Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Blacktop Wasteland by S.A. Cosby

8 reviews

rwgabbard's review against another edition

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Child abuse, Gore, Violence, Blood, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Moderate: Abandonment, Classism, Death of parent, Grief, Racism, Terminal illness, and Vomit

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

jhbandcats's review

adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

SA Cosby is an extraordinary writer. I can be sitting in my living room reading a book with my body but my mind is completely in the story with the characters, feeling the adrenaline and the tension and the terror. Nothing in my life is remotely like the plots of his books but he makes me feel like I’m there. 

The first couple of chapters ease the reader in slowly. You learn about the main character, his problems, his love for family, his violent history. By a third of the way in, you’re trapped - there’s no way you’re getting out of this book without reading it to the end. The first action sequence is mind-bogglingly good and it just gets better and better. 

Cosby writes action that doesn’t let up. Everything is clear not just in terms of plot but in logistics. I fear I’m not articulating how bowled over I was by this book. 

If you strip away the action and mystery, what’s left is an aching diatribe on the state of the Black man in white America. It’s a scathing rebuke. 

Truly fabulous book. I hope Cosby keeps writing and writing and writing. He’s a literary treasure. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Vomit, Alcohol, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Racism, Torture, and Violence

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

emco_0's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Torture, Car accident, Vomit, Racial slurs, Drug use, Murder, Violence, Sexism, Fatphobia, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Grief, Gore, and Death

Moderate: Addiction, Trafficking, Ableism, and Death of parent

starrysteph's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

4.5

This was an exhilarating read. Intense stakes, a sharp written voice, and excellent pacing that goes from lingering moments of deep characterization to heart-pounding action scenes. I was shocked and horrified and triumphant. 

This is a story about inescapable poverty & racism. It's a story about family - about generational violence and struggling with identity and our MC's deep desire to be a good father. At its core, it's a story about one man yearning for freedom. Throw in a heist (where things rapidly funnel out of control) and a lot of action-packed getaway drives, and you've got me hooked.

We follow Beauregard ("Bug") as he attempts to create an honest life for himself and his family, leaving his exploits as a getaway driver in the past. But a lot of things go wrong all at once, and Bug is tempted by an old acquaintance to lean back into the Life he so desperately wanted to bury for one final heist. (Though is it ever one final heist?)
 
Bug is a deeply compelling protagonist - he makes some pretty nasty choices, but you still find yourself rooting for him. That's not easy to pull off.

The prose is overall strong, but at moments Cosby leans into the similes so much that it got a little distracting. There's also a lot of detailed car talk, but even as a reader with 0 expertise in this area I felt like I was able to follow along (it just took a little extra effort at times, and led to some descriptions that felt quite dry). 

It's a gritty read with a lot of depth. It's intense. It's violent. It's heavy on the heart. But in my opinion? It's worth it.

CW: murder, violence, gore, body horror, gun violence, drug use, racial slurs, torture, fatphobia, cancer, sexual content, car accident, animal death, fire, vomit

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Fatphobia, Excrement, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Body horror, Car accident, Cursing, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Torture, Toxic friendship, Violence, Vomit, Drug abuse, Murder, and Sexual content

sadieh's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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: Torture, Violence, Gun violence, Racism, Abandonment, Alcohol, Death, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Medical content, and Cursing

Minor: Grief and Sexual content

jennneely82's review

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, and Torture

Moderate: Racial slurs and Racism

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