Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby

14 reviews

tracey1981's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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

2.75

I’d heard great things about this book but it was just “ok” to me. It’s crime fiction about two fathers who set out to get vengeance for their sons, a gay couple, who were murdered. The violence and gore were way over the top. I sort of liked the redemptive arc of the characters, who were not accepting of their sons’ sexuality and regret that now,  except it also made the plot a bit awkward to me because the learning and growth feels kind of simplistic and shallow. The LGBTQ+ characters are all quite underdeveloped and one-dimensional. I’d maybe read more by this author in the future if I read great reviews and especially if said reviews noted a decrease in gore and violence from previous books.

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killmoore_'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

5.0

Razorblade Tears was perfect in every way. Tons of very heavy content and gore, but so beautifully written it was like watching a movie. I'll be thinking of this story for years to come. 

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cadence99's review against another edition

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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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brandilovesbooks's review against another edition

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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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ktdakotareads's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0


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mecmccann's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

3.75

Initial thoughts: I liked this book a lot. It was dark and violent, but it had depth; it was more than just 320 pages of pew pew. I don’t think that existing lgbtq+ ally’s are the target audience. I think people who are new to allyship are. For that reason it wasn’t a perfect book for me. There were also a loooot of similes, some of which were poorly written, which did take me out of the story a bit. I’m also not a huge fan of the pew pew scenes. A good book, I’m just not the ideal audience.  

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readwithinthespines's review

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dark emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5


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queergoth_reads's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious 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 was a very good book. It wa a wild ride and I'm going to be thinking about it for a long time. It was such a hard read. I thought I'd zip through it but it was so heavy and raw, I had to keep putting it down to grapple with my emotions. 

I really loved S. A. Cosby's writing. The imagery and the phrases used to evoke it often had me laughing so much. 



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kawooreads's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

There is so much that I can say about this book. I knew, when I first read the premise, I was going to devour it, yet I kept putting it off because I was afraid it wouldn't live up to the hype. It Was So Good!! Two men with criminal pasts come together in grief when their sons, who were married to each other, are killed. Unsatisfied and frustrated by the investigative efforts of law enforcement, they decide to take matters into their own hands to find those responsible. This story is intense. Its traumatic. Its painful. And yet, it's so, so good!! Upon finishing it I immediately did a search to see if it is being made into a movie, and yes it is!!! Not only is this a thrilling, suspenseful murder-mystery, it's also a social commentary on who we are as people, as parents, and how we handle our own issues of identity, whether it be race, sexual orientation, or baggage from our past. This story had me in it's grip from start to epic finish and presented a story with a gray moral compass, because when it comes to your child, where do you draw the line between justice and revenge? Content warnings include homophobia, graphic violence, hate crime, death, and grief. The audiobook narrator was phenomenal!! 

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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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