Date Of Review: September 18, 2023
Review Left On GoodReads: Yes https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5810625887
The Ballad of Black Tom
Author: Victor LaValle
Narrated By: Kevin R. Free
Started: September 18, 2023
Finished: September 18, 2023
Genre: horror
Length: 3hours 9minutes 36seconds
Part Of A Series: No
Type Of Book: Audio Book
Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26883558-the-ballad-of-black-tom
Review:
I really thought I wouldn't like this book. The first couple of chapters took a bit to get going and made me question if I would continue. I am so glad I continued listening to the book.
Being an avid World of Warcraft player I probably took this book a bit different then most. All I could picture was the raid battle against Yogg Saron and N'zoth & the sanity mechanics that went with it. Also, I haven't read any of Lovecraft's books.
Despite it being all male characters it made sense that is was. My grandma was bornin 1920 and the stories she would tell - the book was pretty much accurate on that count. Would I have loved to see all the characters female? Kind of. It would have just been another trope thrown on if there where only females - which would more then likely bog the story down. I was happy to see racism tackled in this book. I think knowing Lovecraft was a racist is one reason I subconsciously stay away from his books.
Black Tom grew on me as well. Loosing his parents, dealing with racism (and classism?), and trying to keep yourself sane with what he saw & knew - does it surprise anyone he just had enough?
Goodreads Description:
People move to New York looking for magic and nothing will convince them it isn't there.
Charles Thomas Tester hustles to put food on the table, keep the roof over his father's head, from Harlem to Flushing Meadows to Red Hook. He knows what magic a suit can cast, the invisibility a guitar case can provide, and the curse written on his skin that attracts the eye of wealthy white folks and their cops. But when he delivers an occult tome to a reclusive sorceress in the heart of Queens, Tom opens a door to a deeper realm of magic, and earns the attention of things best left sleeping.
A storm that might swallow the world is building in Brooklyn. Will Black Tom live to see it break?