Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Blacktop Wasteland by S.A. Cosby

3 reviews

bootsmom3's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny 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: Violence, Body shaming, Car accident, Classism, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Sexual content, Gore, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Grief, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Blood, Death, Fatphobia, Abandonment, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Medical trauma, Cursing, Gun violence, and Sexism

Moderate: Ableism, Alcohol, and Cancer

graff_fuller's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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 is the second book that I've read of S.A. Cosby (Razorblade Tears, though published later...was the book that brought this author into my view). I actually loved this book, better.

I love reading Thrillers...and this was outside my usual. This protagonist has done a LOT of shady sh*t, but deep down he's a man that just wants to do right for his family.

Beauregard "Bug" Montage is a hard working man that has been dealt a bad hand in life, but he doesn't make excuses. He just keeps doing his best. He also has a talent...he can build/race cars. This is both a blessing and a curse. The curse part, comes in the way of ... being "the driver" for any type of heist.

When we first meet him, he is presented with a stretch of bad luck in his business, but also his mother's being evicted from her Nursing Home...because of hidden income...which presents itself as a bill of a LOT of money...that Beauregard has to come up with...to keep his mother safe.

Then the bottom drops out. One mistake leads to another, and another, and another. Blood leaking through enemies, acquaintences, friends and even family. When will it stop?

Even his long lost/dead father is hanging around as a spector in his mind...taunting him down a specific path in life, while his wife is trying her hardest to keep her husband near...so that he can be BETTER than the representation of what fatherhood was for him...so their children will know better.

Loved this book. I look forward to reading whatever he comes up with next.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Body horror, Car accident, Violence, Racism, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Physical abuse, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Medical trauma, and Murder

locdbooktician's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

I loved the southern setting of this book. This book explores facing difficult decisions and idealizing people in the past. This book has many content warnings such as gang violence, racism, violence, childhood abandonment, loss of a parent, child gun violence. The MC is grappled with two parts of himself. He views himself as two different men because he spends so much time separating the different parts of himself, trouble has no choice but to follow him. I often had to stop reading this book because I bracing myself for unspeakable violence. I found the pace of this book to slow and wish it was a bit faster. 

Overall, I like this book. I have many thoughts on how Kia, the MC wife felt about his dealings and the trauma he put on her family. It felt familiar and I felt anger because of it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Car accident, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence