#12 in Dystopian
Chain-Gang All-Stars
- 376
- Pages
- about 7 h
- Reading time
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About the book
Chain-Gang All-Stars is the debut novel of American author Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, published by Pantheon Books on May 2, 2023. It was a finalist for the 2023 National Book Award for Fiction, as well as other awards. The novel is set in an imagined America, where convicted wards of state are offered an alternative path to death row or 25-plus years sentences and participate in televised death matches under the “Criminal Action Penal Entertainment (CAPE)” program. The story centers around Loretta Thurwar and Hamara "Hurricane Staxxx" Stacker, two of CAPE's most famous combatants and partners in life and battle.
Where the score comes from
The sources average 8.4 across 349 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 70% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Dystopian average of 7.7. That is how 8.2 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hardcover | 8.4 | 349 | 100% |
Reader voices
The most-liked reviews on Hardcover (credited to their authors).
“This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader. --- Before I begin, let me just say that you are wasting your time reading this post when you could be out buying or borrowing and reading this book. If you’ve made the mistake of sticking around, I’ll…”
“I happened upon Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah while browsing books at my local library. I was somewhat intrigued by the premise. I was very surprised at how good this novel is. The story is about prisoners fighting in gladiatorial combat to the death.…”
Frequently asked
How long is Chain-Gang All-Stars?
It has 376 pages — shorter than 54% of the ranked books in Dystopian.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
Same shelf — Dystopian — with scores between 8.0 and 8.3, closest to this book.
