This really wasnt my usual kind of read and it also easnt for me. Well written and a good storyline but i couldnt connect with the characters. I tried to dnf but unfortunately for me it just wasnt keeping my interested so 3/4 through i did actually dnf.
That said i would recommend anyone to try. The beauty of books is every read doesnt suit every reader.

I have mixed feelings after reading this - I totally see what the author was doing, it was good satire, it made me uncomfortable to read (which the best kind of books do), it brought key issues to the fore particularly regarding race. But there was something missing for me and I can't quite put my finger on it. Going to read other reviews to see if anyone else picked up on this!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for an honest review.

Had high hopes for this one but it fell a bit flat. The satire wasn’t very satirical and borderlined on slapstick and the second half of the book in particular just lost me a little.

I think it’s an interesting premise and I definitely didn’t hate it but I won’t be in a rush to pick up another of Askaripour’s books.

Unfortunately I had to dnf this story. I tried several times to pick it up again but I couldn’t connect and concentrate on it for more than a hot minute.

Very grateful to the publisher for my review copy

Black Buck is inventive, smart, and witty; it’s a wild ride of a book, and I really enjoyed reading it throughout. I did have some issues with it, but I’m excited to see what Mateo Askirapour does next. Unlike other reviewers, I did quite like the writing style - I think it’s a matter of personal taste, but I found it effective at creating rapport with the reader and a friendly, salesperson-style pitch.

I loved the satire of sales and startup culture, but I had some issues with Black Buck when it comes to the solutions it offers. Askaripour seems to suggest that simply getting black people into positions of power will be the answer to racism - but after reading an entire book which demonstrates the flaws and inbuilt discrimination in the current system, that feels like an unsatisfying answer and honestly, a bit of a cop-out. I had other issues with the pacing and plot towards the end of the book; the art of satire is about exaggerating reality, but not to the point where it becomes unrecognisable or unbelievable. It’s a hard line to tread, and as the story progresses, Black Buck falls on the wrong side. There’s a mad pileup of improbable events within the last 30 or so e-book screens on my phone (so probably less than 20 pages in the physical book); which seemed both implausible, and badly paced.

That said, I found this book very enjoyable to read and I sped through it once I properly started. I feel a bit harsh only giving it three stars and I may or may not upgrade my rating to four stars later. If the premise sounds interesting to you, it’s well worth a try.

Black Buck explores the US corporate world in a realistic and convincing way. There was some terribly insightful points made and it gave me ideas to think about but overall, I just didn't love it. I thought it became a bit laborious about a third of the way through. this really came down to the characters: I just didn't find any of them likeable. A clever satire but just not for me.

Wow what a book. A crazy rollercoaster of a book and the audiobook added another level. The audiobook is soooooo good. The narrator was fantastic.

People have said its similar to the movies Sorry, To Bother You and The Wolf of Wall Street and I totally agree. I enjoyed these movies so I knew I’d enjoy this book. But I didn’t expect to enjoy it THIS much. Black Buck takes a hilarious satirical look at race, ambition and capitialism.

We follow Darren AKA Buck. A young barista who is looking for his next opportunity. College wasn’t for him so he settled for Starbucks. He enjoys it, being the HNIC and his colleagues until one day an opportunity arrives one morning. Darren is hesitant but decides to go for it and ends up at SOMEWUN, a tech startup headed up by Rhett Daniels. Being the only Black man at the startup, Darren becomes ‘Buck’, a ruthless salesmen, who becomes successful at what he does. But as we learn later it comes at a price. In the end, Buck asks ‘was it worth it?’

Whewwwww. My only regret was not reading this sooner. A book that genuinely made me laugh out loud. I’m glad I got the audiobook too as it was such a fun listen. Can’t wait to listen to it again!

Can’t wait to see what Mateo releases next!

Loved this! I am so glad I picked it up.


Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me access an advance copy of this book in exchange for my feedback.

I'm so sorry but despite looking forward to reading this, it ended up being a DNF for me. It started off with promise, but failed to hold my attention.

Thank you to NetGalelley and to the publisher for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.

Starting out as a fun, funny satire this book sadly began to grate on me.
The satire is laid on thick from the outset, and whilst it is obvious that this is very much tongue in cheek and exactly what the author was aiming for, I found it rather wearing after a while.

