I mean, this is one of the best book I've ever read, I think. It is searing, and does an incredible job of illustrating the problems in the modern American prison industrial complex. It insists on humanity.

Adjei-Brenyah's debut novel, after his popular short story collection Friday Black, takes place in an alternate U.S. where inmates in a massive private prison system have the chance to fight for their freedom in gladiator-style death matches. The novel titled Chain-Gang All-Stars follows the journey of Loretta Thurwar and Hamara “Hurricane Staxxx” Stacker, two undefeated champions who are key components of the Criminal Action Penal Entertainment (CAPE).

As Thurwar makes progress towards gaining her freedom, she struggles with the decision of leaving behind her teammates and fellow Links. The story is filled with intense fight scenes, and the author uses this brutal world to offer insightful critiques of the prison-industrial complex, capitalism, and the way Hollywood and celebrity culture exploit Black talent.

With both political allegory and heart-pumping action, Adjei-Brenyah's novel is sure to wow readers. His commentary on social issues and the complex characters he creates are a treat for those who love a thrilling read that also makes them think.

Chain-Gang All-Stars is a masterclass in dystopian world building. In a future that honestly doesn’t feel very far off, prisons have been reimagined to become even more cruel. The growing jewel of the system is the CAPE program: a gladiator-style competition that pits criminals against each other in death battles, accompanied by a reality TV show aspect what follows the “warriors” on their day-to-day lives on the fighting circuit. CAPE programming, referred to as “hard sports”, has basically replaced all other major entertainment for Americans.

This is a brilliant book because it does not hit you over the head with the theme. Adjei-Brenyah let’s the brutal world he’s created speak for itself, and he brings to life these complicated characters who felt entirely real. He humanizes people who have made terrible choices in a way that does not excuse the hurt they’ve caused, but poses vital questions about what it means to rehabilitate & “disappear problems, not people.” The cast of characters is extremely diverse, representing all of the different ways people find themselves imprisoned, and there are footnotes throughout that provide real-world context without distracting from the novel.

It’s a brilliant book, and I highly recommend doing a nonfiction pairing with Mariame Lana’s essay collection, We Do This Til We Free Us. Chain-Gang All-Stars is deeply inspired by the work of past and current abolitionists, and it provides an extremely intimate look at the human beings impacted by our prison system.

Huge thanks to the publish & author for sending me a free digital ARC in exchange for honest feedback; I cannot wait to purchase a physical copy of this one because I know it’s a book I’ll want to read again in the future.

Wow! I liked this alot more than I expected to high action science fiction is not usually my thing. I could have done without the gory details and I did skip over some of the fight action but overall, I really enjoyed this. I liked that the footnotes were a combination of real statistics and fictional stats about this system. I think this is a great way to get the real life issues that the story is based on into the reader's mind. While I really liked it, I would have a hard time figuring out what readers to recommend this to. I would not really call it dystopian or science fiction because its just an extension of where our culture is already going but the scientific advancements are minimal. I received an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Chain Gang All Stars by Nana Kwame Adeji- Brenyah is rightfully described as one of the most anticipated books of 2023 and in my opinion it lives up to the hype. The reader is dropped into a nightmare version of America's carceral system that blends the worst of reality entertainment with the gladiatorial battles of ancient Rome. Convicted felons battle to the death in front of baying crowds, their every move broadcast and streamed so that the entire population can get their kicks, the only reward for survival is another chance to advance up the ranks towards a freedom that is dangled, always just out of reach. Loretta Thurwar and Hamara " the Hurricane " Staxx are the protagonists of this bleak tale, as members of the same " chain gang" they live, work and fight together and have seen the worst sides of humanity, but still somehow have hope despite everything that is against them. When the prospect of having to fight against each other destroys even that faint thread, the consequences for both women are devastating.
This is a brutal and bloody book that will wring out every drop of anger as the reader sees what these characters are forced to endure in the name of entertainment and of course profit, and unfortunately the parallels to the disproportionate suffering of Black and Brown people in the current Prison Industrial Complex are all too accurately portrayed. This is a book that will make the reader think, and will linger long after the last page is turned.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

What a book -- it's been days since I finished, and I still feel speechless. Adjei-Brenyah follows the carceral state to one of its most ghastly conclusions, sparing no one in the process. This version of America is all too realistic, and I'm haunted in particular by the plotline of a woman who transforms from polite disinterest in 'hard-action sports' to curiosity to devotion to bloodthirsty obsession within a matter of weeks. The tenderness, care, and love shown by and to these characters, juxtaposed with the sheer brutality, violence, and cruelty, is almost unbearable. What a book, truly.

