This was a very short but SO worthy read! In the beginning I struggled a bit with the slang. And I will not lie Nana‘s I still do not get. But the MC is so raw emotionally that I just had to keep reading. Clark‘s writing is astonishing! I genuinely felt all the feels and managed to imagine the parts of the books that were ‘fantasy’. With his very great pacing, Clark kept me hooked (finished it in less than a day) so if he were to bring out a part two I would 100% read it. So to everyone: with you want to have action mixed with some history and fiction this book is your go to. I for one, now will listen to a couple Shouts introduced in this book.

Auch ein Titel von meiner Wunschliste, da mir die beiden Bücher, die ich bisher von Djeli Clark gelesen habe, alle sehr zugesagt haben. War dies hier anders? Evtl. weil es nicht zur Dead Djinn-Reihe gehört? Absolut nicht! Mit jedem Werk mag ich den Autoren mehr und mehr. Langsam tendiert er sogar in Richtung Lieblingsautor. Bei "Ring Shout" kommt noch hinzu, dass ich das Hörbuch gehört habe, das einfach nur genial gelesen ist! Wie genial, hier die unterschiedlichen Akzente und Dialekte zu hören. Wer Hörbücher mag, dem empfehle ich dieses Buch als Audio auf English zu hören. Welch purer Hörgenuss. Die Geschichte selbst hat starke "Dread Nation"-Vibes. Tatsächlich kann ich mir Djeli Clarks Buch gut als Fortsetzung ein paar Jahre später vorstellen. Wer also ersteres auch schon mochte, kann hier gleich weiterlesen. Djeli Clark verarbeitet in diesem Buch Jahrhunderte von Rassismus, Verfolgung und Unterdrückung auf unglaubliche Art und Weise. Ich liebe die Vorstellung von KK-Mitgliedern als zombieartige Wesen. So kann man ebenfalls an das Thema heranschreiten, auf Missstände aufmerksam machen und versuchen, mit erlittenem Leid umzugehen. Der Autor hat ein schwieriges und belastedes Thema in einen actionreichen Roman verpackt, gespickt mit grossartigen Figuren und gelungenem Aufbau. Das alles in einem eher geringen Umfang, aber es scheint, als würde die Kürze Djeli Clark so richtig gut liegen. Bald erscheint sein nächstes Buch, das natürlich auch schon auf meiner Leseliste steht. Und das übernächste ebenfalls.

This book is unlike anything I have ever read before, and I loved it! Usually, horror novels don't really get to me as much, but this one really properly scared me, which is probably also a reasom why I really enjoyed this book. The way this book is structured plotwise, and the character development we get in this short novella is exceptional as well! Totally recommend this!

I was really afraid to dip my toe into the horror genre, so I buddyread this to be prevented from chickening out :D That being said, I actually handled the horror elements quite well, which was a pleasant surprise. THE AUDIOBOOK! I am telling you! That was an oral EXPERIENCE of a performance! It was such an honour, as a white reader, to be allowed into the history and traditions that make the fabric of this novella (some I knew of, many I looked into and learned about). And there were a lot of them; this is steeped in historic references and cultural significance. I may not have understood all the parts spoken in Gullah and Creole (and maybe I'm not supposed to), but there's still imminent reverence in those passages, even when taken in without comprehension. The way generational racial trauma was made an embodied part of the story is impactful. And one of the central takeaways couldn't be more relevant now, couldn't have been more uncannily relevant for the time of publication: Making a distinction between blind hatred and anger in search of justice/equity in a time when the narrative in many places tried to make the BLM protests and riots the one thing when in fact they are the other. I could've done without the romantic sub plot, but I feel SUCH glee about D. W. Griffith being dragged through the mud, I almost forget it was there. The whole premise is simply ingenious. Highly recommend! Read for prompt number 19 of the Read Harder Challenge by Book Riot: A horror novel by a BIPoC author.