Superb. Excellent storytelling with fully realized character and a vivid setting. This is bound to be one of the talked about books of the year.

The city of Oakland -- the "there" -- is as much a character in this moving story as any of the characters so thoughtfully and fully realized in this novel. It is not necessarily an easy book to read in the best and most fascinating possible way, as the reader moves from character to character and perspective to perspective slowly putting together the pieces. The author pulls few punches in his representation of urban life and at times the reader is left emotionally reeling.

Beautiful written, moving, and with absolutely top notch observations about people. The author makes you care about the characters swiftly and wholely, even the people who would traditionally be the villains; no one's a monolith and no one exists independent of their history and their trauma. My enjoyment was only dampened by a few awkward transitions between tenses, and by the fact that the story's ultimately more slice-of-life than I usually prefer.

Absolutely astounding. Distinct characters written with great care and humanity, lyrical prose juxtaposed with honest voices. A gutting story of identity, history, and fate.