Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby

322 reviews

takeaim's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

Raw.

That's "Razorblade Tears." This thriller mystery easily could be written off as a violent revenge story, but do not underestimate S.A. Cosby. 

The premise is compelling: A married couple are murdered, and the men's fathers want to find the killers. But that's not the only thing Ike Randolph, who is Black, and Buddy Lee, who is white, have in common. Both have criminal pasts. Neither would have won the Best Dad award. Both refused to accept that their sons were gay. And both are drowning in grief and regret.

The two also combat racism, classism, and homophobia, within themselves and the outer world of rural Virginia. They clash and butt heads, but perhaps there's nothing like getting to know one another by getting into fights and exchanging gunfire with the bad guys.

Yes, this novel is action-packed and violent. But Ike and Buddy Lee's emotional self-torture is an all-too familiar mantra to anyone who has ever lost a loved one. Should've. Could've. Would've. And this is the strength of Cosby's writing. He exposes the gentleness of two troubled men who loved their only sons, but did not know how to love them.

According to Wikipedia, the novel has been optioned for a possible film. Fingers crossed that Hollywood does this novel justice.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Racism, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, and Classism

kendramekalle's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• 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

2.5

Razorblade Tears is a fast-paced, grab you by the throat story of grief and vengeance that doesn't let go... at first.

Two fathers, Ike and Buddy Lee, ex-cons who have very little in common, but the love they have for their married sons who were brutally murdered. As Buddy Lee starts to feel that the police are doing lttle to find the his son's killers, he enlists the help of Ike. Together, they set out to find justice for their sons and learn to accept who their sons were. 

I am so thankful to have read 'All the Sinners Bleed' before reading this one, because this was a bit a disappointment. This was vulgar, violent, and predictable. I'm giving this a 2.5. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Deadnaming

nats2643's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism

stacis16's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Blood, Murder, and Alcohol

ktdakotareads's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, Deadnaming, Infidelity, Transphobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

bookiecharm's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Transphobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cancer

mecmccann's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

3.75

Initial thoughts: I liked this book a lot. It was dark and violent, but it had depth; it was more than just 320 pages of pew pew. I don’t think that existing lgbtq+ ally’s are the target audience. I think people who are new to allyship are. For that reason it wasn’t a perfect book for me. There were also a loooot of similes, some of which were poorly written, which did take me out of the story a bit. I’m also not a huge fan of the pew pew scenes. A good book, I’m just not the ideal audience.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Violence, and Grief

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, Racial slurs, Racism, Transphobia, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Alcohol

finnmurphy10's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, and Alcohol

Moderate: Cancer

Minor: Transphobia

fadedrainbows's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.25

This should be a movie. It's written like it should be a movie. Feels kinda like John Wick or some other ridiculous action movie. Check all the trigger warnings. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, and Transphobia

skyebird16's review

dark emotional 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: Homophobia, Racial slurs, Torture, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Kidnapping