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dantastic's review against another edition
4.0
I got this Atlanta Burns omnibus from Netgalley.
Shotgun Gravy: When a friend of a friend is violated by bullies in an attempt to set him straight, Atlanta Burns goes on the offensive. But can a teenage girl everyone is afraid of get the job done?
Add redneck noir Young Adult fiction to the list of things Chuck Wendig is good at. Shotgun Gravy is tale of fighting against bullying by a teenage girl that's seen a lot in her young life. I've seen her referred to as Nancy Drew with a shotgun but she's more like another Wendig character, Miriam Black, only younger and without supernatural abilities.
Shotgun Gravy isn't a trip to the YA parade, either. There are neo-Nazis, bullies, and even the protagonists are damaged goods. It's way more like Winter's Bone than stereotype YA love triangle mush. I was halfway through the first novella before I realized it. I kept thinking "Is Atlanta going to Red Harvest these shitheads?"
Side note: One thing I think Chuck Wendig excels at is creating gay characters that have an identity outside of being gay. You wouldn't think that would be as rare as it is in this day and age but here we are.
Bait Dog: One of Atlanta's friends dies, apparently a suicide. When a classmate hires her to find her who stole her dog, Atlanta stumbles upon a dog fighting ring. Are the two connected? And can Atlanta find out AND make enough money to keep the bank from foreclosing on her mother's house?
Bait Dog is a powerful little book. When you hear a book described as Young Adult, you don't think of this. Well, maybe if someone speculated what a Young Adult book by [a:Jim Thompson|7621|Jim Thompson|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1360741132p2/7621.jpg] would read like. You know what really puts the cherry on top of killing gays? A dog fighting ring! There sure are some galaxy-class douche bags in Atlanta Burns' general vicinity.
This is some bleak shit. Shotgun Gravy was just the tip of the iceberg of despair. Atlanta goes through the meat grinder once again, this time dragging her friends with her. It was novel length but felt a thousand times longer because of the unrelenting hopelessness of Atlanta's plight. Dirty cops, dirty millionaires, dirty dog fight ring owners, dirty, dirty dirty. I enjoyed it and thought it was very well done but I was glad as shit when it was over.
Side note: I have to think Chuck Wendig is a fan of the Wire since there are characters named Bird and Bodie and a dog named Omar.
If Atlanta Burns is any indication, 2015 is going to be another stellar year for Chuck Wendig. Four out of five stars.
Shotgun Gravy: When a friend of a friend is violated by bullies in an attempt to set him straight, Atlanta Burns goes on the offensive. But can a teenage girl everyone is afraid of get the job done?
Add redneck noir Young Adult fiction to the list of things Chuck Wendig is good at. Shotgun Gravy is tale of fighting against bullying by a teenage girl that's seen a lot in her young life. I've seen her referred to as Nancy Drew with a shotgun but she's more like another Wendig character, Miriam Black, only younger and without supernatural abilities.
Shotgun Gravy isn't a trip to the YA parade, either. There are neo-Nazis, bullies, and even the protagonists are damaged goods. It's way more like Winter's Bone than stereotype YA love triangle mush. I was halfway through the first novella before I realized it. I kept thinking "Is Atlanta going to Red Harvest these shitheads?"
Side note: One thing I think Chuck Wendig excels at is creating gay characters that have an identity outside of being gay. You wouldn't think that would be as rare as it is in this day and age but here we are.
Bait Dog: One of Atlanta's friends dies, apparently a suicide. When a classmate hires her to find her who stole her dog, Atlanta stumbles upon a dog fighting ring. Are the two connected? And can Atlanta find out AND make enough money to keep the bank from foreclosing on her mother's house?
Bait Dog is a powerful little book. When you hear a book described as Young Adult, you don't think of this. Well, maybe if someone speculated what a Young Adult book by [a:Jim Thompson|7621|Jim Thompson|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1360741132p2/7621.jpg] would read like. You know what really puts the cherry on top of killing gays? A dog fighting ring! There sure are some galaxy-class douche bags in Atlanta Burns' general vicinity.