In this futuristic hyper-consumerist version of the United States, incarcerated folks have the "option" to participate in death-match entertainment for the chance to free themselves. I say "option" with quotation marks because the the characters we meet while still incarcerated exist in horrific, inhumane conditions. This future has technology like The Influencer that can cause pain so unbelievably painful that the person experiencing it would never dare try anything again. Well, except crime continues, so... huh... it's almost as if... never mind.
Anyway, the conditions of imprisonment are so awful that many elect to take their chances or even seek relief in participating in the most violent entertainment possible. Think modern day gladiators. They are simultaneously reviled and celebrated. Nana Kwame Adjoin-Brenyah puts our weird relationship with celebrity on blast while simultaneously holding us accountable for a system that consistently harms Black and Brown bodies. The style gave Chuck Palahniuk vibes while providing a more astute commentary on issues we continue to grapple with every day. If violence and horror aren't your thing, this might not be the best read for you. But beyond the obvious displays of gore, there is a lot to consider here.

Absolutely incredible. A week later and I still don’t have the words to accurately describe my thoughts or feelings. The way Adjei-Brenyah was able to make this gladiator + futuristic technology world make sense while also creating complex, deep characters blows my mind. AND THEN the whole thing is a criticism of the American prison system and racism in incarceration rates. Just wow. Not to mention, the end had my heart in my throat, going a million beats per minute, and then wrecked me. It was one of those books you just stare into the abyss and think about for a while once it’s finished. This isn’t going to be for everyone, but those of us that it is for will devour it.

This is one of the most anticipated novels of the years and it was a unique wild ride of a novel. The world portrayed in this novel at times feels like science fiction, but is very unfortunately not that far-fetched. In fact, the author expertly works in historical and current information about prisons, the criminal justice system, and oppression built into our laws and systems through footnotes and other means that make a page-turning work of fiction eye-opening and educational. There's definitely some similarities to the Hunger Games here, but in a world that feels much more connected and close to our own, many times in a frightening manner. Without spoiling anything, I have to say that I felt that the events at the end of the novel could have gone longer, which is one minor critique that I have, but this a great and wholly original work that I am sure will be on best of the year lists.

Meet Loretta Thurwar and Hamara “Staxx,” two prisoners/gladiators of the Chain Gang All-Stars who must kill in order to survive. As part of the Criminal Action Penal Entertainment (CAPE) program, they are forced to murder other prisoners for the country’s reality show entertainment. Cameras record their every move and their “fans” pack sports arenas to watch the violent death matches to see if these prisoner celebrities can rise through the ranks and earn their freedom.

Part romance, part Hunger Games, and part social commentary on race, Chain Gang All-Stars is a thought-provoking look at a dystopian penal system that may be closer to our reality than we would like to believe.

The concept of this novel was so compelling, but we didn't spend enough time with each of the characters for me to feel connected to any of them. I feel like this would have been better as a short story.

Wow. I'm a huge fan of Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah's debut collection, Friday Black, and have been eagerly awaiting this novel—and it was worth it! He is so, so good at exaggerating outside of reality in order to have us reflect back on actual happenings. His prose is incredibly strong and phrases stick in my head for hours after reading. Modernizing gladiators to make a point about the prison system, but make them women...I would love to have a brain like his! Highly recommend.

I received an ARC of this book through NetGalley. I haven't read anything from the author previously, but the story's outline and theme appealed to me enough that I requested it.

Chain-Gang All-Stars is two things in one and that is simultaneously what makes it interesting and what leaves it broken. The story is set on a futuristic USA where the current mass incarceration system met late-stage capitalism and years of reality show and social media voyeurism and originated a "hungergamesian" spectacle. Not only do companies make money off of having people in jail - as they do today in the US -, but they also have teams of prisoners competing in battles to the death for the eventual chance of regaining freedom after years of murdering others.
This fictional set-up is good enough to capture the reader's attention in the beginning, but sometimes feels a bit superficially or incompletely explored.
The other part of the book is the factual references that not only clearly define the kind of fictional creation the author came up with, but are also textually described as footnotes in the novel itself. I don't mind the straightforwardness of the author, but it did leave me jarred once in a while going from fiction to dry numerical reality and then back to fiction.
Some of the characters and stories are interesting, I particularly liked the exploration of care and duty despite the violence in the Singer-SJC storyline. The couple viewing the reality show at home did little for me as a reader, though I do understand the importance of trying to introduce examples of "regular people" as a way to explain the persistence of the system.

All in all, I liked a good part the experience and and I do agree that current carceral systems and their biased structures need to be analysed and changed, particularly those with unethical incentives such as the example that served as a basis for this novel.

