Riot Baby is an intense and wonderfully written novella that draws you straight in. Ella and Kev are both magnetic leads. Ella in particular with her fury really captivated me. For a novella, Riot Baby felt so vast. Sometimes with novellas, even when I love them, there’s a part of me that wants more – but with Riot Baby it felt like there was so much more than 170 pages worth of story. The sci-fi/magic element added an extra element to the story that I just loved.

There were times where I had to wrap my head around the time skips and flashes into past memories as well as how Kev and Ella’s abilities worked but other than that Riot Baby is a powerful and emotive read that I definitely recommend you put on your tbr piles.

This was a narrative that pulsates with anger and yet, there is a thread of hope running through it. It tells the story of Ella and Kev, siblings navigating what it means to be black in America, and when one of you has a Thing that lets you see the future, among other abilities.

The Positives: I always enjoy a well written sibling relationship, and the love between Ella and Kev is plain to see. Ella is fiercely protective of her younger brother, who starts the narrative as a sensitive soul. I thought that this narrative was incredibly powerful and that the fury of being subjected to systemic racism was so strong. The speculative elements of the narrative lend a slightly surreal quality to some of the action and moments of levity, which were welcome. Despite this being a pretty bleak portrait of a world on fire, there is a sense of hope permeating the end of the book and that the power of anger can lead to positive action.

The Negatives: The nature of the narrative calls for time jumps, which did leave me feeling a little whip lashed at times and it took a minute at the beginning of each section to re-locate myself in the narrative. This was particularly the case in the final section, which was the most jarring for me.

Overall, I think this is a really well crafted and powerful tale that I will be thinking about for a long time.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

In Tochi Onyebuchi’s first book for Tor.com, we are introduced to Ella and Kev: sister and brother, navigating contemporary and future America. This is an unstinting look at the injustices of modern society, as well as an extrapolation of where the country could be headed if these failings are left unchecked. It’s a powerful story, and I very much enjoyed reading it.

The story starts with Kev’s arrival. He is the “riot baby” of the title, born during the Los Angeles riots after the non-conviction of the policemen who beat Rodney King. Roughly equally split between Ella’s and Kev’s perspectives, each provides readers with a window into the harsh realities of poverty, racial oppression, and the fractures in society. The alternating narrative is well composed and structured.

Ella, whose powers manifest early, struggles with controlling her abilities and eventually distances herself from her family. Hers is a life of self-suppression, keeping her powers in check despite the possibilities they offer — to right wrongs, to prevent injustice, and to improve the lives of others. (There’s a nice moment early on when she lowers the temperature in the family’s un-air conditioned apartment one summer.) Should she use her powers for good? Given who she is, the colour of her skin, should she remain hidden? Is it safer for her to exist totally under the radar? As she grapples with these questions, she travels America, dropping in to different regions and critiquing those who would keep her “in her place” and portray themselves as her betters.

What if I’m the answer? she had asked herself. What if I’m the one we’ve been praying for?

Kev, meanwhile, starts as a promising student and whiz with technology; ultimately, he succumbs to the realities of his situation, and in reaction to the structural roadblocks and racism he faces on a daily basis falls onto the wrong side of the law (they routinely treat him like a criminal anyway). His childhood is characterized by the safety of his family and the potential hostility from others — his neighbours and also the police. What does his future hold? Will he be able to break the cycle of those around him? Through his experiences, we get to see a number of the routine injustices, as well as the ways in which the US “Justice” system is both cruel and broken. He adjusts his worldview and behaviour to survive — in prison and without — raging against the system, but equally (towards the end) faintly captured by it and beaten into submission. Through him, we see how modern freedoms are not always what they seem to be.

“… You out, Youngblood. When you think about what you can’t do, think about what you get to do. You get to earn money.”

“I earned money inside, too. I had a job. I fixed computers. How is this any different?”

I liked that Onyebuchi didn’t spend much time explaining Ella’s “Thing” — instead, he introduces different aspects of her powers as-and-when she uses them (or develops them). They’re all analogues of powers we’ve seen in any number of super-powered stories, but each is used in a new way and through a different experiential lens. Oftentimes, it is what Ella doesn’t do that conveys her internal fury and frustration, and gives us an idea of how powerful she really is.

