The Good Negress: A Novel

Black Chamber

---

Looking forward to reading the next one.

Mar 27, Elizabeth rated it really liked it Shelves: At first within the graphic novel Rue seems like a normal teenager who spends time with her friends, frequenting coffee clubs and doing the typical rule bending. As a child she believed it was due to an active imagination. Now that her mother has gone missing Rue has started to see things again, this time much more vividly. During this debacle Rue is left to the guardianship of a friend of the family or is she?

What used to be a relatively normal life turns even farther upside down when Rue begins to notice nature taking over city buildings and that the faeries she sees are real. This seemingly dark or even gothic tale forces the reader to encounter the dichotomy of good and evil through the character Rue, while also touching on the different outcomes based on resolve and indecision. While the potential fate of mankind rests on Rue, she must journey on this magical quest alone, with little help from her questionably trustworthy faerie friends and her fickle human comrades.

In addition to all of the dark otherworldly happenings there are many realistic aspects in which young adults can relate. The premise of the storyline is based on infidelity and a broken home, causing Rue to become acquainted with some of her estranged relatives. It also includes stable and unstable relationships, both in regards to friends and romances. Mar 17, Orrin Grey rated it liked it Shelves: Things I didn't know about The Good Neighbors before picking it up from the library: A graphic novel from Holly Black seems something like a no-brainer, and certainly the end result is pretty solid, though not as quite as fun as I would have expected.

It reads a bit like a graphic novel version of Holly Black 's YA novels Tithe , Valiant , Ironside and a lot like a graphic novel version of what a World of Darkness or, more appropriately, Changeling Things I didn't know about The Good Neighbors before picking it up from the library: It reads a bit like a graphic novel version of Holly Black 's YA novels Tithe , Valiant , Ironside and a lot like a graphic novel version of what a World of Darkness or, more appropriately, Changeling game is supposed to be like.

The art by Ted Naifeh serves the story pretty well, especially in the big faerie gathering scenes, but I didn't actually like it quite as well as some of his other work. I think he acquits himself better when he's doing stuff that's a little more cartoon-y, but that could just be me. Neither creator is doing their best work here, in my opinion, but the end result is still worth a look for fans of either, and I'll certainly be reading the rest of the series. Dec 30, Karissa rated it really liked it.

Looks like right now there are going to be three books. The second one is called "Kith" and it is already out. The third will be called "Kind" and will be out in I enjoyed this graphic novel a lot. Both the artwork and the story are very engaging. Rue's mom has disappeared and her dad has been accused of murdering one of his students. As if this isn't bad enough Rue is starting to see things that she shouldn't; things that no one else can see.

What is happening to Rue and her family? Will she be able to figure it out in time to save her dad and find her mom? This book had a good plot; I was intrigued and am looking forward to reading the next graphic novel.

As with most graphic novel series, this first book basically introduces you to the main characters and sets up the beginning of the story. Rue is a great character. Her friends areinteresting and the fair folk Rue meets are the most intriguing characters of all. The illustration throughout is awesome. I really enjoyed Naifeh's drawing style. All the pictures are in black and white. The detail that is in them is amazing; there are a number of pages you need to stare at for some time to process all that is going on in the drawings.

Naifeh does an excellent job portraying the character's emotions. Both the writing and the illustration are dark and moody. This is definitely not a child's fairy tale, although there isn't anything that makes this a mature book no swearing, minimal violence, etc. This is a great graphic novel for young adults or adults who love fairies and love Holly Black's writing.

Frequently bought together

I am eagerly awaiting the next book "Kith". Jun 11, Laura rated it it was ok Recommended to Laura by: I was really not impressed with this book. Illustrations are nice when they work to perfectly match the text, this book, however, sometimes failed in its attempts. Some of the pictures in this book really threw me for a loop, because I thought the face the character had was completely disproportionate to what they were thinking or saying.