5 stars

This book is excellent, provocative, and gut wrenching (in more ways than one), and it's one I know I'll be thinking and talking about for a long, *long* time. Prospective readers who are looking for that book-as-perspective-changing or book-as-perspective-enhancing experience - versus a reading for pleasure joint - will find that here, maybe more than they've encountered it in most previous attempts.

Folks who are already dialed into the prison industrial complex and who have been paying attention to particular groups and experiences may also read this and think that sci-fi is a hopeful rather than realistic tag as it's incredibly easy to imagine the horrors of this book coming to life in modern society. Various incarcerated individuals are compelled to commit their lives to fighting to the death because it seems somehow better than regular old prison. See what I mean? Not that surprising to some of us.

It's not just the social issues, the gripping descriptions, and the fight scenes that readers remember because one of this author's most profound gifts is humanizing characters who are often dehumanized based on their identities and circumstances. The two leads are utterly gripping. I badly want prequels for nearly every character in the novel. The characters love, make mistakes, grow, and suffer. Readers with any semblance of empathy will get their hearts ripped out, too, but more importantly, they'll be asking themselves some vital, lasting questions, including but not limited to what would I do in this case, whose side am I on and why, what does freedom really mean, and how far away are we from making this a reality?

This isn't a fun read but it's an indelible one, and I can't wait to read more from this author and recommend this HEARTILY to very specific audiences.

America's carceral system brought to a devastatingly violent crescendo is a formidable read. I challenge people who are scared to read it anyway. Amidst the violence and all the content warnings are much-needed lessons about survival, love, hope, humanity, and what fear does to us. This last one is an especially poignant facet that white people must reflect upon and figure out how to do better.

A searing indictment of the criminal punishment system in the U.S., Chain-Gang All-Stars follows America's carceral worship to one of its possible conclusions. Though explored through fictional characters, Adjei-Brenyah uses factual footnotes and bases his characters and their narrative on many of today's carceral realities. The only tangible gap between today's America and the world reflected in this book is some of the technology used to limit the movements and speech of inmates, to inflict extreme pain, and to siphon this world straight into the homes of Americans.

The structure of the book, the viewpoints it elucidates, and the voices in which it speaks weave a deeply effective and devastating story of how suffering and pain merely beget more suffering, pain, and death. I was an abolitionist before reading this book, but I can't imagine how someone with any faith in the criminal punishment system could read this and believe that the carceral state in which we live is the path forward.

This book highlights the humanity of everyone--even those who have hurt others--without being saccharine. It shows how prisoners show greater restraint with one another than the state does with them. It shows how the only thing death creates is more death. And yet still, there is love--there is beautiful queer love, there is friendship, mercy, and true care--all shown amongst prisoners within the system, despite having been stripped of their freedom and being sentenced to death.

Adjei-Brenyah cites Ruth Wilson Gilmore, Angela Davis, and Mariame Kaba throughout the book and the narrative clearly relies upon their teachings as it forms its world and message. This is essential reading for anyone with an openness to adopting abolition--or anyone who is already working to enact it. It incites to action with the same urgency that Kaba, Davis, and Gilmore do.

Thanks for the ARC netgalley!

This was really well written! Lyrical and smart, the way it flowed was a little hard to grab on to at first but it smoothed out as the characters were fleshed out. I want to read it again now that I have a grasp on the writing style. I had a hard time following the characters as well... Maybe a second reading will help with this too

This is a deeply trenchant, piercing dystopian novel (that really isn't all that different from our own world, in most crucial ways). It's really hard to get through, at times, but the writing is tremendous and the characters are amazing.

This review is from an ARC. Working on the Chain Gang has been redefined. The penal system has gone through a revamp. Crime and criminals are being handled a little differently. Welcome to the Chain Gang All-Stars, where your freedom can be guaranteed based on your will to survive. This novel gave a look from within at the prison system and how it's more geared to financial compensation as opposed to the rehabilitation of the inmates. The cast of characters pull you in from the first page. Chain Gang All Stars is a gripping story that leaves you wondering who really is the villain.

Wow this book is intense and unbelievably gutting. I can't decide if I loved it but I must have like it as it sure has stuck with me.
The novel is basically a not too far in the future story of how the prison system has monetized inmates making them participate in very gory and violent blood sports that have television audiences captivated.
It is thought provoking to say the least and very good food for thought.

The writing is crisp and the subject matter intense.
Readers are immersed in a society where capitalism is out of control. The prison industrial complex is crazy and has taken over this society where mass incarcerations are also out of control and thriving on the crazy blood sport game circuit where all you have to do is survive three years to be free. The problem is that death is the expectation and survival is almost impossible.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC of a book I won't soon forget which was provided in exchange for my review.