This is some bleak shit. Shotgun Gravy was just the tip of the iceberg of despair. Atlanta goes through the meat grinder once again, this time dragging her friends with her. It was novel length but felt a thousand times longer because of the unrelenting hopelessness of Atlanta's plight. Dirty cops, dirty millionaires, dirty dog fight ring owners, dirty, dirty dirty. I enjoyed it and thought it was very well done but I was glad as shit when it was over.
Side note: I have to think Chuck Wendig is a fan of the Wire since there are characters named Bird and Bodie and a dog named Omar.
If Atlanta Burns is any indication, 2015 is going to be another stellar year for Chuck Wendig. Four out of five stars.
capnmodesty's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed this book - but it was very slow to start. I also felt like I needed a trigger warning for some of the portions of the book - that I did not get from the description.
sjgomzi's review against another edition
5.0
I’ve been on a roll lately, seeking out some of my favorite author’s lesser known works, because I’m just weird that way. Whenever someone in the book community suggests a new author to me, I almost always seek out their most obscure piece of work, and start there. Breaking from my normal habit, I first discovered Chuck Wendig through his Miriam Black series, and speaking of which, if you haven’t read through that spectacular series, what are you waiting for? I went on to love his Star Wars books, and his end of the world magnum opus, Wanderers. Well, after all that, I thought it high time I started at the beginning.
The Atlanta Burns books are marketed as young adult, but they are anything but. Wendig doesn’t tone anything down here, the creative Wendig profanity and gratuitous violence are both present, along with suicide, sexual assault, cruelty to animals, nazis, hate crimes...the list goes on and on. The title character plays like a younger earlier version of Miriam Black, but without the supernatural hocus pocus, and she’s a hell of a main character. Forced to commit an act of violence that haunts her nightmares, and becoming a sort of go to person for the oppressed and bullied at her school, she’s my favorite kind of protagonist. Damaged, and flawed, channeling all the pain of her past into determination, and strength. I actually found myself cheering out loud at times, but it’s not all triumph and good times for Atlanta. This book is dark at times, seriously, dark, and fucked up things happen to good people here. No one is safe. Some of the events that occur here made my cry, made me sweat, and one event in particular almost made me throw the book across the room. This book is made up of two novellas, Shotgun Gravy and Bait Dog, but they fit together so beautifully, you won’t notice any stitching together of the stories. They work together perfectly as one novel. I’ve gone on and on about how awesome Atlanta is, but I also want to mention in closing, there is a great supporting cast present, all contributing in large ways to this grim story, and I became just as attached to them as I was to Atlanta.
I’m a firm believer that you can’t have a great hero without great villains to challenge them, to bring out those heroic characteristics, and Wendig has created some here that will make your insides boil, and make it all the more pleasing when Atlanta takes her baton and shotgun to them! Kaboom!
There are two books available in this series, but I plan on waiting a while before I dive back into this world. First reason being, this story tore me up, frayed my nerves, and made me scream, as only the best books can, and secondly, I kind of liked where he left things at the end, and I’m happy to let our heroine have some peace and quiet for a bit. I know I won’t last long though. 2 hours past finishing this, and I’m already itching for Atlanta to pick up her shotgun, find some bullying assholes, and fuck their world up, because someone has to.
The Atlanta Burns books are marketed as young adult, but they are anything but. Wendig doesn’t tone anything down here, the creative Wendig profanity and gratuitous violence are both present, along with suicide, sexual assault, cruelty to animals, nazis, hate crimes...the list goes on and on. The title character plays like a younger earlier version of Miriam Black, but without the supernatural hocus pocus, and she’s a hell of a main character. Forced to commit an act of violence that haunts her nightmares, and becoming a sort of go to person for the oppressed and bullied at her school, she’s my favorite kind of protagonist. Damaged, and flawed, channeling all the pain of her past into determination, and strength. I actually found myself cheering out loud at times, but it’s not all triumph and good times for Atlanta. This book is dark at times, seriously, dark, and fucked up things happen to good people here. No one is safe. Some of the events that occur here made my cry, made me sweat, and one event in particular almost made me throw the book across the room. This book is made up of two novellas, Shotgun Gravy and Bait Dog, but they fit together so beautifully, you won’t notice any stitching together of the stories. They work together perfectly as one novel. I’ve gone on and on about how awesome Atlanta is, but I also want to mention in closing, there is a great supporting cast present, all contributing in large ways to this grim story, and I became just as attached to them as I was to Atlanta.
