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Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'
Small Game Hunting at the Local Coward Gun Club by Megan Gail Coles
2 reviews
annemaries_shelves's review
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
First, this book made me want to throw it off a balcony - oftentimes in that way a good writer who makes you feel a lot of emotions can do. Other times because I was frustrated by the writer's choices.
Second, read the content warnings. I cannot emphasize this enough. I didn't know any of the content going in, and it was a lot to handle in the first 50 pages. And the rest of the novel. I'll list the big ones below.
It's a gritty literary fiction focusing on a cast of entwined messy characters over the course of one blizzardy day in St. John's (with flashbacks). Throughout the novel, the author tried really hard to show how bad decisions and self-destructive behaviour can be the result of fucked up childhoods of poverty, abuse, molestation, and intergenerational trauma - basically never having a fucking chance or support to grow into a well-adjusted adult and the consequences of all that. It's a bit like that "it's a reason but not an excuse" saying. And usually she succeeded. Sometimes though, I felt like these themes and consequences were being overly explained with authorial ruminations or character thoughts rather than demonstrated through actions. Coles was a little too on the nose with some of her thematic exploration and it grated occasionally, personally. I think with a different writer (and maybe a different mindset of my own), it would've been more successful overall.
I found myself alternating rooting for Olive and Iris to realize their self-worth as human beings and to get out of bad situations (as much as feasibly possible that is), while also being incredibly frustrated at their behaviour, their lack of self-determination and in the case of Iris, her obsession over this married guy to the point of losing all her other relationships. They were so beaten down by circumstances and other people that it became difficult to read through.
John, on the other hand, just infuriated me. He's a loser man-child, relying on the money and talents of others (including his wife), refuses to be considered anything less than top tier (will lie and intentionally fuck things up for others to stay ahead), and a cheater asshole of a husband who emotionally manipulates/abuses his girlfriend with whom he's having an affair. It was awful being in his POV (same with Roger) and reading his scenes with Iris was difficult and infuriating.
Also - he fucks both his girlfriend and his wife in the kitchen of his restaurant on the same day (12 hours apart) - that's disgusting and unhygienic and took me out of the story both times.
None of the characters were likeable but many were at least interesting some of the time.
I hated the ending though. It felt cheap and we didn't get all the loose ends tied up so depending on preferences, that can be annoying.
Overall, if you like gritty litfic with unlikeable, unhappy characters that focuses on the messiness of their lives, go for it. Otherwise, skip.
Content warnings: sexual assault of children in flashbacks by adults and other children, on-page gangbang rape by a group of men, cocaine and other drug use, alcohol use, emotional abuse, cheating, discussions of infertility and IVF, on page animal abuse by children (specifically repeatedly throwing a cat into an ocean who kept coming back for affection - I almost cried at that scene), domestic abuse/unhealthy family dynamics, mentions of suicide, slurs (F word, slur against Native people), misogyny, sexism, classism, intergenerational poverty and trauma, probably other content warnings that I'm forgetting...
Second, read the content warnings. I cannot emphasize this enough. I didn't know any of the content going in, and it was a lot to handle in the first 50 pages. And the rest of the novel. I'll list the big ones below.
It's a gritty literary fiction focusing on a cast of entwined messy characters over the course of one blizzardy day in St. John's (with flashbacks). Throughout the novel, the author tried really hard to show how bad decisions and self-destructive behaviour can be the result of fucked up childhoods of poverty, abuse, molestation, and intergenerational trauma - basically never having a fucking chance or support to grow into a well-adjusted adult and the consequences of all that. It's a bit like that "it's a reason but not an excuse" saying. And usually she succeeded. Sometimes though, I felt like these themes and consequences were being overly explained with authorial ruminations or character thoughts rather than demonstrated through actions. Coles was a little too on the nose with some of her thematic exploration and it grated occasionally, personally. I think with a different writer (and maybe a different mindset of my own), it would've been more successful overall.
I found myself alternating rooting for Olive and Iris to realize their self-worth as human beings and to get out of bad situations (as much as feasibly possible that is), while also being incredibly frustrated at their behaviour, their lack of self-determination and in the case of Iris, her obsession over this married guy to the point of losing all her other relationships. They were so beaten down by circumstances and other people that it became difficult to read through.
John, on the other hand, just infuriated me. He's a loser man-child, relying on the money and talents of others (including his wife), refuses to be considered anything less than top tier (will lie and intentionally fuck things up for others to stay ahead), and a cheater asshole of a husband who emotionally manipulates/abuses his girlfriend with whom he's having an affair. It was awful being in his POV (same with Roger) and reading his scenes with Iris was difficult and infuriating.
Also - he fucks both his girlfriend and his wife in the kitchen of his restaurant on the same day (12 hours apart) - that's disgusting and unhygienic and took me out of the story both times.
None of the characters were likeable but many were at least interesting some of the time.
I hated the ending though. It felt cheap and we didn't get all the loose ends tied up so depending on preferences, that can be annoying.
Overall, if you like gritty litfic with unlikeable, unhappy characters that focuses on the messiness of their lives, go for it. Otherwise, skip.
Content warnings: sexual assault of children in flashbacks by adults and other children, on-page gangbang rape by a group of men, cocaine and other drug use, alcohol use, emotional abuse, cheating, discussions of infertility and IVF, on page animal abuse by children (specifically repeatedly throwing a cat into an ocean who kept coming back for affection - I almost cried at that scene), domestic abuse/unhealthy family dynamics, mentions of suicide, slurs (F word, slur against Native people), misogyny, sexism, classism, intergenerational poverty and trauma, probably other content warnings that I'm forgetting...
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Grief, Rape, Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Animal cruelty, Infidelity, Alcohol, Sexism, Misogyny, Infertility, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Blood, Car accident, Racial slurs, Classism, and Death
Minor: Suicide
masscrafter's review
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Vomit, and Animal cruelty
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