title.

I loved Friday Black and I jumped at the chance to read a full novel from Adjei-Brenyah. To take the research, and processing done here and turn it into this sort of novel takes talent. This is sci-fi, but every footnote reminds you that it is based in very real statistics and situations that face prisoners in America. This is kaleidoscopic in the best way, pulling in lots of different viewpoints and voices, and it all comes together to make a masterful picture.

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Thank you to NetGalley and Pantheon for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Imagine Hunger Games, Squid Games (hated that show), and the Power rolled into one. In this science-fiction future (felt too real at times, however), prisoners have an option to join the Chain Gang, a televised reality tv-show that puts prisoners against each other to be murdered, gladiator-like.

This is one of those books that is both equal parts amazing and devastating. The writing is really well done and the premise is well thought out and perfectly heavy-handed (intentionally and therefore fine by me). It would be hard to recommend this book to anyone, however, because I did not “enjoy” reading it as I do with some other books- I felt compelled by its importance, timeliness, and its storytelling, but I was mostly horrified and gritting my teeth throughout the whole thing. Still processing the ending but really couldn’t put it down for the last 50% of the book. Multiple trigger warnings- excessive violence, torture, murder, racism and racist slurs, etc, so go in prepared.

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Gosh, wow. Don't even know how to talk about this. The author did something very ambitious here, describing a near future dystopian world where prisoners fight to the death in a televised sporting event, in the hopes of eventually earning their freedom. Similar to The Handmaid's tale, the author creates a world that I can totally see our current society slipping into. I thought this was well thought out and well written. The compelling story warns of, and shines a light on, the private prison enterprise in America. Highly recommend everyone to read this book!

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