Reviews

Asfaltsland by S.A. Cosby

seatonob's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

4.75

baugh5's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• 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

4.0

grace_astudentreading's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This is only my second S. A. Cosby but I can already tell he will be a favorite author for years to come. Like Razorblade Tears, this book pushed me far out of my comfort zone, but I loved every page of it. Bug is an incredibly complex and compelling main character. Obviously, as this is at the end of the day a thriller, there is a lot of external conflict. There is intense and violent action, and crazy fights and car chases, and twists and turns everywhere. But what hooked me and made me truly love this book was the internal conflict Bug faced. The true heart of this book is not the heist, it’s Bug’s relationship with his father. That is what drives Bug to make the choices he makes over the entirety of the book. It’s the root of his biggest fears and his life goals. It’s a source of pain and a source of hope. It’s his achilles heel. So yes I was all here for the car chases and the one man wrecking machine, but I was absolutely enthralled by Bug’s inner turmoil. And the ending in regards to that was perfect. Overall, I highly recommend this book and S. A. Cosby as an author.

cory1906's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-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

5.0

peacelovefloyd's review against another edition

2.0

2.5 stars

Impressive writing like Razorblade Tears, but ultimately not a story for me.

Absolute trash main characters. Story line that was not that great. I kind of stopped caring about this story 3/4 of the way through. Kind of reads like a Tarantino film in places.

I get the poverty and race angle. But what doesn’t make sense is the trust that this main character exhibits for people who have already screwed him over. You want me to believe he’s part of “the Life” without any self-preservation? Yeah, ok.

julies331's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

3.75

noyoublow's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

3.5

cici1722's review against another edition

4.0

After Razorblade Tears I knew Cosby was going to be an auto read author for me.

This was a great story about a man who’s trying to live right but life is “lifing”. I loved the layering of the characters and how deeply this lifestyle ran and I am always going to be a fan of a black fatherhood account.

I was rooting for Bug so badly. That last line, whew baby

edarling3's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

4.5

I really enjoyed the descriptions of the heists and thought the family dynamics and tendency towards violence being passed down to each generation was thought-provoking. 

manadabomb's review against another edition

5.0

I was blown away by this book. I really was thinking "it's a heist book" but it's a thousand times more than that.

Review here!