Reviews with content warning for Torture - Razorblade Tears

Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby

78 reviews

taylor13's review

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dark emotional 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

4.0

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graff_fuller's review

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challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This is a reluctant revenge story.Like a buddy cop story...without being cops. Like 48 Hours as civilians...ex-cons.

Also, the reluctanat part was because of the lifestyle of their sons.

It really isn't for the faint at heart. What would your father do for you...even IF he didn't agree with it...he will make it right at the end.

These two guys, Ike Randolph and Buddy Lee play off each other really great. The bad guys were REALLY bad guys.

It was a satisfying end. I'll be picking up Blacktop Wasteland (2020), his first book...I think.

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anastasia_raf's review

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challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I liked this book very much. I found it entertaining, dark, realistic, hard and raw. It is very well crafted and interesting. The characters were complex and I appreciated how nuanced was the presentation of grief. It was very well handled in my opinion.

I also think that people give Buddy Lee too much gredit when he rarely stops himself from being an asshole.
Ike, I think you need to start appreciating your wife more.

There was one of many sentences that rubbed me the wrong way... But this one? Not a fan. ''Buddy Lee leaned against the sink. His chest was as tight as virgin pussy." Huh.

I want to believe that this book is supposed to be a punch in toxic masculinity's throat since all this happened because Cis-het (especially white,) man are insecure in their own sexuality and very existence,
BUT, I felt like queer people were just there to serve the plot. I felt their presence was "over-exploited." I get how and why they were important to the plot but they were also used as an excuse for "character growth." This book goes out of its way to show how these fathers were educated on these topics by their gay sons and queer people in general and yet does nothing to educate its audience and to lift up queer voices. Another perspective on the plot is that these two homophobic fathers used revenge as a way of absolving themselves of the guilt (about the awful treatment towards their sons and their ignorant ass towards queerness.) And yet, was it intentional? Or just...there? I think that's where the book lacked in a way. It's not clear on where it stands.

"Still, some of Cosby's other choices render this novel something short of a triumph. Queer people are central to the investigation and the story, but not a one has a particularly strong, fully realized voice of their own..." "Cosby also has straight people talking about LGBTQIA+ marginalization in conversations that sometimes sound preachy rather than organic. It's a jarring juxtaposition — having straight characters gain this growing awareness of and sensitivity to discrimination when the queer characters are marginalized in the narrative." By Carole V. Bell, a cultural critic and communication scholar focusing on media, politics and identity.

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mcdermotte1639's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

The beginning and the end made this book for me. That and the honesty that was brought to the characters, Ike in particular. For the most part, these are not lovable characters (Mya excluded), but I still found myself rooting for them in the end. And not just to see them grow and accept their sons, and come to terms with their failings, but to actually see them grow and find a path forward.
The story/plot, overall, was pretty standard and there were very few surprises in the 'who-dun-it' category. But I still found this story very satisfying.

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pollyhall's review

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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

2.0

There is a scene at the beginning of the book where Ike is taking his grief out on a punching bag. The rhythm mimics the style of writing short and to the point which I liked. However, I found the language used to describe women in this book offensive.
The story could have been shorter and some characters felt unnecessary to move the story along.

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julesandjude's review

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adventurous dark 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

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halfass_reviewer's review

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dark emotional 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

A story about two grieving fathers trying to get answers about the deaths of their sons is not a story I knew I needed until I had it. (Despite it still taking me days to finish this novel) I couldn't put the book down. This is the kind of novel you read when you want to read about grief and how one person's personal beliefs can ruin relationships. I loved that the fathers, Ike and Buddy Lee, were constantly working through their homophobic ideology and it wasn't like "oh, all of a sudden our sons are dead and I no longer have a homophobic bone in my body." Their views about their sons and their son's lifestyle were constantly changing and getting better until the last page. I'm also glad that other minor characters in the book (friends/associates of the sons) frequently called both fathers out on their bullshit when the fathers tried to pretend they weren't the reason they didn't have a relationship with their sons. It was nice to see these friends still have Derek and Isiah (the sons) back even after their death. This was a great book and the only reason it didn't get five stars is because I had to read through all the racists and homophobic slurs. Also, Billy Lee repeatedly calling Mya (Isiah's mother) and some other women sis made me cringe and I wanted Mya to cuss him out so badly. Lastly, I knew he was going to die anyway (not the sons but another character) but he could've got one more future chapter first.

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annaledbetter's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging 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

This book was amazing! It is super violent though, so check you trigger warnings. I had to take a break sometimes bc of its description of bloody details. But this is a book I think I will be recommending to a bunch of people!

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albernikolauras's review

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adventurous dark funny tense fast-paced

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

4.0

This book was a ride of a book following two fathers bent on avenging their murdered sons - the sons happening to be married to each other. It was an interesting mix of gratuitous violence and men reconciling their treatment of their sons as gay, and can never take it back. I think that it went on a bit too long and they were both a bit too eager to resort straight to violence - especially in the beginning. But this isn't a book full of wholesome characters and they don't act or do as they should. It wasn't realistic in terms of its action, but S. A. Cosby covered the issues he wanted to cover very well - entrained homophobia, the criminal justice system, and racism (systemic and not) - and weaved them very well into the plot.

In summary - read if you want a rip roaring good time that discusses some very prominent issues. Avoid if you like wholesome characters or realistic plots. Or just recommend it to your dad because it seems exactly like a 'Dad' kind of book (in a not negative way). Four stars but five dads.

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sarah984's review

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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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