Some pictures were just ugly or made I was really not impressed with this book. Some pictures were just ugly or made the character look stupid. Please, we need to have more respect than that. All in all, I was left confused with some of the plot, the characters were poorly developed, and I did not enjoy the story. I would not recommend this book. Sep 29, Alea rated it really liked it Shelves: Kin Book One combines two of my current obsessions, young adult literature and graphic novels! While I didn't totally understand all the faerie lore hopefully understanding will come as the series progresses.

Kin introduces several plot lines, from two possible murders, to a suspicious and probably dangerous grandfather to a boyfriend that may or may not have Rue's back. I loved the gritty feel th The Good Neighbors: I loved the gritty feel the book gave off from the story but also the illustration style. Most of the graphic novels I read have a beautiful but clean style to them so it was really interesting to see something different in the illustrations of The Good Neighbors.

The illustration style used in this book is really dark and expressive because of the use of, what looks like charcoal. I think this style fits perfectly with the subject matter. In a way it can almost be ugly as well, not ugly ugly but kind of gritty, if that makes any sense. It was almost like a rougher version in line quality of Charles Burns Black Hole to me. I love how the Rue's world slowly starts to blur with the world of the faeries. There is one beautiful full spread of a club that's absolutely breathtaking near the beginning of the book! I can't wait to find out what happened next in this story!

Dec 21, Jessica rated it really liked it Shelves: I loved the concept and it just reminded me of sooo many different stories I'd be here all night.

Book clinic: what are the best novels on modern black British lives?

This could definitely be a Melissa Marr read-a like Anyway, you like faeries and Holly Black I even liked the Appeal Characteristics: I even liked the harsh art that seemed to add to this gothic nature feel. This story is not your happy, pretty neat fuzzy cute, bubbly, whirly, twirly faeries ADD on to the teen angst, drama, and the "half-breed" nature I definitely want to re-read this Mar 15, Jake Forbes rated it it was ok. I've always enjoyed Naifeh's art, and here, as he plays with ink washes and sexier character designs than before, his work is as gorgeous as ever.

Holly Black's faerie story is well told, but in this flood of faerie fiction, it just feels ordinary. Rue is a pretty typical YA fantasy heroine, and the faerie characters we meet map to pretty familiar tropes.

more on this story

I'd be more forgiving of that if the human cast I've always enjoyed Naifeh's art, and here, as he plays with ink washes and sexier character designs than before, his work is as gorgeous as ever. I'd be more forgiving of that if the human cast had more spark, but Rue's friends didn't really come alive for me. As much as I loved the idea of of them breaking into old buildings in masks for covert photo-shoots, I didn't get a sense of friendship between the characters that made this feel like an organic pastime for them.

The Good Neighbors is relentlessly dour, which is a shame, as Naifeh has shown such a talent for bringing humor and whimsy to his dark dreamscapes. I'm sure this book plays better for fans of the current Urban Fantasy wave. As for me, I'd much rather read a new Courtney Crumrin story. Sep 11, Slayermel rated it it was amazing Recommends it for: The story is dark, mysterious and filled with fae: A young girl named Rue hears her parents fight one night and wakes up the next day to find her mother missing.

Is she going crazy, or is the world crazy? A Grandfather she has never met before. May 08, Allison rated it it was ok. Thompson, Colin The Floods: The family consists of a beautiful dark mother, a slightly dumb father, and several weird children one of which is completely covered in hair like Thing. Opposite of what the title Thompson, Colin The Floods: Opposite of what the title suggests, the Floods are not good neighbors. Their neighbors begin to bother them so much that they come up with creative ways to get rid of them. This book will be enjoyed by those who can set aside reality and ethics and can just enjoy the dark humor.

At first I wondered why the excessive recounting of verbatim dialogue.

