My rating: 4 of 5 stars
At under 150 pages, The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle was a perfect horror read for me to celebrate the beginning of Spooky Month. It also went towards my participation in #BlackOWeenAthon, a read-a-long hosted by Loc’D Booktician on booktube.
CW: This book includes graphic racism, gore, and racial slurs along with moderate violence, blood, and police brutality.
It’s easy to see why this book was one of NPR’s Best Books of 2016, winner of the Shirly Jackson Award, the British Fantasy Award, the This Is Horror Award for Novella of the Year, and a Finalist for the Hugo, Nebula, Locus, World Fantasy, and Bram Stoker Awards. If you like Cthulu stories, this one is for you. It also has a hefty dash of subversion, which I always appreciate. I also appreciated how short this book was, because the subject matter could be super heavy at times.
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The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle is a great short read for Spooky Month
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