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nimeneth's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
I wanted to be kind to this book. I wanted to accept that this was going to be a difficult book club read that was gritty and uncomfortable and dark. The blurb was amazing, had a great hook, interesting title, the whole nine yards. Objectively the dialogue was a little flat and the characters felt a little wooden at the beginning, but it would get better, right? I would get through this even if I had to skim or skip scenes, it would be fine, right? Right??? I was optimistic. I was open-minded.
I did not like this book. I did not enjoy this book. The first 100ish pages were fine, mostly. I could accept the racism and homophobia as just part of what it's like in parts of Virginia. The middle is where it started to sour. I especially did not like the last 100 pages of it where it turned into full-on revenge porn. It's graphic, folks. There's no art, just blood. No redemption arc, just death. I think Cosby wanted the final scene to be profound or something, but by that point there's no tying it up into a near little package and calling it hunky-dory.
Graphic: Gore, Racial slurs, Transphobia, Blood, Murder, Misogyny, Gun violence, Racism, Cursing, Death, Alcohol, Hate crime, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Deadnaming and Cancer
horizonous's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Racial slurs, Violence, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, and Racism
Moderate: Child death, Kidnapping, Blood, Murder, Transphobia, Death, Excrement, Gore, and Grief
Minor: Deadnaming, Car accident, Death of parent, and Alcoholism
killmoore_'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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Medical content, Medical trauma, Vomit, Deadnaming, Addiction, Outing, Sexism, Cancer, Car accident, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Classism, Terminal illness, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Death, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Gun violence, Grief, Homophobia, Murder, Racism, Transphobia, Stalking, Torture, and Violence
sdowling'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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Misogyny, Racism, Racial slurs, Blood, Cursing, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Gun violence, Gore, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Alcohol and Alcoholism
keats1787's review
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Gun violence, Homophobia, Murder, Racial slurs, Mass/school shootings, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Violence, Blood, Child death, Hate crime, Torture, Racism, Gore, and Alcohol
Moderate: Police brutality, Sexism, Sexual content, Stalking, Medical content, Rape, Misogyny, Transphobia, and Outing
searobin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
On one hand, I loved it in a guilty-pleasure kinda way and couldn't put it down. On the other hand, a lot of the actual plot was rather weak, the twists were obvious a mile out, the similes were excessive, gross, and/or weird (e.g., "his chest was as tight as virgin pussy"), and the characters were two-dimensional at best. It was just really, really, really violent. I have aphantasia, so gore in books doesn't bother me in the same way as in movies/tv shows, but some of the descriptions were just unnecessary - like, way too much detail about someone's guts spilling out like taffy that had had merlot spilled on it or something, for example.
I am queer, but don't have a lot of queerphobic trauma, so that aspect of things wasn't triggering for me, just terribly sad and hard to read, but I can see how it would be really terrible for some.
Idk, it was a weird read. I was so hyped when I finished it; it felt like I had whiplash from the whole thing. However, the more it settles and the more time I have to process it, the more I realise that I think it was more an adrenaline high than a good book.
Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Sexism, Body horror, Deadnaming, Gun violence, Racism, Car accident, Abandonment, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Outing, Torture, Homophobia, Murder, Racial slurs, Stalking, Violence, Transphobia, and Vomit
Minor: Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Alcoholism, and Cancer
soleillovez's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Racism, Homophobia, and Violence
Moderate: Homophobia and Transphobia
Minor: Sexism and Misogyny
crystal689's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.5
Graphic: Gun violence, Misogyny, Racism, Grief, Homophobia, Gore, Terminal illness, Blood, Cancer, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Transphobia, and Violence
jess_chang7's review
2.5
Graphic: Homophobia, Transphobia, Death, Blood, Misogyny, Gun violence, Violence, Alcohol, Racial slurs, Racism, and Murder
Moderate: Kidnapping
Minor: Deadnaming
katrinarose's review
- 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
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