“Ella,” I tell her through gritted teeth, “I can’t afford to be angry anymore. I can’t. I don’t have it in me to keep being this angry.”

Ella kneels down so we’re eye to eye. “Did you ever stop being angry?” she asks me, softly but with Mama’s sternness.

Throughout the novel, the author offers critiques and observations about modern society. He includes sharp satires of contemporary mores; he clearly portrays contemporary injustices and their long roots in American culture and history. Later in the book, Onyebuchi also provides some excellent commentary about Big Tech. You may have noticed the news stories that revealed that algorithms can be/are racist. In Riot Baby, the author asks how this might develop, if algorithms start to run ever-more of our lives and societies (especially law enforcement). The sinister oppression of algorithmic violence and subjugation hovers over the final chapters of the book.

Overall, then, this is a fantastic short novel. Powerful, moving, and gripping. Definitely recommended. I enjoyed this a lot.

Fans of Tochi Onyebuchi have been talking about their latest novella for months, and with good reason. Riot Baby is one of those novellas that will cut to the quick and stick with your mind and heart. This is a passionate tale of family, loss, and human nature. One could argue that this novella is also one part dystopian portraiture of modern events.
Ella and Kev are siblings, and they both have something in common. Each of these children are gifted. Their time on this earth has been trying, both despite and in spite of their abilities. But that just makes their tale all the more powerful.

“It always feels like something’s rumbling whenever she gets the nosebleeds, like the earth is gathering itself up under her, but whenever they stop, the nosebleeds, and she looks around, it’s like nobody else noticed a thing.”

Tochi Onyebuchi has done it again. Riot Baby was an intense – yet beautiful and powerful – read. This world created before our eyes is a troubled one, full of violence, riots, and unjust actions. There’s an intentional parallel being drawn here, and the impact of it took my breath away.
Ella and Kev may be siblings, but they couldn’t be more different from one another. But then again, their gifts and the world they were raised in were also quite different, so some of this was to be expected.
One thing is certain; while both of these siblings are very different, they both struggled in their own ways. Ella feared herself and her powers. She dealt with pain and loss – even when it hadn’t yet happened. Kev was fierce and determined, yet also struggling with loss in his own way. His pain was acute, and the cause for it was so much more human, in a way.
Their individual pain was palpable, increased ever more by the events that tied them directly into today’s time. There’s something jarring about that, while also being very powerful and beautiful.
Onyebuchi’s unflinching portrayal of all of the racism and violence in this world is something to be respected. This is not an ideal world presented. Instead, it is a world rooted in the past, with worrying implications and warnings about our future. It’s impossible to look away, and I for one am so very grateful to Onyebuchi for putting words to some of these events and emotions.
Having finished Riot Baby, I can now completely understand why so many people have been talking about it. And I honestly think that it’s a novella we’re going to keep talking about for years to come. Or at least, I hope that is the case.

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.

If you would like to read more of my reviews, please visit my site at www.beforewegoblog.com

Part social commentary, part fantasy, and part dystopia, Riot Baby is one powerhouse of a novel. Starting during the explosive 1992 Los Angeles riots, we follow a brother and sister not only across the country but through their childhoods and early adulthoods as they navigate the difficult world they are forced live in both in this dimension and potentially in others.

We bounce between the two perspectives of the siblings which at times took a little persistence to follow, but the sometimes ambiguity of the story only added to its overall intense tone. Riot Baby was a brutally raw and evocative tale that reflected much of what it is like to be black in America or trapped within the penal system. In the near future world Onyebuchi created, things aren't that much better, with corporations seizing on the policing and incarceration of convicts. Given the state of the justice system today, it wasn't that far fetched and that was what was most terrifying about it.

We need more voices like this now more than ever and I feel so lucky to have been given a chance to read this incredible novel. Full review to come on my blog near the publication date.

Rooted in foundational loss and the hope that can live in anger, Riot Baby is both a global dystopian narrative an intimate family story with quietly devastating things to say about love, fury, and the black American experience.

