Reviews

How It Went Down by Kekla Magoon

mhicks22's review against another edition

3.0

Great novel with a great message! I loved having eighteen different voices talking to and over each other. The language was authentic, and I enjoyed the development of all the characters. I thought some of the story and narrations were getting repetitive, but overall, I would recommend this novel.

jenmangler's review against another edition

3.0

I did like the use of multiple points of view to tell this story, although at times I struggled with distinguishing some of the points of view from others. If you're looking for a book that tells you exactly what happened, this isn't the book for you. That's it's greatest strength, in my opinion.

xoxo_madden's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

karrama's review against another edition

4.0

We need this book. An African American boy shot by a white man in a many-point-of-view narrative is riveting and heartbreaking - and all too real. Tariq Johnson’s death and what came after will stay with you, as will the realities of racism in America.

aboxer6490's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

nanners2007's review against another edition

emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

keyari's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective fast-paced

3.75

Audiobook: 5✨(Narrated by: Cherise Boothe, Shari Peele, Kevin R. Free, Avery Glymph, Patricia R. Floyd, Brian Hutchinson, Myra Lucretia Taylor, Ezra Knight, Peter Jay Fernandez, Hubert Point-Du-Jour & Korey Jackson)

crafalsk264's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Tariq Johnson, a 16 year old black man, is shot and killed by Jack Franklin, a white mail bystander, who attempted to intervene in what he thought was a robbery. According to Franklin and some witnesses, Tariq had a gun, but no gun was found and other witnesses maintain Tariq was unarmed. In the explosive aftermath, the community is divided and outside forces spur discord. Underhill is an urban neighborhood with a primarily African American population divided into two rival gang areas. Tariq lives in the area claimed by the 8-5 Kings with the rest of the area covered by the Stingers. Tariq was uncommitted to gang membership but being courted by the Kings. The leader of the Kings, Brick, has made it clear that if he joins, Tariq is assured of a prominent role as his #2.

This is a relatively short book (325 pages) with short  chapters (1-3 pages). Each chapter represents a different POV. Among the 18 different characters, it soon becomes apparent that Tariq was a different person to each one. This novel explores some of the complexities facing African American victims of racial violence. In 2023, 1,232 Black people were killed by law enforcement—the highest number since statistics have been kept (mid 1800s). Many of those killings were cases in which the suspect was or was not armed and differing opinions of witnesses contributed to the confusion. There have been many authors who have examined this in fiction and nonfiction work over the past few years. The real cases of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Emmett Till, Tamir Rice, and so many more Black boys provide guidance for such story lines. This is one is the best of a number of such books that I have read. The questions raised by this book are necessary and need to be discussed and examined in good faith. I will remember this book for some time and highly recommend to readers of contemporary realistic fiction, African American experience and families, social justice, racial issues and mystery.  Discretion advised regarding explicit language, sexual content, gun violence, death, toxic relationships, domestic violence, body shaming.

tatyanavogt's review against another edition

5.0

This is about the different ways people experiences/perceived the event of a black boy being shot by a white man and how your own past experiences and beliefs affect the way you experience new things. This book blew me away, it was powerful it was frustrating, it was well done.

I think the author did an amazing job making vastly different characters with realistic although sometimes frustrating beliefs/perspectives which really influenced the way things happened. I dunno, this book caught me off guard in the best of ways.

ms_weird's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0