james baldwin is such a classic writer and i loved reading his words. however, this story was so incredibly slow. the pacing simply did not work for me. everyone was incredibly unlikeable. the way women were talked about was pretty problematic and made it hard to read at times. the conversations on race and sexuality were interesting to read from each of the character's perspective, but the novel itself didn't really pay off for me. excited to read more of his works that i think align more with my taste.