Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Cuckoo by Gretchen Felker-Martin

4 reviews

shrikebait's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring tense slow-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

Cuckoo is a love letter to queer resistance. 

Felker-Martin explores so many diverse, distinct, and developed characters while maintaining an easy-to-follow central narrative. I especially loved the unflinching examination of gender dysphoria and body dysmorphia as these kids battle both internal and external demons. 

There is so much packed into these pages that I thought the book was longer than it actually is...in a good way. I found the details immersive and delighted when they pay off. 

I'm grateful to Tor Nightfire for the chance to check this ARC out for free. I'm leaving this review of my own accord. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Mass/school shootings, Outing, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Xenophobia, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Lesbophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Death, Excrement, Fatphobia, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cannibalism, Deadnaming, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Suicide, Violence, Biphobia, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Cursing, Eating disorder, Incest, Racial slurs, Self harm, Torture, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Murder, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Transphobia, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Cancer, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Car accident, Confinement, and Rape

Minor: Islamophobia and Terminal illness

paracosim's review

adventurous 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

4.0

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

So, to preface this, let me make it clear that I enjoyed Cuckoo FAR more than Manhunt. The beginning was incredible, the horror was much better this time around, and there was no Fran. (Thank fucking g-d, there was no Fran. My entire book club detested her LOL.) And also the cover? Stellar.

That said, many of the same issues I had with Manhunt are ones I had with Cuckoo.

I’m beginning to think Felker-Martin and I just don’t mesh well, stylistically; I dislike how short each POV is, making the book feel like a series of vignettes rather than a cohesive story. Just like in Manhunt, she absolutely fails at establishing the passage of time. It mentions around 65% in that the kids have been at the camp for literal weeks…but there is nothing suggesting that. If anything, it felt as though they’d been there for a few days. A week would be generous. I did a mental double take when I read the line specifying how much time had passed. Nothing felt in any way grounded in the progression of events.

There was quite a bit of whiplash at the start of the book, with characters being introduced left and right with little to no breathing room. And just when you think you’re settling in and have figured out who is who, there’s someone new. Each POV begins with action and at times it was hard to differentiate between the experiences of the characters. Don’t get me wrong, the action was great—Felker-Martin’s strength lies in heavy action scenes. The finale of Manhunt was incredible and she’s managed to improve her skills even more in Cuckoo.

Another strength of hers is in her characters. There are a ton of people to root for. Even some of the kids you don’t initially expect to like, you’ll find yourself on the edge of your seat with worry over by the end. There were some moments at the end that actually made me tear up.

Which brings me to my next point: the kids.

*Commercial voice:* Hello there! Are you one of those lucky readers who read Steven King’s “It”? Have you spent the last thirty-eight years desperately craving more of the child orgy scene you happened upon in the crisp autumn of October 1986? Why, then look no further than Cuckoo by Gretchen Felker-Martin, where you can read bizarro drug-induced child orgy scenes in droves!

Okay in all seriousness, I don’t mind reading about teens having sex. Kids are having sex whether we like it or not; that’s just a fact. What I do mind is (and this will sound very petty)…Gretchen Felker-Martin’s sex scenes lmfao. There is something about them that makes me deeply uncomfortable. A prime example is from Manhunt (tw for rape here), when

Robbie rims Fran’s unwashed ass while Beth lies in post-rape agony, bleeding and crying, like five feet away. Like…girl?? You haven’t had access to toilet paper in literal weeks, and you’re letting this stranger tongue you while your purported best friend suffers mere feet away from you?

GIRL?? Absolute insanity.

Cuckoo has the same weird, gratuitous sex. It has it in droves. I’m not above begging for it to stop.

Another thing it has, is racial slurs. I’m 99.9% certain Felker-Martin is white, and I would consider myself racially white in the US, so maybe this is just my whiteness speaking, but the fact that there are so many racial slurs written plainly makes me…a little uneasy. You are supposed to dislike the characters using them and it’s explicitly a bad thing, which makes me FAR less likely to point fingers and scream, “racist!” when a malicious character saying heinous things is in no way indicative of the author’s own views. (In other words, I really don’t think she’s a racist.) But I think it should be stated so readers know what they’re getting into. There are racial slurs used in this book. Specifically anti-Japanese, anti-Vietnamese, and anti-Mexican ones.

Now onto the body horror. Can I say, yes please? Give me more, queen? The body horror (and the horror in general) in Cuckoo was exquisite. It was decent in Manhunt, but she’s really upped the ante this time and boy did it pay off. There were scenes and descriptions that made me actively sick to my stomach. (This is a good thing.)

So, did I enjoy Cuckoo? Yes and no. Will I read more of Gretchen Felker-Martin’s books? Absolutely, if only for more excellent horror. And I will be cringing at the weird sex scenes all the way through.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Excrement, Gun violence, Violence, Vomit, Fatphobia, Kidnapping, Eating disorder, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Transphobia, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Animal death, Death, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Dysphoria, Pedophilia, Incest, Adult/minor relationship, and Self harm

Minor: Alcohol and Misogyny

sydnec's review

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

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

2.75

This was a slog. One character would ask a question and multiple paragraphs of description later, there would be a response. Don't know how many times I read about the smell of cum and the taste of blood and various slits compared to body orifices. The premise is great and could have really been terrifying if I didn't have to read through so much unnecessary description. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Fatphobia, Confinement, Death, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, Body horror, Body shaming, Excrement, Gore, Gun violence, Transphobia, Torture, Blood, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Child death, Violence, and Sexual content

Moderate: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Racism, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Mass/school shootings, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Eating disorder, Gun violence, and Sexual assault

lexloro's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Hate crime, Biphobia, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Religious bigotry, Transphobia, and Vomit

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Gun violence, Self harm, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Car accident and Suicide attempt