I’m a firm believer that you can’t have a great hero without great villains to challenge them, to bring out those heroic characteristics, and Wendig has created some here that will make your insides boil, and make it all the more pleasing when Atlanta takes her baton and shotgun to them! Kaboom!
There are two books available in this series, but I plan on waiting a while before I dive back into this world. First reason being, this story tore me up, frayed my nerves, and made me scream, as only the best books can, and secondly, I kind of liked where he left things at the end, and I’m happy to let our heroine have some peace and quiet for a bit. I know I won’t last long though. 2 hours past finishing this, and I’m already itching for Atlanta to pick up her shotgun, find some bullying assholes, and fuck their world up, because someone has to.
sjj169's review against another edition
4.0
"Why can't I be a normal girl who doesn't know what spent gunpowder smells like? Why can't I just...dick around on Facebook and chase after boys and...I dunno, just quit stirring up the shit?"
That's who Atlanta Burns is. She shoots the nads off her mother's boyfriend when he started messing around with her, so she spends some time away. When she returns Atlanta is a take no bullshit kind of girl.
In the first story of the book Atlanta is helping out a gay friend who is being tortured by a bunch of skin head ass-holes. She stirs up a hornets nest of pure redneck assholes.
Then in the second story of the book she deals with some of these same assholes and add in a dog fighting ring. (This part has some animal abuse for those of you that can't handle that kind of thing)..don't worry though. Atlanta has no fears when she tackles these people. She has no filter when it comes to her being pissed off. No stopping sense. Umm...I know someone sorta like that.
One question that kept going through my mind was wondering how old this girl was..and why no adult except for a drug dealer offers to help with any of this bull.
I received an arc copy of this book in exchange for an honest review from Netgalley
gnashchick's review against another edition
5.0
Girl Detectives. You know them: Nancy Drew, Ginny Gordon, Trixie Belden, and so many others. Atlanta Burns is the newest name on that list. The difference in this series is that author Chuck Wendig takes that beloved trope and drags it out behind the dumpsters of its safe little world. He roughs it up and hauls it onto a stage set by the mundane horrors of poverty, racism, and abuse.
Atlanta is an outsider. Not only is she a transplant to “Pennsyltucky” from the North Carolina, she’s returning to high school after spending months in inpatient therapy. She’s traumatized, and suffering from PTSD. Her peers are terrified of her. On her first week back at school, she breaks up a ring of bullies tormenting a smaller boy, and gains new friends, Shane Lafluco and Chris Coyne.
Wendig handles the incident that sent her to therapy with an honest delicacy, letting Atlanta come to grips with the trauma in small steps. Readers come along with her, gradually unveiling the abuse that Atlanta can’t shake. She self-medicates with illegally purchased Adderall and coors light.
Atlanta has to rely on herself because her mother is no help at all. It’s not clear if her mother is mentally ill, an alcoholic or merely dysfunctional, but she is a presence that Atlanta both condemns and clings to.
If I’d read a book like this as a teen, I know I would have identified with Atlanta immediately. The character is a flawed hero who meets violence with violence, and isn’t above using blackmail and threats to combat corruption. It's a powerful character, and a powerful book.
This is a YA novel, and would appeal to older teens. It doesn’t shy away from death or flinch from brutality. It’s the story of vigilante justice that leaves you cheering for the hero while at the same time knowing that it’s entirely unrealistic in a world where teens can be shot by the police with impunity
This ain’t no play-pretty. Atlanta Burns is a dark novel that doesn’t need any supernatural element to make your hackles rise. The real world is scary enough on it’s own. Yes, the novel is violent. The language of brutality is right up in your face, daring you to go ahead and try using a euphemism for that word to see if it makes you feel better. Try skating around rape and murder with a wink and a nod and see where that gets you. Tell me how you wouldn’t do the same thing if were in that same situation.
The novel ends on a positive note, with Atlanta and Shane making a video. In it, Atlanta records a video with an “It gets better” message that at first, pissed me off, then made me cheer. Atlanta Burns is no Trixie Belden; she’s damaged and violent and has problems that she can’t solve on her own. But she will stick with her friends, and be around to fight back against the bullshit.
I’d recommend this for older teens, say 16+, and adult readers.
