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stephhamp's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
My grievance with the book was the (my grievance only) this need for Ike to have to explain to Buddy, why being black in America is difficult. It's hard to read this tired trope of bigoted or racist white people, having to meet a "good" black person to begin to break down their racism. They have to have a common enemy with black people to even begin and explore the idea of working together or reaching out. Buddy needed a person to help him solve this mystery. If he didn't need Ike he wouldn't in a million years be in this partnership with a black man. But this is a reality for so many people, relationships, families, and circumstances. And Ike is not by any means perfect. They're both men who did horrible things and made horrible choices in life and parenting. They've both killed people
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Blood, Death of parent, and Alcohol
Moderate: Alcoholism, Gore, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Vomit, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
killmoore_'s review
- 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
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Terminal illness, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
keats1787's review
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Transphobia, Police brutality, Medical content, Stalking, and Outing
searobin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
On one hand, I loved it in a guilty-pleasure kinda way and couldn't put it down. On the other hand, a lot of the actual plot was rather weak, the twists were obvious a mile out, the similes were excessive, gross, and/or weird (e.g., "his chest was as tight as virgin pussy"), and the characters were two-dimensional at best. It was just really, really, really violent. I have aphantasia, so gore in books doesn't bother me in the same way as in movies/tv shows, but some of the descriptions were just unnecessary - like, way too much detail about someone's guts spilling out like taffy that had had merlot spilled on it or something, for example.
I am queer, but don't have a lot of queerphobic trauma, so that aspect of things wasn't triggering for me, just terribly sad and hard to read, but I can see how it would be really terrible for some.
Idk, it was a weird read. I was so hyped when I finished it; it felt like I had whiplash from the whole thing. However, the more it settles and the more time I have to process it, the more I realise that I think it was more an adrenaline high than a good book.
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Excrement, and Fire/Fire injury
ktdakotareads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, Deadnaming, Infidelity, Transphobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism
bookswithmybulldog's review
- 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
Graphic: Gun violence, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Transphobia, Violence, Vomit, Kidnapping, Stalking, and Murder
sarah984's review
- 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
Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Infidelity, Terminal illness, Transphobia, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Car accident, Murder, and Classism
Minor: Deadnaming, Physical abuse, Rape, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, and Outing