Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Red Rabbit by Alex Grecian

6 reviews

bookjaims's review

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense 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

5.0

I was not expecting to like this, but I loved it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Murder, Child death, Cannibalism, Vomit, Medical trauma, Gun violence, Violence, Animal death, Blood, Suicide, Grief, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Animal cruelty, Abortion, Torture, Terminal illness, and Death

noellelala's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Grief, Child death, Cannibalism, Animal death, Death, Torture, Suicide, Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Violence, Racial slurs, and Alcoholism

erynlasbelin's review

adventurous dark sad medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Cannibalism, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Murder, Stalking, Torture, Violence, Blood, Gore, Vomit, and Alcoholism

Minor: Grief, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Body shaming, Cursing, Excrement, Fatphobia, Rape, Racism, Xenophobia, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Medical content, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

pm_me_book_recs's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This was such a fun ride, the description had me hooked and I was ready for some western antics! 

Themes of found family, gathering an adventure party, and good vs evil. Our main cast of adventurers is a dynamic and hearty bunch, mysterious backgrounds abound! The baddies are either absolutely unhinged, or total wretches that make you pity and hate them. There's an undercurrent of bumbling henchmen (with racist and misogynist tendancies) and it feels like every single character has the worst luck (aside from a few). There is gruesome violence and body horror, some spectral scares, and an overall tenseness to the story. 

The pace was a little slower than I expected, considering the tagine, and I had issues remember the massive cast of characters between the constant shifting perspectives. All said and done, this book was a great time, equal parts hilarious and unsettling. 

I listened to an ALC via libro.fm and the narrator was excellent. Showcasing various Western/Southern accents to easily deliberate between speakers, and perfectly portryed the deranged big baddie, John Pirhella was amazing!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Gore, Gun violence, Death, Violence, Torture, Murder, Animal death, Blood, and Body horror

Moderate: Racial slurs, Vomit, Colonisation, Misogyny, Suicide attempt, Cannibalism, Suicide, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and Grief

wanderonwards's review

adventurous dark 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

3.5

Thank you to Macmillan/Tor Nightfire for sending me an ARC of this title. I received this copy for free and this review contains my honest opinions. 

 

Red Rabbit is a paranormal western folk horror and definitely not my usual genre. While parts are dark and gruesome, the story rarely dwells on them and moves along quickly. I enjoyed the writing style and atmosphere and felt the historical western setting was the right choice for this story. That said, this book was SO close to understanding the points on sexism and racism it almost made, without actually making those connections. I thought the story always stopped just short of where it needed to go, and that resulted in what I thought were some missed opportunities and a couple of disappointing character arcs. Also, I thought the racial slurs were completely unnecessary and this story could have done without them. Thank you again to the publisher for sending me a free ARC. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Animal death, Blood, Death, Gun violence, and Violence

Moderate: Sexism, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Cannibalism, Murder, Racism, Grief, and Suicide

readthesparrow's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.5

SUMMARY

Sadie Grace is wanted for witchcraft. And every hired gun in Kansas is out to collect the bounty on her head, including witch hunter Old Tom and his mysterious, mute ward, Rabbit.

On the road to Burden County, they’re joined by two vagabond cowboys with a strong sense of adventure – but no sense of purpose – and a recently widowed school teacher with nothing left to lose. As their posse grows, so too does the danger.

Racing along the landscape in a stolen red stagecoach, they encounter monsters--and men--more wicked than witches lurking along the dusty trail. (adapted from https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250874689/redrabbit)

REVIEW

As someone obsessed with epic poetry, folklore, and long-ass books, I loved Red Rabbit.

The book is a brick at over 400 pages, broken into seven parts. Point of view is third person, and shifts between characters chapter-by-chapter, sometimes even jumping to characters whom we haven’t met and whose relation to the plot is unclear (at least, until it all comes together and their relation to the plot becomes *very* clear). 

Grecian doesn’t waste time, but he also doesn’t rush–the pacing overall is excellent, and carries well throughout the entire length. The only minor criticism I have is that the leadup to the final confrontation feels a bit rushed, but considering how eager I was to see what happened next, I didn’t mind too much.

The characters are so textured. Whether I loved them dearly or wanted to trample them with a horse, I wanted to see what they were going to do next. The whole cast–even characters I thought I would dislike, such as Joe Mullins–quickly grew close to my heart. 

(Except Tom. Fuck that guy.) 

Despite having already spent 400 pages with Sadie, Rose, Ned, Moses, Rabbit, and stranger folk we meet near the final leg of the road, I wish we could have spent more time with them before the story drew to a close. I want to know more about Ned and Moses’ adventures, and more about their friendship. I want to see what Rose does after that final chapter. Hell, the setting itself (as all good settings are) became its own character–even if we don’t get to see more from the Red Rabbit crew, I would love another book that explores Red Rabbit’s setting in the future. I love folk horror and supernatural weird west, and the take executed by Grecian was fantastic.

The villain was delightfully terrifying. I don’t want to spoil anything, so I’ll just say this: the villain reminds me of a Hieronymus Bosch painting, if that Hieronymus Bosch painting wanted to hunt you for sport.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I’ll definitely be returning to Red Rabbit in the future. It’s got everything I love: an odyssey, fantastic characters, weird folk horror, cowboys, and a freaky, intimidating villain whose only goal in life is to cause murder on purpose. I’d love to give the audiobook a listen–I’ve heard good things.

If you also love horror weird West, you’ve got to read Red Rabbit. It’s one helluva bloody ride.

Thank you to Tor Publishing Group for providing a digital ARC via Netgalley. If you are interested in Red Rabbit, it releases 19 September 2023.

If possible, support indie bookshops by purchasing the novel from your local brick and mortar or from Bookshop.org!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Suicide, Body horror, Animal death, Death, Gore, Animal cruelty, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Moderate: Cannibalism, Alcoholism, Racism, Alcohol, Child death, Sexism, Grief, Racial slurs, Misogyny, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Medical content, Sexual harassment, Abortion, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Pregnancy, Infidelity, Vomit, and Infertility