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Originally published at www.bookie-monster.com
Atlanta is an outsider. Not only is she a transplant to “Pennsyltucky” from the North Carolina, she’s returning to high school after spending months in inpatient therapy. She’s traumatized, and suffering from PTSD. Her peers are terrified of her. On her first week back at school, she breaks up a ring of bullies tormenting a smaller boy, and gains new friends, Shane Lafluco and Chris Coyne.
Wendig handles the incident that sent her to therapy with an honest delicacy, letting Atlanta come to grips with the trauma in small steps. Readers come along with her, gradually unveiling the abuse that Atlanta can’t shake. She self-medicates with illegally purchased Adderall and coors light.
Atlanta has to rely on herself because her mother is no help at all. It’s not clear if her mother is mentally ill, an alcoholic or merely dysfunctional, but she is a presence that Atlanta both condemns and clings to.
If I’d read a book like this as a teen, I know I would have identified with Atlanta immediately. The character is a flawed hero who meets violence with violence, and isn’t above using blackmail and threats to combat corruption. It's a powerful character, and a powerful book.
This is a YA novel, and would appeal to older teens. It doesn’t shy away from death or flinch from brutality. It’s the story of vigilante justice that leaves you cheering for the hero while at the same time knowing that it’s entirely unrealistic in a world where teens can be shot by the police with impunity
This ain’t no play-pretty. Atlanta Burns is a dark novel that doesn’t need any supernatural element to make your hackles rise. The real world is scary enough on it’s own. Yes, the novel is violent. The language of brutality is right up in your face, daring you to go ahead and try using a euphemism for that word to see if it makes you feel better. Try skating around rape and murder with a wink and a nod and see where that gets you. Tell me how you wouldn’t do the same thing if were in that same situation.
The novel ends on a positive note, with Atlanta and Shane making a video. In it, Atlanta records a video with an “It gets better” message that at first, pissed me off, then made me cheer. Atlanta Burns is no Trixie Belden; she’s damaged and violent and has problems that she can’t solve on her own. But she will stick with her friends, and be around to fight back against the bullshit.
I’d recommend this for older teens, say 16+, and adult readers.
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Originally published at www.bookie-monster.com
dkpalmer13's review against another edition
4.0
This is very difficult to rate. There was a lot of great in this book. But, I had to skip over the bulk of the dog fight parts, and wanted to stop reading. In many ways I still want to have stopped reading. I love Atlanta and her spunky in-your-face-even-if-it-kills-me attitude. I love her willingness to do the right thing and figure out what the right thing is based on her own experience rather than what is conventional or polite. I just really, really hate animal cruelty! People who feel as strongly as I do about that should think twice before reading. I wish I’d known.
pygment's review against another edition
4.0
So, I didn't read anything about this book before diving in so I received no trigger warnings. Thus, if you are reading my review this is my warning. This book has triggers in it, LOTS and they start and don't stop. Reading this book is like being an octopus being tenderized to be sushi, you're tossed in a cement mixer with rocks and it's turned on. This book is a roll down a scree filled hill that doesn't stop till you get to the end. It was also, for me, worth every moment of it. Atlanta Burns takes her hard life and dishes it right back to the people who are hurting her. I wish I'd had her moxie at her age and done something. Maybe not the way she did it, but something more than what I did.
beccainabook's review against another edition
4.0
This series is like Mercy Thompson, the teen years. from the first page, I was hooked! If you have Mercy fever, get to know Atlanta because you will be satisfied!
mostlywright's review against another edition
3.0
This was a very difficult book for me to rate...and to finish! Atlanta is a spunky and dark version of Veronica Mars. Which is why I bought the book! However, you soon realize that Atlanta is very dark and perhaps not as clever as Veronica. This is an enjoyable book for the most part. I am not 100% sure what direction the plot is going in (or if there is one). It covers bullying, sexual assault and then suddenly...dog fighting. And this is the point where I almost stopped reading. I did stop actual reading and had to skim only. The graphic violence towards dogs is not something I can take. I also realized that I am far more of a happy person than I realized. There is no real "happiness" in this book. Things just keep going from bad to worse and there is not an offset. There is not a balance of any kind. I would recommend that folks who are interested read this book...folks who are dog lovers-you might struggle.