Objectively? Not bad.
Subjectively? Disappointing.

The structure, style, themes, and approaches are all similar to his 2020 release Red Pill but less polished and structured. It takes more than 50% of the book to get into the meat of the plot but I'm realizing that this is his style (same thing happened in Red Pill) but the pay off in the end is not as good this time around.

White Tears is a very complex, disorienting story. Sometimes I really did not know what was happening. A lot of that I think is intentional. Kunzru's gift is being able to write about the insidious complexities of race and racism in America (please read Red Pill). But it does not always lend itself to neat story telling.

I'd say read Red Pill first and if you enjoy it pick up White Tears.

Not what I expected but riveting

The story of Carter and Seth ( I rather Charlie Shaw) kept me captivated from beginning to end. The narrative shift in the back half of the book takes some concentration but it's worth the ride.

I found no one to like, to respect, or to even empathize with in the book. I was glad when main characters died off or were injured. I appreciated the twists involving the US South, but found them somehow both predictable and tired. They have been done better by better writers ([a:Victor LaValle|1762294|Victor LaValle|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1280959466p2/1762294.jpg] is the first one that comes to mind).

I get that time was supposed to be hopping back and forth, and thought that was actually pretty well done, but the almost stereotypical way that African Americans post-reconstruction were portrayed just didn't do it for me.

Other parts, specifically the killing at the very end, were great. Real mixed bag with this book. THe name dropping just came across like a bunch of Brooklyn hipsters. Perhaps it was intended to make you dislike the characters. Me, I just disliked the author.

This got me hooked from the very beginning for its on point narrative about being a junkie for music. The added bonus of a ghost story wrapped in a contemporary critique of cultural appropriation and exploitation made it a favorite read of this year.

A ghost story about revenge.

Hauntingly good.

A couple of music geeks make a fake vintage blues record based on some street recordings they made, only it turns out to possibly not be a fake. Being interested in blues history, I found this premise intriguing. This story takes place in the present day but parts are in the past. (At times it's unclear when things are happening; you could call it magic realism, or you could chalk it up to the narrators unstable mental state.) It involves record collectors (one wealthy, one not) and an old bluesman who may or may not have existed. The premise was intriguing. However most of the characters were not very likeable. There was a lot of drug use and unpleasant people. And then...well, without spoilers, I'll just say I didn't enjoy the direction this went. So, my summary is this started out interesting but I can't really recommend it.

This book was nothing like I expected but in all the wrong ways.

I was expecting to be made uncomfortable by a hard hitting novel that would be unforgiving in its exposition of racism, especially in relation to the theft of black music. Instead, we're given a few quotable quotes jumbled up inside a book that's all about white men. The two young white men at the center of the story are the only characters that are developed in any real way. And for a book that's supposed to be critical of cultural appropriation I find it ironic that there is no solid attempt to tell black stories - the black characters are cliches and their stories are background noise to the story of two white people.

The plot itself was also unbelievable. I was not convinced by any of it and the further on it went, the more messy it became. It didn't help that all of the characters besides Seth and Carter were stereotypes. The way Leonie, the solitary female character, was conveyed just made me cringe. She was in no way a real person to me.

I strongly disliked the way this was written. It's my first Kunzru and my last. Kunzru seemed more concerned with flaunting how much research he did than actually telling a story. It honestly felt that all of those little factoids were included just to mask the fact that he actually didn't understand the music and engineering himself. This is also another novel that mistakes documenting bodily functions, drug use, sex and a lack of personal hygiene/cleanliness with having an insight into human nature. The whole thing felt so fake.