Where do I start with The Rib King by Ladee Hubbard? I guess I will start by saying that I enjoyed some aspects of the story and not so much others. I enjoyed Part One which follows August Sitwell and takes place in and around the Barklay's place, I would have enjoyed the book much more if that were the main setting throughout; unfortunately, Part Two leaves the Barclay's and throws Sitwell into a background role and although the reasons of this "exile" enhance the overall story, I can't help but wonder what his story looked like in Part Two. The overall feel of the story didn't resonate all that much with me, it presents very real, important, and current civil issues as well as the age old battle of violent vs non-violent approaches to solving those issues but it was presented in a very slow burn fashion that I found myself (only at times throughout the story) less than enthused to keep listening. I much appreciated the writing style and its similitude of early 1900 era literature (the era, in which, this story takes place) and the way the narrators where able to capture that as I did listen to the audiobook. Korey Jackson's performance was great! He narrates Part One and captures all of the characters in a way that I found very entertaining and nothing against Adenrele Ojo, because she narrated well but I didn't connect with the characters in Part Two and I sadly have to attribute this to the narration seeing as the writing style was consistent throughout. Overall, this was one of those stories that I liked and didn't like at the same time but I am happy to have read/listened to it

[Thank you NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for early access to the free audiobook]

Even though I don't usually read historical fiction, this one felt urgent, timely, emotional and raw, One of my favorites on the year.

The Rib King pulled me immediately with its descriptive prose and a setting that comes alive throughout its pages. It takes place in the early 20th century and follows the staff at the Barclays household. Amongst them we meet August, a Black man who was "saved" from the orphanage by the Barclays, a wealthy white family, to work for them. Fifteen years later, August is working among a a group of servants in the house, except now the Barclays are no longer as well-to-do. So when Mr Barclay receives an offer on the rights to commercialize a delicious rib sauce made by their in-house cook, Miss Mamie, with August's face on the product, it's a deal. Except no one but Mr. Barclay receives any money from it.

This book tackles a number of important and uncomfortable issues: race, class, sexism, privilege, xenophobia, and violence. Thanks to the author's skillful writing, I could feel the injustice, the rage, the numbness of the mere existence. There are so many things in this novel that I would love to analyze in a classroom, or perhaps in a book club. It's just so powerful in many ways.

Since I simultaneously read the ebook and listened to the audiobook version (my favorite way of reading lately), I have to confirm that the narration is as excellent as the book itself. There are two distinct narrators, both of whom did an excellent job with portraying the atmosphere of the book - highly recommended way of reading this one.

*Thank you to the Publisher for a free advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

3.5✨
Dang, I was hoping a lot more for this story. It sadly, never fully met my expectations.

The first half of the book was jumbled together and didn’t quite make a lot of sense to me. We are introduced to our main characters - Mr. Sitwell and Miss Jennie - who are servants to a white family in New Orleans. Mr. Sitwell has an unique talent of being able to identify ingredients that make up a variety of products - sauces, perfume, etc - and sadly that talent gets him thrown into being the racist face of a barbecue sauce.

The second half of the story follows Miss Jennie, a decade later, as she’s navigating the difficult world of being a female business owner. Miss Jennie knows the true story about The Rib King and her business is sadly plagued by her connection with The Rib King.

The second section outlines what exactly led to The Rib King’s rise to fame and the details behind it. I wish Hubbard would’ve spent a little more time wrapping up the story but overall this was a decent read. I especially loved the vivid details about the current time period. It’s clear Hubbard really researched this time period and was able to convey it to the reader.

Thank you to NetGalley and Amistad Books for this ARC, I really appreciate it. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Audio for the advanced copy of the audiobook.
I appreciated that this book veered close to the edge of farce, close to the edge of satire, and close to the edge of dark humor ... without ever taking the plunge. This little slice of history was disturbing, but not unexpected. The exploitation of Black Americans by their southern White. employers is certainly not an uncommon tale but it’s woven so seamlessly into the story here that many times it almost slips by, unnoticed.
The whole premise of the “Rib King” was the theft of intellectual property and identity. But, was it? The publication of the story about Seminole County, FL is periodically mentioned, yet drives most of the plot in the second half. And, speaking of the second half, it felt like a lot of it was after thought ... the first half is well-developed and polished, but when it switches to Jennie’s turn, I found gaps and holes and a rushed ending.

As for the narrator... I found the voice felt like someone was in the room , just telling me a story…which I mean as a complement. It was comfortable, not intrusive, and never overshadowed the story itself. I thought the change in narrator, for the second half, was unnecessary. I would’ve preferred the same voice telling the story, even when it switched to Jennie’s perspective. I understand the reasoning, but thought it was unnecessary for an audiobook.
I really enjoyed this audiobook- many of the plot points didn’t go where I expected them to, so the story kept me guessing and involved. This is always a challenge, and a pleasant surprise when it happens.

The Rib King was a well-narrated tale. The novel felt not quite like a satire, not quite not a satire. Interesting story that I understand is a bit of a prequel to her earlier The Talented Ribkins, which I will assuredly be picking up.