Riot Baby

Very much capturing the current zeitgeist, Riot Baby is the story of racial discrimination in a near future dystopia with superpowers. It makes for at times deeply uncomfortable reading, but I have no doubt that it accurately captures the real experiences of those who are discriminated against. This is powerfully written with a well crafted prose and I can see why it has garnered a fair amount of praise.

This was a jarring read for me as it takes me well away from my comfort zone. I can really respect the way it challenges people, and I certainly found it challenging. I am glad I read it, but it is not something I will be rushing back to read. It takes a powerful message in an interesting way, but it was just a bit too far outside my comfort zone for me to truly enjoy

Thank you to the publisher and author Tochi Onyebuchi for providing me an ARC in exchange for my open and honest review.

Onyebuchi creates a dystopia portrait of modern American in Riot Baby. Kev, one of the two protagonists in Riot Baby, is born to a single mom in 1992 Los Angeles during the height of the Rodney King riots, hence the name Riot Baby. Kev was born into a time that explodes with violence in his childhood violence follows him, and as an adult, Kev is incarcerated at Rikers for eight years. Again his life swirls with anger and violence. The ironic and well-done part of Kev's character is that even though he was born, lived, and survived through significant violence, Kev himself, does not come off as a violent person. He is a person who reacts to violence and protects himself.

The other major character and protagonist of the story is Ella, Kev's older sister as much as Kev is mired in violence and its effects, Ella is mired in her power. She sees much more than the surface of events. She can touch the very soil of the land after some event or act of violence and feel the pain and emotions of those affected. There is a reason why she has this power, isn't there? While Kev is in prison, Ella visits him both physically and psychically. They do not lose touch and are very close even though Kev is incarcerated.

One of the most impactful parts of this story is the dichotomy that Onyebuchi writes events with. On one side, both Kev and Ella are very gifted and powerful; they have supernatural abilities. This could have been the main focus of the story, but it isn't. On the other side, racism and violence run rampant and have shaped their worlds in dystopias. These abilities do not save them from the vagaries of life. While each of the sides of this story is important, their powers and society in general, they are instead written to help develop the other.

In lesser hands, this story would have been challenging to make it through. It is dark and introspective, full of moments of pain and is unflinching from detailing the misery humans can rain down on others. However, in Onyebuchi's hands, this story has a vein of hope and ends on a note of possibility for the future.

I think it will be a book that people will be talking about in the coming year and is worth a reader's time.

Riot Baby is speculative fiction at its finest.

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“When you have a purpose that doesn't involve hurting someone else, it changes the way you walk.”

It will never cease to amaze me when I read a book that is under 200 pages but manages to have such a powerful and impactful message behind it in just a small amount of pages.

I mentioned in my review for Open Water that as white people we will never understand how it feels to be in the shoes of Bipoc. I think Riot Baby gave another great light to shine on some of the issues that they face due to racism, systematic racism, police brutality and many more.

Riot Baby might be a quick read but there are so many things to enjoy and love about it.

This novella is visceral, staggering, and powerful. We follow Ella and Kev, siblings with extraordinary gifts, who are wearied by structural racism and the damage that this inflicts upon their family. 

Onyebuchi's storytelling is really immersive and makes us feel the righteous anger and pain of each societal injustice as Ella and Kev are pushed beyond their breaking points. In the same way that Ella uses her godlike gift to pop in and out of space and time, the narrative jumps around and we're shown windows into pivotal moments in the lives of our protagonists. And while the story presents an ever-worsening dystopian future, Onyebuchi leaves us with a glimmer of hope for a better future to come. Although tough to read at times, I found Riot Baby to be a satisfying read that packs quite a bit of fire into its limited page count.

See this review and more at The Speculative Shelf

There's a lot about this book to love, but it feels like it's not quite there yet.

The character of Kev feels fleshed out and realized, while on the other hand Ella does not. The opening of the book, which follows Ella, is incredible, before switching to Kev. The idea behind it is to highlight Ella's powers before jumping into Kev, who is in the wrong place at the wrong time while the wrong skin color.

While the book jumps around a lot to work within the framework of seeing trauma of other characters through the eyes of both Ella and Kevin, I've seen others state it made the book difficult to read, but I didn't think that was much of an issue. After it happens a few times it becomes clear what's happening.

The biggest, glaring issue here is a real lack of defined characters beyond Kev. Ella feels so strong early on and crumples under the weight of Kevin, his incarceration and his experiences.

There's a lot of parts of this book that are intentional and done incredibly well, which only highlights the parts that feel unfinished. This book has a lot to say about being black in America, the school-to-prison-pipeline, policing, criminal justice and much more. The ending was good but could have been much more effective if there was more to cling onto or more of a feeling for Kev or Ella. The characters spend so much time jumping around into the memories of others that we, the readers, can't ever get grounded enough or invested beyond parts of Kevin's journey.

This is an amazing book! It is short, but every word is powerful. I'm sure I didn't get all the references, so I will definitely want to reread this. I like the way the fantasy/ magical realism elements were dealt with. It felt like a natural element of the story. I'm still it quite sure how I feel about the ending though.

tw: police brutality, racism, suicide attempt, drug use, mention of rape and violence

i don't know how i feel about this book. i audibly read this and loved the audiobook. it was narrated by the author and he did a phenomenal job bringing this novela to life. but i think i just don't vibe with novelas and short stories because i always end up wanting more. in this instance i wish there was more explanations with the powers ella had. there were also some times where i was so confused because we would go from point a to point g in a minute. it just left me confused yet wanting more. on the other hand, i loved how onyebuchi weaved in science fictional elements with historical instances of police brutality and the black experience in america. i do recommend everyone to give this book a try.

The story line is not a traditional smooth flow but more like the mind following random thoughts that just happen to be chronological, sort of. It shares alot of pain and the transitions from one perspective and/or time to another is not readily called out so sometimes there's a bit of confusion until a word is shared to get you caught up.

I felt like I was sitting in a car with square tires on; alot of shaking and bouncing of my comfort level and expectations but reminding myself to take a breath and relax, made it worthwhile.

A really great read.

tw: police brutality, racism, suicide attempt, drug use, mention of rape and violence

i don't know how i feel about this book. i audibly read this and loved the audiobook. it was narrated by the author and he did a phenomenal job bringing this novela to life. but i think i just don't vibe with novelas and short stories because i always end up wanting more. in this instance i wish there was more explanations with the powers ella had. there were also some times where i was so confused because we would go from point a to point g in a minute. it just left me confused yet wanting more. on the other hand, i loved how onyebuchi weaved in science fictional elements with historical instances of police brutality and the black experience in america. i do recommend everyone to give this book a try.