A story about race, capitalism and ambition, the author isn’t afraid to hold a mirror up to the reader and force you to confront your own thoughts and feelings on the world we’re living in - a world where we’re always being told to buy something whether we need it or not.

A fascinating premise, and a clever approach, but sadly overly satirical tone of the book just wasn’t for me.

Meet Darren. An unambitious twenty-two-year-old living with his mother and working at Starbucks. All that changes when a chance encounter with Rhett Daniels, the silver-tongued CEO of NYC's hottest tech start-up, results in Darren joining Rhett's elite sales team. After enduring a “hell week” of training, Darren, the only Black person in the company, re-imagines himself as “Buck,” a ruthless salesman unrecognizable to his friends and family. But when things turn tragic at home and Buck feels he’s hit rock bottom, he begins to hatch a plan to help young people of colour infiltrate America’s sales force, setting off a chain of events that forever changes the game.
Black Buck was an interesting read for me. I originally liked the set up for the story and the characters and was looking forward to learning a bit more about how young black people are seen within the working environment. As the story progressed though, I started to lose interest in it. Buck had a complete change of character that I struggled to connect with and I hated the way he treated those close to him just to try and fit in with his work ‘buddies’.
I did enjoy how he tried to turn things around and make things better for black folk and I hope that there could be something like that in real life to help people get their foot on the job ladder but overall some of the story just didn't seem to fit together and the ending felt a little rushed and over the top.
I did enjoy the way it was written as a mixture of a memoir, sales manual and a hint of self help guide with the narrator cutting away from the story breaking the 4th wall so to speak, it was new and refreshing and was a nice way to break some of the harder topics that were discussed.
Overall, a good story; somewhat over the top in places and harder to read (as a white person) in others but it was not entirely what I was expecting but that's did not stop me from enjoying it completely.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

The pace of this book was intense and I couldn't put it down. Following Buck as he begins a new job that changes his life I laughed and cried with him.

Certain parts of this book made me intensely uncomfortable which I know was the point so appreciated. I thought the twists and directions this book went in were unexpected but also cleverly in line with the storyline with just minor hints of foreshadowing which pulled together really well at the end.

The only negative for me was that most of the characters were incredibly unlikeable so I didn't really root for any of them to succeed.

The authors note mentions that the author's next work will be very different but I would definitely pick it up, the writing style is great and has a brilliant flow.

Clever, witty, and utterly mesmerising. This story is totally different to my usual reads but I found myself totally captivated by the story, whilst the story was amusing, it was also quite a difficult read at times.

Fizzing with humour Black Buck is full of dynamic prose. As a satire, it balances earnestness and cynicism almost flawlessly. I love a running gag and Buck being likened to different famous African Americans was cringe-inducingly delightful. Asksaripour's writing in some ways oddly reminded me of Terry Pratchett's socioeconomic commentary in the Discworld books. The satire here is firmly aimed at the people in power and the systems they operate in.

It is easy to see this book adapted to the big screen. If it was the 80's/90's it would be easy to see Buck being played by a young Eddie Murphy. The novel has vibes from Brewster's Millions, Trading Places and more recent takedowns of big business such as The Big Short.

The book is not without its flaw. It only really picks up steam and get flying in the middle. The final chapters saw some key characters making decisions that felt less driven by any consistent emotional or logical rationale but rather by Asksaripour's need to place character's at certain locations.

Despite this, I had an exceedingly fun time reading Black Buck. Very Highly recommended.

I finished reading this book last night and haven’t stopped thinking about it since.

The pacing of the novel feels a little all over the place. It starts slow and then a lot happens in a short space of time and then it’s slow again. A week takes up multiple chapters, but then months go by in one.

The genre is satire which is never my first choice, but I really wanted to give this a go. It didn’t feel funny per se, but I think it is toeing the line of outlandish fantasy and what is in the realms of possibility.

At times the reader might roll their eyes in this novel, as the plot dives into different directions and creates a narrative that feels like “as if that would happen.” But equally the racism theme, the micro aggressions from the white characters, the brushing off go to “not everything is about race.” That felt very real, and I found myself sympathising with Buck. The way the famous white characters behaved, was very reminiscent of recent history. I think using the far right tag lines, things like saying it’s racist against white people to help people of colour, grounded any potentially out there storyline and made me as the reader feel as though this could have all happened.

