Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Blacktop Wasteland by S.A. Cosby

32 reviews

bootsmom3's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny 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: Violence, Body shaming, Car accident, Classism, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Sexual content, Gore, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Grief, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Blood, Death, Fatphobia, Abandonment, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Medical trauma, Cursing, Gun violence, and Sexism

Moderate: Ableism, Alcohol, and Cancer

bek67's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

5.0

Second book of S.A. Cosby's that I've read. He has knocked it out of the park again. Lots of violence so not for the faint of heart. Loved Bug's character and his relationship with his wife, Kia. One man's path to find himself, get ahead and ultimately get revenge. Loved it. Great audio book, the narrator was fabulous.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Cursing, Murder, and Death

Minor: Body shaming, Gun violence, Gore, Racial slurs, Torture, Drug use, and Racism

faerietale_princess's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

Intense and gripping. I really felt for Bug and was rooting for him the entire time. That’s what I really like about Cosby’s writing and characters. These are people who commit intense crimes and are flawed, but they’re complex and Cosby deals with them in all these intricate and interesting ways.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Torture, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Drug use, Racism, Car accident, and Classism

Minor: Abandonment, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, and Vomit

literaryintersections's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad 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

5.0

I absolutely loved this book. It's been on my list for a while and it just sucked me in. It's a perfect thriller, but be aware that there is significant racism, anti-fatness, and misogyny. 

Beauregard is tough and rough, but also a loving family man. His complexities were super realistic and also made it hard to like him. He is such a badass and I want to see him live on a screen. The car scenes and robbery scenes were so interesting and also heartbreaking. This book is so damn sad but also funny and wild and unique. I can't wait to read the rest of his books. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Racism, Fatphobia, and Homophobia

Moderate: Violence and Gun violence

cc_shelflove's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

4.0

This was pretty good. Some parts were anticlimactic but at other times, I felt like I was in Grand Theft Auto racing for my life. It was definitely a crime novel unlike any I’ve read before. Can a criminal ever really change his ways? One thing’s for sure: he will always drive it like he fucking stole it. I think I would have liked this book even better if I were a boy—a lot of the car stuff went over my head. 🤣

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Racial slurs, Blood, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Abandonment, Racism, and Car accident

Minor: Drug use, Alcohol, and Death of parent

emco_0's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Torture, Car accident, Vomit, Racial slurs, Drug use, Murder, Violence, Sexism, Fatphobia, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Grief, Gore, and Death

Moderate: Addiction, Trafficking, Ableism, and Death of parent

healingtothemax's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Not for the faint of heart

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Car accident, Murder, Drug abuse, Alcohol, Classism, Sexual content, Racism, Racial slurs, Death, Cursing, Addiction, Drug use, Blood, Police brutality, and Gun violence

tysbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

At this point, S.A. Cosby has failed to disappoint! In this we follow our main character Bug, who is known as being one of the best getaway drivers, but unfortunately he has fallen on some hard times and is in need of money to take care of unexpected expenses. He decides to take on a job to get him and his family over this hurdle, but the job doesn't go according to plan and Bug finds himself having to protect his family, confront some enemies and face the abandonment issues from when his father left him and his mother when he was a child.

I enjoyed the thrilling aspect of this book with the edge of your seat car chases and shoot outs and all the lies and deceptions, but the book also goes deeper. We have our main character Bug, throughout the story having this internal struggle of wanting to provide for his family the right way but also feeling like he can't leave the life of crime alone. He also struggles with the reasons his father left and if he is turning out to be just like him. A majority of the characters are bad and have their own motivations for why they want to take on this job, but it does make you wonder if these characters are not one in the same. This book takes place in the south so our main character does experience racism but there is also gun violence and other graphic violence. If you don't like action packed movies this might not be the book for you, but I really enjoyed this one and once again can't wait to pick up another book by this author.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence and Violence

Minor: Racism

graff_fuller's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

4.25

This is the second book that I've read of S.A. Cosby (Razorblade Tears, though published later...was the book that brought this author into my view). I actually loved this book, better.

I love reading Thrillers...and this was outside my usual. This protagonist has done a LOT of shady sh*t, but deep down he's a man that just wants to do right for his family.

Beauregard "Bug" Montage is a hard working man that has been dealt a bad hand in life, but he doesn't make excuses. He just keeps doing his best. He also has a talent...he can build/race cars. This is both a blessing and a curse. The curse part, comes in the way of ... being "the driver" for any type of heist.

When we first meet him, he is presented with a stretch of bad luck in his business, but also his mother's being evicted from her Nursing Home...because of hidden income...which presents itself as a bill of a LOT of money...that Beauregard has to come up with...to keep his mother safe.

Then the bottom drops out. One mistake leads to another, and another, and another. Blood leaking through enemies, acquaintences, friends and even family. When will it stop?

Even his long lost/dead father is hanging around as a spector in his mind...taunting him down a specific path in life, while his wife is trying her hardest to keep her husband near...so that he can be BETTER than the representation of what fatherhood was for him...so their children will know better.

Loved this book. I look forward to reading whatever he comes up with next.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Body horror, Car accident, Violence, Racism, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Physical abuse, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Medical trauma, and Murder

vikreads's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

3.0

I had very high expectations because I absolutely loved the authors other book Razorblade Tears. However this did not live up to that one. 

It starts off incredibly slow and was really hard for me to get into. I feel like by the time I felt even a little bit invested, then the author was rushing the storyline and plots were left not entirely fleshed out.

Overall - it wasn’t bad, but it certainly isn’t something I’d pick up again or would even tell people to add to their TBR. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Abandonment, and Racism