It Was Good In Parts, Less Good in Others: A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James

This book, enh, it was alright?
I didn't love it. It was really good in some spots, but it felt like there were many sections where James was just flexing his writing muscle and it did not advance the story at all. If you're into it then maybe you would be less bored with it than I was. There were some chapters that I felt could have been omitted, and many others that could have just been cut in half, or more.

The characters that James creates are great, and it is a long and involved story. "Sprawling" seems to be a popular way to describe it, but here's the thing: sprawl can have a negative connotation (e.g. urban sprawl), and I think that connotation applies here. This novel had all the elements to be a true classic, but it needs to be tightened up.

One other thing that got really, really old was the fact that the entire novel was written in the first person viewpoint. Everything that happens is happening through one person's eyes, and that just gets tiresome after a while. Also it starts to feel gimmicky and contrived when you introduce minor character number 28, who won't play any kind of role beyond maybe killing somebody. So it all got a bit tiresome after a while.

That said, the parts that were good were excellent, so you can see why some people like the book. But any honest reviewer can see that while it is a strong work of fiction, it isn't as good as it could be.
I don't know that I would recommend it, unless you want to know more about Jamaica gang violence in the 70s and 80s. That part was kind of interesting.