Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo

77 reviews

lblackburn04's review

dark mysterious slow-paced

• 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

4.0

I overall really enjoyed the book and its general vibe, however it had a few flaws that stopped it being rated higher. 

The first half of the book is super slow and I nearly gave up on it; I’m glad I didn’t because the 2nd half was super captivating. 

I did find the random street races off putting and out of place, and I felt as though the book could have benefitted from less of those and an extended ending. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Suicide, and Sexual content

Minor: Homophobia, Transphobia, and Racism

nikoops's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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

4.5

Really great read for fans of a good old ghost story. Definitely leaves you wanting to know more about the fates of these characters, and there were definitely parts that had me wishing the author would have delved a bit deeper. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Torture, Alcoholism, Blood, Death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, Drug use, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Terminal illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Toxic friendship, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Bullying

While this story does not contain incest between blood related siblings, the main character Andrew and Eddie are referred to as siblings by adoption at times, so the intense relationship they had may be read by some as having incest-ish vibes

eliotadrift's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Death, and Drug use

Moderate: Homophobia, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Racism

jojothefool's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I had a lot of fun with this audiobook. The supernatural stuff was a bit confusing via audio for me, I think I may have followed some scenes a lot better if I were reading instead of listening, but I got enough of it to get the haunting feelings of the scary scenes. I will say that this book has representation of a queer community I am so not familiar with which was interesting lol there’s a lot of drag racing and not the kind that I’m used to. Car stuff is just not for me, I don’t understand it and I don’t want to, so those parts were kinda hard to get through. I liked the overall mystery and ookiness of the novel. There’s a small yet remarkable romance that I found myself shipping far before I thought the book would do anything with it, so when it happened I was very pleased. Overall a fun time, especially for the toxic codependency queer ship enjoyers. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Blood, Suicide, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Sexual content, and Drug use

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Self harm, Vomit, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Murder, and Homophobia

Minor: Death of parent, Cannibalism, and Car accident

madscientistcat's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

5.0

Visceral, haunting, a queer gothic masterpiece.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Death, Grief, Murder, Suicide, Alcohol, Classism, Cursing, Homophobia, Drug use, and Racism

Moderate: Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Gore, and Vomit

Minor: Cancer, Slavery, and Animal death

kaywhiteley's review

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This book really took the southern gothic vibe and ran with it. It gave me the same sort of thrill and chills as the classic southern gothic stories I read in AP English class. But, Mandelo also acknowledges the nastiness of southern history and has it contribute to the horror of the whole story which I think puts a delightful spin on the southern gothic theme. Plus, I love when racists and elitists get what they deserve and are seen as the ugly monsters they are. 

Truly I was unsure about this book for a long time. The first 300 pages felt like the slowest burn mystery with also the slowest burn queer romance you have ever seen. Truly the sexual tension combined with the denials of being queer was so infuriating. I also truly did not understand what was going on for a long time. That plus the street racing made me wonder if this book was for me.

That being said, I’m glad I held on. As slow as the first part of the book was, the second part was quick paced and kept me on the edge of my seat. I think that the slow burn actually enhanced the pace at the end and made it all the more satisfying.

I liked how messy Andrew’s investigation was because, let’s all be honest with ourselves, we would not be that much better when trying to break a curse while being haunted by the ghoul of our best friend. I also just loved the messiness of Andrew’s (and really everyone’s) character in general. He was so so fucked up throughout the book but I couldn’t help but root for him and his happiness.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Grief, and Drug use

Moderate: Homophobia, Self harm, and Racism

Minor: Vomit and Domestic abuse

hades_hotline's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

This book was addicting and lowkey traumatizing but a great read. The premise was very entertaining, and I love a good morally gray character. (do look into cw and tw before reading).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Murder, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Death, Grief, and Alcohol

Moderate: Racism and Homophobia

Minor: Vomit and Gore

queerfucker's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.75

I luv gays being toxic bitches and learning to be better humans in the midst of their grief… with ghosts!

It can feel very slow and like days have actually been weeks, but grief and it’s distortion of time can do that. The descriptions are so vivid, but it can just feel like another paragraph to read at times.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Suicide attempt, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Grief, and Suicide

Moderate: Alcohol, Racism, and Drug use

chris_reads's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Drug use, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Classism

Moderate: Alcohol, Death, Racism, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, and Violence

Minor: Suicide, Fire/Fire injury, and Homophobia

frantic_vampire's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I am…unwell over this book. This was just fucking fantastic and I’m honestly at a loss for words for this review. Summer Sons is one of the absolute best books that I think I’ve ever read and I just want to scream about it. It’s this mix of dark academia, paranormal hauntings, and queer longing that had me hooked from the very beginning. Everything about this book was feral and unhinged and tinged with the sticky restlessness of a southern summer. And I could read about Andrew and Sam and Riley endlessly. This book is one that will haunt my dreams for a long time to come and I can’t recommend it enough. This is the easiest five stars I think I’ve ever given a book. I’m just gonna excuse myself now and go scream about it into the void…

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Drug use, Gaslighting, Racism, Violence, Vomit, Classism, Eating disorder, Gore, and Grief

Moderate: Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Medical trauma, and Racism