Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Compound Fracture by Andrew Joseph White

266 reviews

challenging dark emotional hopeful tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes

I felt like the violence kf the book was very realistic up until the end of the book, where
literally the family was on board for Miles going to go kill that boy.
like I had to laugh as soon as they all agreed. That being said, I did like the main villain and how charming he tried to come off as and how at the end of the book
we got a full circle moment of Davies trying to kill Miles with a spike through the throat.
I’m a sucker for that stuff lol

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dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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: Complicated

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging dark emotional informative reflective 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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dark hopeful tense

 woof, what a read. i'm not much of a horror-girly, but i'll read anything by AJW, so his novels always take me out of my comfort zone in the best way. he has such a solid perspective and writes from it so well that every book is completely immersive and fleshed out. miles is not a perfect person, but he is a perfect narrator for this kind of story because the reader can feel his fear and his joy and the weight of his heritage the whole time.

the setting is spooky and alive and an integral part of the story itself, just like miles, and i loved his commentary about belonging there, even if his small Appalachian town hasn't always been kind to him.

as per usual, there are a lot of grizzly, horrific details in this book, and it doesn't shy away from transphobia or homophobia or bullying or police violence or a number of other potential triggers for people. miles is constantly being deadnamed, even after he's publicly outed as a form of revenge, but the balm that AJW gives for this is the sweetness of miles being accepted and protected by his closest community (LOVED the communist/anarchist family friends, btw).

the villains in this book are truly terrifying and all too real, unfortunately. whether its a corrupt cop with a boot on everyone's necks or a close childhood friend who becomes warped beyond recognition by loss or a medical system that passively encourages drug addiction, they are all rooted in a painful reality. but the funny thing about AJW's books is that there is always hope, and it is always loving community. and we love to see it. 

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adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

Each time I’ve gone to pick up a new AJW book, I seem to have forgotten how beautiful they are, and that I will be staring at the wall for hours afterwards. They are so beautifully gruesome and capture the experience and rage of being an autistic and trans teen. And each time I open his books, I can feel the rage written in the pages, and in such a difficult world right now, it is so nice to see books where we win, in a long fucked up way. The gruesomeness of this book isn’t going to be for everyone, and some may say it’s unnecessary, but in truth, in a world that wasn’t made for you, being a minority teen, is gruesome. I knew this book was going to practically leave me gutted when I was crying over the letter from the author. And after even writing all of this, I somehow, still am completely speechless.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark emotional reflective tense medium-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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dark tense
Plot or Character Driven: N/A
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes

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dark tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: N/A
Strong character development: Yes

Andrew Joseph White has perfected his style in this book, a dark, gruesome love story to Appalachia with all of its scars.
This isn't one for the faint of heart.

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challenging dark 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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