Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby

13 reviews

jwatson9030's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Addiction, Alcoholism, Deadnaming, Death, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Racism, Gun violence, Homophobia, Child abuse, Classism, Medical trauma, Murder, Alcohol, Grief, Abandonment, Antisemitism, Blood, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Violence, Bullying, Car accident, Chronic illness, and Medical content

rwgabbard's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Kidnapping, Gore, Confinement, Deadnaming, Death, Cursing, Drug use, Violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Addiction, Alcoholism, Classism, Drug abuse, Blood, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Outing, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Transphobia, Cultural appropriation, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Terminal illness, Child abuse, Grief, and Murder

cadence99's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

3.5

I really wanted to like this more than I did as it came highly recommended, but unfortunately it wasn’t a runaway hit for me. A story of two fathers, brought together in their quest for vegance after the murder of their sons. Throughout, both grapple with how their homophobia towards their sons destroyed their relationship. I liked the fast paced, whodunnit aspects of this novel but did struggle a bit with the intense graphic nature of it. If you have a weak stomach, this book likely won’t go over super well. Our characters are as morally grey as you can get, stopping at nothing to attain their own version of justice. I think there is a conversation to be had here about how the only way these characters were able to accept their sons was at the cost of their lives. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Hate crime, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Racism, Murder, Cancer, Lesbophobia, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Gun violence, Homophobia, Alcohol, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Gore, Racial slurs, Deadnaming, Death, Medical content, Blood, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Vomit, Addiction, Body horror, Grief, and Kidnapping

middleagedbookworm's review

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad 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

Loved this book. Made me cry like a baby. So much beauty amongst such violence and hard truths. S.A. Cosby is a gifted writer, and his humor definitely shines through in this story. Overall, just a great book with lots of thought provoking & heart wrenching content! Also, I didn’t know there was so much (very descriptive) violence throughout, so just be prepared 😉

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Alcohol, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Cancer, Murder, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Violence, Death of parent, Racism, Blood, Chronic illness, Death, Racial slurs, Injury/Injury detail, and Terminal illness

sarah984's review

dark sad tense slow-paced

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

2.0

I really wanted to like this novel about two ex-cons who team up to avenge their sons' murder but I just found it silly and kind of cheesy. Aside from the leads all of the characters felt like caricatures (the "anarchists" were genuinely embarrassing to read, I can't believe that made it to print) and the dialogue could get as preachy and didactic as the worst YA novels. Felt like a long unironic version of the "I love my dead gay son" monologue from Heathers.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Gun violence, Gore, Racial slurs, Kidnapping, Violence, Death, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, and Torture

Moderate: Classism, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Medical content, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Confinement, Infidelity, Murder, Blood, Cancer, Child abuse, Car accident, Excrement, Terminal illness, and Transphobia

Minor: Outing, Physical abuse, Rape, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Stalking, and Deadnaming

planreadrepeat's review

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Homophobia, Violence, Cancer, Murder, Racism, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Death, Kidnapping, and Gun violence

Moderate: Transphobia and Death of parent

Minor: Deadnaming

ldruckreier's review

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Car accident, Child death, Deadnaming, Hate crime, Lesbophobia, Mass/school shootings, Outing, Murder, Racism, Transphobia, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Tough read but captivating

chaosdemonmonster's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative reflective 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

4.5

I loved the way intolerance and learning went hand in hand for this book. It was written in a way that made it really believable that people were able to change their views on people unlike themselves. I found it very uplifting to see that given the current political climate in the USA. This book managed to take on a number of themes but still made them feel cohesive and like they belonged together in the story. I definitely would recommend this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Gore, Racism, Murder, Racial slurs, and Homophobia

Moderate: Alcohol, Car accident, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Transphobia, Alcoholism, Deadnaming, and Terminal illness

Minor: Alcoholism, Terminal illness, Cursing, Chronic illness, Excrement, Addiction, Infidelity, and Vomit

alyhutchss's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Car accident, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Violence, Transphobia, Torture, Racism, Racial slurs, Murder, Medical content, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Hate crime, Gun violence, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Child death, Cancer, and Alcohol

v171's review

adventurous dark emotional 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

5.0

A riveting, heart wrenching story of vengeance, justice, INjustice, and redemption. This book was everything I was hoping for and more. I am generally very critical of the 'bury your gays' trope, but I absolutely don't think this book falls into that category. Rather than using queer people as a device that pushes the story forward, the queer experience is central to the plot and is handled with both realism and graceful compassion. In addition, this book explored themes of racism, classism, corruption, and police brutality. Each of these were explored fully and expertly. In addition to the flawless structure of the book, the emotions this book put me through.... white hot rage, grief, compassion, love... the author was fantastic at eliciting these feelings from cover to cover. If you like books, read this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Car accident, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Outing, Police brutality, Racism, Sexism, Terminal illness, Torture, Transphobia, and Violence

Moderate: Cancer

Minor: Abandonment and Excrement