Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Blacktop Wasteland by S.A. Cosby

103 reviews

culpeppper's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous dark mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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I liked the plot okay, but all the characters felt really flat. Especially the women who very much read as written by a man, and lacked nuance or a life outside of interaction with the main character. 
But I loved the performance of the audio book, excellent choices were made by the production crew behind this 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Car accident, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Cancer, Cursing, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Torture, Vomit, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Lesbophobia, Classism

Minor: Toxic relationship, Trafficking

megmccreery's review

4.5

challenging dark tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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I’m rooting for you, Bug!!

I can’t believe how good S.A. Cosby is at his job. I need 20 more of them. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Car accident, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, Kidnapping

boliv3's review

4.0

adventurous tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Well written, fast-paced crime story, sort of blue-collar John Wick vibe. The main character was insufferable, though; very self-centered and arrogant, hard to empathize with.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Violence

Moderate: Racism

gardner98's review against another edition

1.5

adventurous dark tense

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Car accident, Murder, Injury/Injury detail

nailahkingreads's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous challenging dark emotional medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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A heart pumping heist gone wrong with Cosby's signature cinematic writing, action packed scenes and morally grey characters you can't help but root for. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Drug use, Gun violence, Vomit, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cancer

kdibiasie's review against another edition

4.25

challenging dark hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Racism, Violence, Murder

cikureads's review

4.75

adventurous emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: N/A

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail

marvelessqueen's review

4.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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I gave Blacktop Wasteland 4/5 stars because I found the characters, story, and descriptions incredibly well thought-out and gripping. Cosby does an incredible job of not only cluing us in to his main character’s motivations but also to his side characters such as Ronnie, Lazy, and even Calvin and Kia (sorry if the names are wrong; I listened to the audiobook). However, the ending made me feel two ways: 1) I liked it because an extremely resolved ending wouldn’t have made sense for characters given the events in the last quarter of the book, however 2) I didn’t like it because Bug’s choice was still unclear.

Was he more bandit than family man because he chose that OR was he more family man than bandit and too afraid of staying and leading his sons into the life he had chosen at times in his life? The safety of his family is obviously important but with many stories out there, isn’t it more dangerous for him to not be there to protect them? I think Bug was caught between a rock and a hard place but as a reader would have loved to see a more defined choice for him.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual content, Excrement, Death of parent, Gaslighting

Minor: Trafficking

libbyslibrary's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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I love S.A. Cosby’s storytelling so much. This was another perfect book for me. Miniseries/movie when?!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Car accident, Murder, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail

shannonweiss's review against another edition

3.75

dark tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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A fast paced and exhilarating read - I was constantly on the edge of my seat. This book has action and excitement, moral dilemmas, and overall chaos, and it would make a great movie. The narration of the audiobook was also really good. No real complaints about this book (except for some of the decisions that the main character made, he should have listened to his wife all along). The ending did leave me feeling unfinished though. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Murder

Moderate: Racism