Reviews tagging 'Lesbophobia'

Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby

7 reviews

cadence99's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

3.5

I really wanted to like this more than I did as it came highly recommended, but unfortunately it wasn’t a runaway hit for me. A story of two fathers, brought together in their quest for vegance after the murder of their sons. Throughout, both grapple with how their homophobia towards their sons destroyed their relationship. I liked the fast paced, whodunnit aspects of this novel but did struggle a bit with the intense graphic nature of it. If you have a weak stomach, this book likely won’t go over super well. Our characters are as morally grey as you can get, stopping at nothing to attain their own version of justice. I think there is a conversation to be had here about how the only way these characters were able to accept their sons was at the cost of their lives. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Hate crime, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Racism, Murder, Cancer, Lesbophobia, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Gun violence, Homophobia, Alcohol, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Gore, Racial slurs, Deadnaming, Death, Medical content, Blood, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Vomit, Addiction, Body horror, Grief, and Kidnapping

midnightgremlin's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

• 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Hate crime, Racism, Racial slurs, Car accident, Cursing, Death, Homophobia, Outing, Violence, Grief, Gun violence, Lesbophobia, Torture, and Transphobia

katrinarose's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I didn’t love the writing style (some strange pov flip flopping), and some of the decisions characters made didn’t make any sense, but overall it was a great action-packed revenge story with a nice character redemption arc.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Kidnapping, Homophobia, Murder, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Misogyny, Transphobia, Car accident, Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Cancer, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Deadnaming, Sexism, and Xenophobia

Minor: Domestic abuse, Lesbophobia, and Outing

anastasia_raf's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I liked this book very much. I found it entertaining, dark, realistic, hard and raw. It is very well crafted and interesting. The characters were complex and I appreciated how nuanced was the presentation of grief. It was very well handled in my opinion.

I also think that people give Buddy Lee too much gredit when he rarely stops himself from being an asshole.
Ike, I think you need to start appreciating your wife more.

There was one of many sentences that rubbed me the wrong way... But this one? Not a fan. ''Buddy Lee leaned against the sink. His chest was as tight as virgin pussy." Huh.

I want to believe that this book is supposed to be a punch in toxic masculinity's throat since all this happened because Cis-het (especially white,) man are insecure in their own sexuality and very existence,
BUT, I felt like queer people were just there to serve the plot. I felt their presence was "over-exploited." I get how and why they were important to the plot but they were also used as an excuse for "character growth." This book goes out of its way to show how these fathers were educated on these topics by their gay sons and queer people in general and yet does nothing to educate its audience and to lift up queer voices. Another perspective on the plot is that these two homophobic fathers used revenge as a way of absolving themselves of the guilt (about the awful treatment towards their sons and their ignorant ass towards queerness.) And yet, was it intentional? Or just...there? I think that's where the book lacked in a way. It's not clear on where it stands.

"Still, some of Cosby's other choices render this novel something short of a triumph. Queer people are central to the investigation and the story, but not a one has a particularly strong, fully realized voice of their own..." "Cosby also has straight people talking about LGBTQIA+ marginalization in conversations that sometimes sound preachy rather than organic. It's a jarring juxtaposition — having straight characters gain this growing awareness of and sensitivity to discrimination when the queer characters are marginalized in the narrative." By Carole V. Bell, a cultural critic and communication scholar focusing on media, politics and identity. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Terminal illness, Medical content, Physical abuse, Death, Homophobia, Murder, Racism, Torture, Violence, Car accident, Cursing, Grief, Gun violence, Racial slurs, and Transphobia

Moderate: Body shaming, Death of parent, Car accident, Fatphobia, Lesbophobia, and Sexism

pollyhall's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

There is a scene at the beginning of the book where Ike is taking his grief out on a punching bag. The rhythm mimics the style of writing short and to the point which I liked. However, I found the language used to describe women in this book offensive. 
The story could have been shorter and some characters felt unnecessary to move the story along.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Cancer, Car accident, Kidnapping, Medical content, Racial slurs, Alcohol, Classism, Confinement, Death, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Vomit, Abandonment, Bullying, Hate crime, Lesbophobia, Murder, Racism, Torture, Transphobia, and Violence

phippsmr's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Homophobia

Moderate: Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Biphobia, Cancer, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Lesbophobia, Transphobia, Classism, Domestic abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Violence, and Outing

ldruckreier's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Car accident, Child death, Deadnaming, Hate crime, Lesbophobia, Mass/school shootings, Outing, Murder, Racism, Transphobia, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Tough read but captivating