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risemini's review
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Drug abuse, Murder, Violence, Death, Death of parent, and Grief
ruthmoog's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
3.75
This is very short, I didn't get on with the matter-of-fact delivery, for a premise that is so interesting and plucked from the 'what-if?' universe, I expected more excitement or depth to be given rather than worked for?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, and Racism
mmccombs's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
Interesting premise that opens the doors to a lot of thought-provoking ideas, but it just didn’t feel fully fleshed out. The writing was just okay, the narration of the audiobook was just okay, the character work was just okay. It was okay! I wish we had driven deeper into the characters’ reactions to the change (honestly I didn’t buy that a majority of white people would be so chill with no longer being white). The concept is interesting enough to have engaged me, but nothing else really worked.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Racism, and Death of parent
surprisebear's review
challenging
reflective
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Addiction, Racism, Hate crime, Grief, Death of parent, Gun violence, and Xenophobia
myk_yeah's review
challenging
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I thought this book was really interesting, I appreciated the look into white folks' fear of losing our privilege. The way it was handled felt really true to life. I read almost the whole book in one sitting, it was engrossing and I enjoyed the read.
I would have wanted to have a character who didn't turn, who was always dark, and know what their perspective was in this situation.
I would have wanted to have a character who didn't turn, who was always dark, and know what their perspective was in this situation.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Death of parent
Moderate: Grief, Gun violence, and Murder
content warning for blackface, mentions of riotingjayisreading's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
Hamid’s books either work for me or they don’t. I thoroughly enjoyed Exit West when I first read it, felt eh about How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia, and I have to say, The Last White Man falls in the “eh” category. It was an interesting idea to look into a primarily white town and seeing the residents waking up with a darker skin tone one day. I didn’t think Hamid handled the concept poorly… only because he didn’t really have anything critical about race. It really made me wonder what his goal was in writing this story, because if it was to make some kind of commentary about race, I’m not seeing it. I’m also wondering if the book didn’t work particularly well because it was so short.
One thing I did enjoy (though I know others have written about disliking this aspect) is Hamid’s writing style. I always found the way he played with writing interesting, and it certainly was the case in The Last White Man.
Unfortunately, my expectations weren’t met with this one, though I wish it did.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Racism, and Death of parent
Moderate: Violence
criticalgayze's review
challenging
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Like with Exit West, this book poses some interesting questions. These are two that really stuck with me:
- What gives a person their "self?"
- Does a change in one's "self," especially a drastic change, make them more aware of who they are or less aware?
While Hamid is amazing at positing deep moral questions, unlike with Exit West, I don't think this book goes quite far enough in addressing them or their repercussions in the specific world he's laid out here. It is sad to think, but I don't think the violence of the moment likely escalates to its logical end point, and I think the ledge is come down from rather too quickly and smoothly.
We also get a rather random glimpse at a possible aware external narrator who only presents themselves once, which makes it feel like an original structure idea that forgot to be fully excised from the final edit.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Police brutality, Racism, and Death of parent
Moderate: Grief, Hate crime, Gun violence, Murder, and Chronic illness
Minor: Addiction
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