Ella and Kev are brother and sister, both gifted with extraordinary power. Their childhoods are defined and destroyed by structural racism and brutality. Their futures might alter the world. When Kev is incarcerated for the crime of being a young black man in America, Ella—through visits both mundane and supernatural—tries to show him the way to a revolution that could burn it all down. - Goodreads

This is the first book I read by Onyebuchi. I know its horrible because he the author of War Girls and Beasts Made of Night. But I picked up this book because I love adult fantasy novels that incorporate real life issues. 

The book is told in two perspectives, Ella and Kev. At first this was a little confusing not because of any transition but because of why. We start off with Ella as a child pre Kev and discover her power which is called The Thing. Instantly, I'm into it. When Kev comes around I am still into it because it comes at one of the turning points in American history. 

But after the first five chapters, the book lost me and I couldn't find the point/purpose of the story. Ella becomes a background and Kev is the focus for a while. Therefore, origins of her powers, any detailed information about her powers other than some things she can do isn't mentioned at all. She becomes a shadow as well as her powers in 90% of the book and it was disappointing. There was no development of Ella and her powers and Kev wasn't that like-able of a character. He became a product of environment even though he had a sister that literally could do anything. Again, disappointing. 

The book focuses so much on environment that I could not find what was the point of the story? Was the point to show that even with super powers as a Black American your life will suck due to not only systematic racism but overall racism? But if that is the case, why not do anything with the super powers to show that?

The book had me lost. I was bored. There was no character development. Kev was a baby. Ella had no personality and was depressing and NEITHER of them tried to get to know their mother. 

Overall, nah

1 Pickle

Wow. So much story. Such great characters. The pacing was incredible. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. I can't wait for this book to come out and to hear what readers think!

Riot Baby is one of the most beautifully written novellas I’ve read. From the intricately drawn characters, to the harsh realities of violence and racism in America, to the startling powers of our protagonist, it’s the kind of unique book that you can’t help but talk about around the dinner table. Onyebuchi dives into the destructive forces that tear families apart and the terrors young African American men face on the streets of any major American city. Their experiences laid bare on the page, creating a window into their heartbreak and frustration as they try to live their lives amidst such hatred. I was amazed at how perfectly the author captures those emotions, giving us a story that shows the life experiences of those around our protagonists through snippets and possible futures. Coupled with Ella’s raw power, these stories make Riot Baby a must read.

This book has been described as a "gut punch" and people were not lying.

Ella has a power that she calls her Thing. It gives her the ability to see into people's lives, into the past and the future. It gives her the ability to Travel all over, witnessing the lives of black Americans all over the US. She can move things with her mind and make a shield that keeps her safe from police and other forms of violence.

The narrative starts in the spring of 1992 in Los Angeles and moves to Harlem in the early 00s, then on through the 2010s. Ella and her younger brother Kev grow up around and are shaped by the racial tensions through this time period. Kev was born during the Los Angeles riots, and woven throughout the narrative are the incidents of violence that have peppered the last couple decades, supported by the historical violence that has taken place throughout the whole of US history. 

This is tough story to review - a lot of the material is visceral and raw, and the language is harsh yet beautifully written. The fantastical elements are woven into the real world of mass incarceration and racial violence, which puts a unique spin on urban fantasy. I haven't read anything like this before. For being only 176 pages, it packs a wallop. 

The way Ella and Kev's stories intertwine was done very well. The alternating perspectives gave an in-depth look into where both their heads were at by the end of the book, and it made the ending much more satisfying. For most of the book I thought it was going in one direction, basically using the racial violence and police brutality contrasted with Ella's Thing to show how society is broken, but then at the end it took a turn for the dystopian that I was not expecting. I really enjoyed how the ending was written, and I like that the ending was left open. It gave it a much more hopeful vibe.

I'm really glad I went out on a limb and requested this one from Netgalley. (I was not expecting to be approved, but it was a nice surprise). I flew through this and while I can't say it is an enjoyable read - nothing with this level of pain and anger could really fall into the "enjoyable" category - it was an engaging and engrossing read.

I read a lot of books. This is one of my top four of the year so far. With a powerful voice, a well-timed entry into a national conversation, memorable, vivid, plausible characters, and a clever bit of world-building, Riot Baby moves the needle on what short works of speculative fiction can accomplish.