Follow the Author

Then the book picked up pace and the pattern became evident that the main character lived in a world where everyone, with a couple of exceptions, was a huckster. The baloney becomes ever more ridiculous and humorous, each character topping the previous ones for outlandish spin delivered as fact. This book gives an eye-opening look into how difficult life can be for an orphan and how events at the national level can affect children. Even local politics can be heartbreaking. One person found this helpful. I was a little disappointed with this book after I saw the Oprah book club praised it as one of the top twenty books I'll read this year.

It definitely was not a bad book, but I don't feel that it was a great book. The development of the character was slow, slow enough that I put this book down for over a month before returning to it. The main characters childhood was developed in broad anectdotes that did slowly come together, but it did read slowly at the beginning. The book definitely sped up after he snuck out of the orphanage and started living on the streets of Point Noire. In fact I was starting to get into his progress when inexplicably suddenly, he was struck by brain lesions and the book careened in a new direction.

Perhaps true to life, but as I was waiting for the character to live up to his fated name of Black Moses, his whole life is thrown into confusion and weirdness. Perhaps this section provided the best humor and tension as I hoped for a cure though. In the end I came away thinking it was good to read, although I have a history of studying the region so I appreciated a lot of the book that someone new to west central Africa would not. I'm glad I read it, but I don't know how long it will stick with me.

I will say this, hoping not to be a spoiler, The very end twist struck me as very strong. Up until the last page I think I was sitting on a three star rating. Maybe because I thought it would be too intense and I wasn't in the mood for an intense emotional read. Now that I've finished it, I'm kicking myself a little. What a great read. Compact and lean at a smidge under pages, but so much story. It is narrated in the first person by the main character. He has a long name that I won't re-type here but it is significant because it out of that name that he is called Moses.

He's given the name by a priest at the orphanage that he grew up. I don't know much about Africa, especially s Africa but familiarity is not needed because Mabanckou builds the place and time for the reader and in Moses, he has a character that really holds the attention. It is a dark story but it is also funny too. Moses's life at the orphanage is as odd as one might expect.

The priest who visits once a week is a light for him but the orphanage is a nightmare surrounded by ugliness.

Moses eventually gets away by joining up with twins, Songi-Songi and Tala-Tala, and the three make their way to Pointe-Noire, a port town. It is a hardscrabble life but he gets by until it begins to fall apart. I'd say that it isn't an easy story and it'd be true but it is such a highly readable story that it is an easy read because it is so well written.

Honestly, this was a privilege to read. See all 23 reviews.

Get A Copy

Amazon Giveaway allows you to run promotional giveaways in order to create buzz, reward your audience, and attract new followers and customers. Learn more about Amazon Giveaway.

Set up a giveaway. Customers who viewed this item also viewed. Petit Piment French Edition. A Novel Global African Voices. As always, he comes up with inventive twists that keep your mind racing and the pages turning. Great tale, great characters …love it. Black Chamber is a wonderfully fun transcontinental spy romp, and a great beginning to a new series. Riding to the rescue is S. This novel provides a desperately needed infusion of courage and originality. How appropriate that Penguin, publisher of the James Bond novels, launches a hard edged new spy series with Stirling.

How appropriate that Ace, famous for classic science fiction, is onboard for the adventure. Beware the Breath of Loki. If you like steam punk, you will enjoy elegant inventions that are firmly based on science. If you like derring-do, you will thrill to car chases and combats of all kinds there is one scene that anyone with acrophobia might want to avoid. This is a sheer joy of an alternative history, featuring probably the most interesting and talented President ever in a term he never served and a new and darker view of the First World War.

Black Chamber By S. See all books by S. Inspired by Your Browsing History. The Kingdom of the Dwarfs.

• The Art of Pleasure
• Magic Reloaded: The Dark Side of Magic
• The Veil Weavers: Veil of Magic Book 3: Veil of Magic Book 3
• GOALIE: The Dynamite Diaries: The First Book
• One Saved to the Sea: A Lesbian Fairytale
• Dead Men Talking