Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby

104 reviews

katrinarose's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I didn’t love the writing style (some strange pov flip flopping), and some of the decisions characters made didn’t make any sense, but overall it was a great action-packed revenge story with a nice character redemption arc.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, Cursing, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Xenophobia, Medical content, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Domestic abuse, Lesbophobia, and Outing

books_in_badgerland's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

 Throughout the first part of this book I felt like something was missing. We meet two men, Ike and Buddy Lee, whose sons get married and then murdered not long after. These men struggled with their sons’ sexual identities, but they were ready for vengeance after the murders. I was ready to rock in regards to their stories, but we didn’t know much about the villain(s). It felt incomplete. THEN there’s a lightbulb moment, and we get rolling. That’s when I felt all in.

Not only is this book entertaining, it’s important. Two fathers from different backgrounds share a journey starting with disapproval and moving into acceptance, guilt, and regret. The story is powerful. It’s violent, graphic, and sad but also beautiful in a way. (4⭐️) 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Murder

Moderate: Homophobia and Alcohol

anastasia_raf's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.75

I liked this book very much. I found it entertaining, dark, realistic, hard and raw. It is very well crafted and interesting. The characters were complex and I appreciated how nuanced was the presentation of grief. It was very well handled in my opinion.

I also think that people give Buddy Lee too much gredit when he rarely stops himself from being an asshole.
Ike, I think you need to start appreciating your wife more.

There was one of many sentences that rubbed me the wrong way... But this one? Not a fan. ''Buddy Lee leaned against the sink. His chest was as tight as virgin pussy." Huh.

I want to believe that this book is supposed to be a punch in toxic masculinity's throat since all this happened because Cis-het (especially white,) man are insecure in their own sexuality and very existence,
BUT, I felt like queer people were just there to serve the plot. I felt their presence was "over-exploited." I get how and why they were important to the plot but they were also used as an excuse for "character growth." This book goes out of its way to show how these fathers were educated on these topics by their gay sons and queer people in general and yet does nothing to educate its audience and to lift up queer voices. Another perspective on the plot is that these two homophobic fathers used revenge as a way of absolving themselves of the guilt (about the awful treatment towards their sons and their ignorant ass towards queerness.) And yet, was it intentional? Or just...there? I think that's where the book lacked in a way. It's not clear on where it stands.

"Still, some of Cosby's other choices render this novel something short of a triumph. Queer people are central to the investigation and the story, but not a one has a particularly strong, fully realized voice of their own..." "Cosby also has straight people talking about LGBTQIA+ marginalization in conversations that sometimes sound preachy rather than organic. It's a jarring juxtaposition — having straight characters gain this growing awareness of and sensitivity to discrimination when the queer characters are marginalized in the narrative." By Carole V. Bell, a cultural critic and communication scholar focusing on media, politics and identity. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Terminal illness, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Sexism, Car accident, Death of parent, and Lesbophobia

leosthetics's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

bookworm247's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cancer, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Blood, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

kennedybullen's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Kidnapping, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Cancer, Blood, and Car accident

faerietale_princess's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

5.0

Wow. Amazing. I love a book that challenges you by taking people you would think of as awful and making them sympathetic. I’m glad these men met, became friends, and grew as people together.

Also, I learned quite a few words! Loved the choice of language and prose the author used.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Hate crime, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol

Minor: Deadnaming, Transphobia, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail

kawooreads's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

There is so much that I can say about this book. I knew, when I first read the premise, I was going to devour it, yet I kept putting it off because I was afraid it wouldn't live up to the hype. It Was So Good!! Two men with criminal pasts come together in grief when their sons, who were married to each other, are killed. Unsatisfied and frustrated by the investigative efforts of law enforcement, they decide to take matters into their own hands to find those responsible. This story is intense. Its traumatic. Its painful. And yet, it's so, so good!! Upon finishing it I immediately did a search to see if it is being made into a movie, and yes it is!!! Not only is this a thrilling, suspenseful murder-mystery, it's also a social commentary on who we are as people, as parents, and how we handle our own issues of identity, whether it be race, sexual orientation, or baggage from our past. This story had me in it's grip from start to epic finish and presented a story with a gray moral compass, because when it comes to your child, where do you draw the line between justice and revenge? Content warnings include homophobia, graphic violence, hate crime, death, and grief. The audiobook narrator was phenomenal!! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Infidelity, Racism, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Kidnapping, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

pollyhall's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• 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

2.0

There is a scene at the beginning of the book where Ike is taking his grief out on a punching bag. The rhythm mimics the style of writing short and to the point which I liked. However, I found the language used to describe women in this book offensive. 
The story could have been shorter and some characters felt unnecessary to move the story along.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Murder, Lesbophobia, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

narbine's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism and Death of parent

Minor: Deadnaming, Hate crime, Infidelity, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, and Outing