Reviews tagging 'Transphobia'

Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby

248 reviews

nattiemoff's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

This was a very difficult and uncomfortable read, as both a woman and a queer person. There are definitely a lot of vulgar descriptors (i.e “his chest was as tight as virgin pussy” 🤮) that made me reflect on why I don’t like or trust men. But my biggest criticism is the feelings I’m left with about the father duo.

I’m glad they were developed into more thoughtful people. However, there is a QUICK turnaround here from abusing and cutting off their sons to suddenly becoming an ally and avenging their death. It just feels a little too predictable/obvious/played-out. Maybe I’m just too tired of real life parents being assholes and then when it’s too late or they’re finally affected in a significant way, they try to backtrack and salvage their own image or soul?

With that being said, it’s a thought-provoking and emotional story that touches on a lot of sensitive topics aside from the lgbtq+ community. Racism, class disparity, addiction, and criminal history all play an important role in shaping the narrative. Hopefully this book can make someone who needs it stop and think a little deeper about these issues and the people they look down on.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, and Transphobia

Minor: Deadnaming, Sexual harassment, Alcoholism, and Abandonment

brandilovesbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Razorblade Tears is the story of two polar opposites with two things in common- they are both ex-cons and they both lost their sons to a hate crime.  The men set out to discover who killed their sons.  

I almost quit about a third of the way into the book.  I found the book to be very violent.  I am not the targeted audience.  I continued reading because it was a book club book.  I am glad I did.

The characters are very well developed.  Even if you didn't agree with their choices, you found  yourself caring for Ike and Buddy Lee.  I cried at the end.

S.A. Crosby has a beautiful way with words.  He is able to create vivid images to go with his words.    The name of the book comes from a description of Ike's tears after his son's funeral.

The genius of this book is that it has a very specific, very important, message that is probably uncomfortable for the targeted audience.   There are many guys just like Buddy Lee and Ike who are going to pick up this book for the vigilante justice and the war with a biker gang.  They are going to read it and they are going to hear that message over and over, starting out subtly but getting more direct by the end.

I wasn't a fan of the almost omnipotent point of view that happened during fight scenes.  Although there were multiple points of view throughout the book,  they were separated by scenes.  During the fight scenes I was overwhelmed by knowing what too many characters were thinking and feeling.  (Could be that I'm not the targeted audience.)

I recommend this book to people who like to read about vigilante justice and biker gangs.  Sons of Anarchy fans should pick this up.

My content warnings-
Violence 
Murder
Kidnapping
Torture
Racial slurs
LGBTQ slurs
Dead naming 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Murder, Hate crime, Blood, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Gore, Torture, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Transphobia, Violence, Classism, Grief, and Religious bigotry

ellieisreading's review

dark 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Murder, Homophobia, Racism, Violence, Hate crime, and Gun violence

jkar7's review against another edition

dark 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

5.0

Loved this book. It felt like a movie. The audiobook was decent as well. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child death, Death of parent, Hate crime, and Violence

Moderate: War, Car accident, and Cancer

Minor: Animal cruelty

jj_tj's review

adventurous dark 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Violence and Blood

Minor: Kidnapping

reading_under_covers's review

4.0

I have so much respect for Cosby’s ability to weave humor into a story full of so many serious topics. This one was great on audio and I loved the lessons that were an integral part of the plot.

tw: homophobia, racism

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Homophobia

Moderate: Transphobia

ryankaybee's review against another edition

challenging dark 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: Deadnaming, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Classism, Cursing, Blood, Kidnapping, Transphobia, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Murder, Racial slurs, and Racism

bep's review

adventurous dark hopeful 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Homophobia, Murder, Racial slurs, Transphobia, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, and Racism

davinmotion's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.5

I read this for my mystery book club and I picked it up a bit begrudgingly at first. The back cover didn’t reel me in. As I started reading though the characters slowly began to pull me in and I quickly became invested in the story. I appreciate the thoughtfulness of this book and how it handles the LGBTQIA+ community and the hardships they face daily. At times it’s hard to read because it makes you uncomfortable and in my case, upset because you want to call characters out for their actions. However many of the characters are written so well that you can empathize with them even if you don’t agree with them, often leading to them developing into someone you can really respect. The only characters that don’t really receive this treatment are the villains, who remain mostly one note, so it’s very easy to dislike and condemn them. I can think of only one villain character that had a speck of morality, so I wish that was explored more, showing that not everyone “bad” has to stay that way. Overall, I enjoyed this more than I thought I would and I’ll happily check out the author’s other work! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Violence

Moderate: Transphobia, Racism, Racial slurs, Terminal illness, and Homophobia

Minor: Alcoholism, Kidnapping, and Torture

gknott's review

dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Violence, Infidelity, Alcoholism, Gore, Transphobia, Racism, Racial slurs, Gun violence, Grief, Homophobia, and Hate crime

Moderate: Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, and Cancer