Reviews tagging 'Hate crime'

Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby

189 reviews

angiesix's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• 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: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

jjsbookcase's review against another edition

dark informative 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

4.5

Very violent and aggressive, but had incredible writing and massive character arcs.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Transphobia, Violence, and Murder

lil_wavy_'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? Yes

5.0

OMG !!! Just finished the audiobook and I am hella salty right now. Great book overall though, S.A. did it again. He is definitely an author you should look out for honestly. Ike and Buddy Lee did what needed to be done. The entire plot was throughly written with such detail and depth. This book will have you emotional just letting y'all know. TW: racism, mental health, and homophobia 

Rate: 10/10

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, and Murder

brandilovesbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

Razorblade Tears is the story of two polar opposites with two things in common- they are both ex-cons and they both lost their sons to a hate crime.  The men set out to discover who killed their sons.  

I almost quit about a third of the way into the book.  I found the book to be very violent.  I am not the targeted audience.  I continued reading because it was a book club book.  I am glad I did.

The characters are very well developed.  Even if you didn't agree with their choices, you found  yourself caring for Ike and Buddy Lee.  I cried at the end.

S.A. Crosby has a beautiful way with words.  He is able to create vivid images to go with his words.    The name of the book comes from a description of Ike's tears after his son's funeral.

The genius of this book is that it has a very specific, very important, message that is probably uncomfortable for the targeted audience.   There are many guys just like Buddy Lee and Ike who are going to pick up this book for the vigilante justice and the war with a biker gang.  They are going to read it and they are going to hear that message over and over, starting out subtly but getting more direct by the end.

I wasn't a fan of the almost omnipotent point of view that happened during fight scenes.  Although there were multiple points of view throughout the book,  they were separated by scenes.  During the fight scenes I was overwhelmed by knowing what too many characters were thinking and feeling.  (Could be that I'm not the targeted audience.)

I recommend this book to people who like to read about vigilante justice and biker gangs.  Sons of Anarchy fans should pick this up.

My content warnings-
Violence 
Murder
Kidnapping
Torture
Racial slurs
LGBTQ slurs
Dead naming 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

josie2k's review against another edition

adventurous 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Car accident, Murder, and Classism

erenreads12's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful 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? Yes

4.0

This was a pleasantly surprising read for me. As wary as I am of a Bury Your Gays trope, S.A. Cosby handled quietness, rejection and allyship much better than I had anticipated, injecting humour and a great deal of heart into a dark story. Somehow I was persuaded to love these two objectively terrible men, who experienced a great loss, and then - went on to do better. Knocked off a star for some at times confused characterisation (in my opinion), particularly of Ike.

At once painful, tense and warm. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism and Racism

m_ren_watson's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Death, Hate crime, Racial slurs, and Murder

Minor: Alcoholism and Deadnaming

ellieisreading's review against another edition

dark 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racism, Transphobia, Violence, and Murder

jkar7's review against another edition

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

5.0

Loved this book. It felt like a movie. The audiobook was decent as well. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Hate crime, Transphobia, Violence, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Moderate: Cancer, Car accident, and War

Minor: Animal cruelty

oliviavm8's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-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

5.0

Wonderful book. So thoughtful and beautifully written. The character development was my favorite part and all of the characters experienced some sort of growth. Made me cry, which is so rare for me when I am reading. Great read, would totally recommend. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racism, Blood, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail