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morganish's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Blood, Cursing, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Murder, Alcoholism, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, and Violence
Moderate: Cancer, Vomit, Kidnapping, Medical content, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Terminal illness, and Torture
This book is about two blue-collar homophobic ex-con dads, one black and one white, whose gay sons have been murdered so the fathers decide to go on a high-octane quest for revenge. It's very graphic in terms of racial and homophobic slurs, depictions of violence against queer people, and positioning a lot of racism as just sort of part of the Southern landscape that must be dealt with. My personal interpretation is that the author is writing from a place of experience when it comes to the racism, and perhaps a desire to change the minds of people in his own actual community when it comes to views on queer people and queer issues. However, that is a bit undermined by the lackluster and sometimes unnecessarily sexist depiction of female characters. All in all, while the book seems to be getting great reviews, my big warning would be that though Razorblade Tears features homophobia as a major theme, it does not feel like it is made with queer people in mind. Again, I don't always think every book that challenges conventions needs to aimed at and comfortable for the people in question affected, but it is certainly A Choice, and one that people should understand before running out and picking up this book.harrissarah's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Torture, Murder, Racism, and Cursing
karachapp's review against another edition
- 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: Gun violence, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cancer, Cursing, Deadnaming, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and Transphobia
micklesreads'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
4.75
Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Car accident, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, and Violence
booknerdbetty's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Torture, Violence, and Vomit
Moderate: Transphobia
mdinkle1's review against another edition
- 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
2.75
Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence
becksreadsbooks's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Car accident, Death, Violence, Murder, Homophobia, and Grief
Moderate: Cancer, Cursing, Kidnapping, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, and Transphobia
Minor: Deadnaming
alyhutchss's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Car accident, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Violence, Transphobia, Torture, Racism, Racial slurs, Murder, Medical content, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Hate crime, Gun violence, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Child death, Cancer, and Alcohol
thebakerbookworm's review against another edition
- 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
That being said, there is A LOT of graphic violence in this book, and that is not my thing. Maybe I shouldn't let that affect my rating, but I did, though I was able to tune out the violent parts or skip ahead. The villains felt a bit like caricatures to me, and I think this was because our two main characters are very morally gray. But we're still supposed to root for them, so the villains have to be worse than these morally gray characters—and the only way to really do that is make them caricatures and make them do things that are irredeemable. Also, I figured out who the big bad was pretty early so that reveal was not a surprise.
Back to our morally gray main characters—they made me super conflicted. On the one hand, they're written in a way that makes them endearing and likable despite the terrible things they've done, and they do have growth and development throughout the course of the story. But I'm not convinced that they're actually good people by the end...I guess I just wanted them to take more responsibility for their actions and actually deal with the consequences instead of just seeking revenge as a way to redeem themselves.
Also none of the side characters get any real development and that is always a disappointment to me.
Anyways, this book does make you think and is great for conversation; I think I would have liked it more if it had been more character-focused instead of action/violence/plot-focused, but that's probably on me because the book wasn't pretending to be anything else.
Graphic: Blood, Car accident, Cursing, Death, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence
Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping
Minor: Cancer, Deadnaming, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Medical content, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, and Transphobia
carmenvillaman'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
4.0
Graphic: Murder, Homophobia, Transphobia, Racism, Racial slurs, Alcoholism, Cursing, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, and Violence