Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Compound Fracture by Andrew Joseph White

263 reviews

growplantsreadbooks's review against another edition

5.0

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I will always be awed by White's ability to craft a realistic happy ending from his fantasticly traumatic plots. I had to put this one down in the middle,

botched murders give me soooooo much anxiety

, but the ending made it worthwhile. So much history and love went into this story. YA readers are so lucky to have White's stories. PLEASE pay attention to TWs. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Deadnaming, Death, Blood, Police brutality, Medical trauma, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail

All handled with as much care as you can in a horror novel, but still hard to consume if they are personal.

q_bert13's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-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: Complicated

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A reread of a favourite of last year (or re-listen? I tried out the audio book this time!) Really good pacing and a great performance by narrator Dani Martineck- who has the same West Virginia accent Miles would have. A gore heavy, tense YA novel that keeps you pulled in with thrilling suspense, a dark backstory and (sadly relevant) political commentary. One of my new favourite stories by far.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Vomit, Death of parent

Minor: Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Cursing, Sexual content, Car accident, Outing, Alcohol, Classism

w0lf5m1lk's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Deadnaming, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis

veilguard's review against another edition

5.0

dark tense medium-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: No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Dysphoria, Classism

theobeanz's review against another edition

4.75

dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-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: No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Deadnaming, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Homophobia, Torture, Medical content, Death of parent, Toxic friendship

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Fatphobia, Pedophilia, Torture, Vomit, Stalking, Alcohol

athenian_frog's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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This was also really good, but I preferred the character arcs in The Spirit Bears Its Teeth. I was happy that the author was all for making everyone feel at risk/in danger in the book, not just side characters. There was also a bit more gray morality here, but mostly for the other antagonistic forces--ironically the main two antagonists felt a bit cut and dry. 

I didn't expect to, but I found the unexpected direction Cooper's development went really interesting. Definitely could've been more gradual/smoothly done, but it was a welcome surprise. Also really liked the direction in which they took the lore surrounding Saint Abernathy, I was dying to learn more about that Q_Q

I thought the discussions of class here were interesting, maybe not as deep as they could've cut, but they felt more nuanced than I'm used to esp in YA fiction. The topic of how "out and proud" someone should be in such a polarizing environment, how much you should be integrating/ingratiating yourself to oppressive forces was really great. 

I'm reading a book about the AIDS crisis, and this book kinda reminded me of the discussions that took place between more radical LGBT rights groups and the ones that wouldn't even put "gay" in the names of their orgs. Really cool.

Please read the content warnings below! I'll try to include as many as I could remember. Thanks!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Outing, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

Minor: Incest

-A side character (17yo) videotapes his 13yo step-sister in the shower and posts it online -The same character kills a dog, the image is briefly described. It is recorded and posted online. -A character is recorded being beaten severely, also posted publicly. There is ambiguity around whether or not they were sexually assaulted. - A character is captured by the police with the intent of being brutally murdered -Characters die via: stabbing in the neck, gunshot (and cutting up of the chest); gunshot to the jaw -A character is shot somewhere in the head -A character has caught on fire in the past, and their scars are detailed in the text -Depiction of charred human remains -Depictions of police brutality, bribery -In depth depictions of opioid (OxyContin) abuse by several characters -Deadnaming happens very often, as well as incorrect pronoun use -A character is forcibly outed in front of most of their town -Depictions of vomiting, gun violence (a shooting)

serknighted's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark emotional fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Make no mistake- I absolutely love this novel. However, despite that, I would HEAVILY warn against reading this if you currently struggle with transphobia and classism in your own life, as AJW does not pull any punches when it comes to depicting the violence of a blood feud that has become ever-baked into the politics of this small Appalachian town. As someone who lives in the same region the book takes place in, I thought every aspect of the way the characters and setting were written was incredibly accurate, down to the accents, the slang, and the descriptions of the area itself. In a way, despite how viscerally difficult it is to swallow this book's theming, there is a distinct sparkle of hope throughout, a genuine desire to make this region better, to rid its people of the agony that has been plaguing them for a century. This is the kind of messaging that we need right now; we need to show the world that Appalachian lives matter, that queer people exist in every corner that you believe we could never survive in, that we can find a way out of our chains, if we build community. 

My only real nitpick of the book is that it feels rather "preachy-" As someone who has long been working in leftist politics in this specific area, almost everything Miles talks about is information I was already aware of. However, this is more of a personal gripe- I don't think there was a better way to write this for the average reader, and AJW cannot possibly accommodate every reader's knowledge and sensibilities. 

All in all, Compound Fracture is an amazing book that I honestly believe everyone should read at some point. Miles' struggles are shared by so many people, and we deserve to be heard, to be seen, to fight for a better future for all of us. 

4.5/5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Deadnaming, Homophobia, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Murder, Outing, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit

Minor: Sexual violence

stovku's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Deadnaming, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Injury/Injury detail

sitta_canadensis's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Murder

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death

bumbleburr's review against another edition

4.75

challenging dark emotional 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: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Injury/Injury detail