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mariannagrace's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Torture, Animal death, Child abuse, Gun violence, Religious bigotry, Kidnapping, Murder, Violence, Hate crime, Mass/school shootings, and Racism
megmccreery's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Cursing, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Torture, Abandonment, Police brutality, Body horror, Slavery, Violence, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Hate crime, Blood, Pedophilia, Death, Racism, Racial slurs, Medical content, Murder, Gore, and Gun violence
Moderate: Alcoholism, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Alcohol, Addiction, Classism, Chronic illness, and Stalking
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders
afriduss's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Classism, Grief, Stalking, Gun violence, Mental illness, Murder, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Torture, Violence, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Gore, Blood, Cursing, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Child death
shannahtan's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Violence, Racial slurs, Death, Gun violence, Child death, and Animal death
Moderate: Pedophilia, Sexual violence, and Child abuse
bellasandrarose's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I’m in two minds about the number of characters and
Writing-wise there were times where words were repeated that I think could have been crafted a bit and I think the characters did maybe need something a little deeper each to make them stick (like Pip was great cause he was the old one but Davy and Steve and I swear there’s another one were the same person in my head). Also one time they said
Overall, I enjoyed and I will check out some more from this author
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Child death, Child abuse, Gore, Death, Murder, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual violence, Violence, Torture, Body horror, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Animal death, and Alcohol
Minor: Religious bigotry
katiearcher's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Torture, Sexual violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Child death, and Child abuse
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Mass/school shootings, and Animal cruelty
Minor: Alcohol, Drug abuse, and Alcoholism
szyca's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Murder, Racial slurs, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Alcohol, Classism, Kidnapping, Police brutality, Animal death, Child death, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, Grief, Torture, Mass/school shootings, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Violence
kenlaan's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The first Black sheriff - Titus Crown - elected in the fictional county of Charon in rural Virginia must stop a serial killer before the county erupts from the tensions of fear and the foundational racism that's a facet of its people's daily lives.
In spite of my five-star rating, this is a book that I would hesitate to recommend to pretty much anyone I know, in contrast to Cosby's previous novel, Razorblade Tears, which isn't a light novel but not nearly as dark as this. It's undoubtedly one of the darkest books I've ever read: there is a school shooting in the second chapter (no children are harmed, but...) and it just gets worse from there. This is not something I would've ever been drawn to if I hadn't read his previous stuff.
Cosby can <i>write</i>. With most authors I can point to their particular strengths: he's good at characterization, her prose is really evocative, etc. I'd struggle to mention something that Cosby doesn't excel at. The characters are nuanced, multidimensional people, the plot is tightly-wound and intricately charted, and I hear, smell, and feel the environs of Charon County.
And the insight with which Cosby writes the experiences of a Black man living amongst the prejudices and racism of
If you know what you're getting into and aren't troubled by darker crime fiction, definitely read this, though I'd probably recommend Razorblade Tears as an intro to S.A. Cosby. And if you aren't sure, maybe stay away - I'm not someone that includes content warnings in reviews but I will be listing them as spoilers at the bottom.
I will read anything that Cosby writes and hope his next novel comes soon.
Opening:
Charon County was founded in bloodshed and darkness.
Literally and figuratively.
Even the name is enveloped in shadows and morbidity. Legend has it the name of the county was supposed to be Charlotte or Charles County, but the town elders waited to late and those names were already taken by the time they decided to incorporate their fledgling encampment. As the story goes, they just moved their finger down the list of names until they settled on Charon. Those men, weathered as whitleather with hands like splitting mauls, bestowed the name on their new town with no regard to its macabre nature. Or perhaps they just liked the name because a river flowed through the county and emptied into the Chesapeake like the River Styx.
Who knows? Who could know the thoughts of those long-dead men?
What is known is that in 1805 in the dead of night a group of white land-owners, chafing at the limits of their own manifest destiny, set fire to the last remaining indigenous village on the tear-drop shaped peninsula that would become Charon County.
Those who escaped the flames were brought down by muskets with no regard to age, gender, or infirmity. That was the first of many tragedies in the history of Charon. The cannibalism of the winter of 1853. The malaria outbreak of 1901. The United Daughters of the Confederacy picnic poisoning of 1935. The Danforth family murder-suicide of 1957. The tent revival baptismal drownings of 1968, and on and on. The soil of Charon County, like most towns and counties in the South, was sown with generations of tears. They were places where violence and mayhem was celebrated as the pillars of a pioneering spirit every Founders' Day in the county square.
Graphic: Child death, Child abuse, Gore, Racial slurs, Racism, Murder, Religious bigotry, Animal cruelty, and Animal death
destaknee_'s review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Mass/school shootings, and Murder
Moderate: Animal death and Racism
Minor: Cancer
crystalxxvision's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Racial slurs, Child death, Hate crime, and Mass/school shootings