I enjoyed the way this book was presented. The narrative style is not one I’ve come across before, but I found it to keep the story interesting and enabled there to be some plot twists along the way.

Overall I did enjoy this book, and I will be thinking about it for a long time to come.

You know that one person who just can't stop telling you how smart and amazing and pretty they are? this is the book version of that one person. I just got tired of how many times everyone tried to tell me how amazing and smart and pretty the main character is, and how he's DESTINED for Great Things. It's almost like the book is trying to sell the message that certain people are destined for greatness, and others are not.

I honestly don't know how to explain how problematic this message is.

I don't know what overcame me when I read MATEO ASKARIPOUR's novel BLACK BUCK but I was surprisingly taken into this story. It started in such a way that I thought it wouldn't be for me. It ended up being perfect for me though.

Askaripour starts by telling us about Darren, who has turned into a fantastic salesman almost overnight. Darren aims to tell all readers of this book how to be like him.

It sounded like THE WOLF OF WALL STREET, and I don't like those type of characters. The book swiftly goes in another direction though.

There are plenty of cringeworthy moments, I think they can be classed as satire but sometimes I wondered if it wasn't too soon. All-in-all it's an unexpectedly thrilling read with a more likeable character than the novel sets him out to be.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

This book was difficult to read at times because it is so unlike anything else out there. It definitely reminded me of Sorry To Bother You (with a less surreal ending) and also of the excellent The Other Black Girl which was published earlier this year which also deals with issues of black men and women dealing with issues of workplace racism and feeling they have to change themselves to fit in. Buck is a charismatic, if not necessarily likeable, character, and I liked the way the novel was framed as a manual for sales tips. An interesting debut.

I thought the book started out strong and I connected with Buck's voice immediately. His narration and observation of people around him were entertaining, and I couldn't wait to see what happens when a rich white man tempts him to enter the corporate world. Buck's fear of failure and his desire to "be somebody" clash but eventually he gives in, joining the white collars. As a POC I appreciated the mentions of microaggressions that Buck has to face that is often overlooked by non-POC.

As the book goes on though, I found the humour gets over the top and the storyline gets more outlandish. I predicted Buck's character arc and I was disappointed that even when he tries to fix his mistakes, he never learns from them. This book is sold as a satire but it doesn't really dive into Buck's behaviour or present a compelling commentary on the advertising industry. It's also disappointing that the female characters don't have a role beyond being Buck's voice of conscience. Overall, this wasn't the right fit for me but I look forward to the author's future work.

Wolf of Wall Street meets Fight Club.

Someone is telling us his story. His rise? His fall? His meteoric ascent certainly - but where will it end up? And how did he get there?

With echoes of stories like The Wolf of Wall Street (and Wall Street), and the narration by the omnipresent narrator looking back on his life, and even Fight Club in my mind, this begins as - surely - a Cinderella story of rags to riches. But in a race-aware world.

Darren works as a barista in Starbucks. It may be fairly lowly but he's good at his job, good at inspiring teamwork and excellent at customer service. Which is how he one day takes a chance and pushes himself into the attentive sights of a tech-startup CEO. He sees Darren's potential. And in a whirl of interviews and scenario activities, Darren merely hours later finds himself in smart clothes and about to sell his product to the world.

Or he would if he could shake the feeling of institutionalised racism oozing through the office, overt as much as covert, even given the nickname Buck.

His girlfriend, his friends back in his deprived neighbourhood are wary. His overworked mother hopeful. He can make this work, get through the taunts and show his talent.

And at this point, the story could have taken various paths, and I found myself pleasantly surprised at the character development for a few individuals. Entertaining 'baddies', moral heart-searching, The Darren at the start states, "Yes. I. Hate. Coffee. It's black crack." he sees a customer with humour: "he reeked of privilege, Rohypnol, and tax breaks..." yet still allows his life to be hijacked, for his experiences to give us life lessons, both good and bad.

Darren/Buck's story gives us more than one man's moral journey, it also shines a light on race relations in contemporary society, certainly gave me pause for thought as well as a Goodfellas-like narrator and a constant wondering about where everything was heading.

Highly entertaining, excellent concept, something a little different, even to what you'll expect going in.

WIth thanks to Netgalley for providing an advance reading copy.