Cover Image: The Fugitives

The Fugitives

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Member Reviews

I’ll start off by admitting something: I think I don’t like books about music, and that’s a personal issue, not the fault of this book. In my opinion it’s just almost impossible to capture the power of music (especially live music, and especially playing music rather than listening to it), in written form - books about music just make me wish I was listening to music instead.

That said, The Fugitives had plenty of its own problems, mostly with pacing. The start was so agonisingly slow that if I hadn’t received a copy for review, I would definitely have abandoned the book partway through. For the first approximately 50% the plot barely seemed to progress, I had a pretty miserable time as a reader, and I was extremely bored. But when the story reached the point where the band travels around America, meeting and bonding with various people, I started to really enjoy the book - there just wasn’t enough of that section to make up for the dull parts before, and then the ending felt rushed. I also really dislliked Rushdy as a character for most of the book; he came off as passive, irritating, and pathetic, and I really didn’t enjoy his narration. Overall, this was just wasn’t for me I think.

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I found this a very moving and powerful story. I love how music is weaves within the story and the exploration of identity is so well written. I would recommend this book.

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From Sudan to the US, the Kamanga Kings' journey is entertaining and full of funny moments. Very enjoyable!

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