Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Black Buck by Mateo Askaripour

17 reviews

alexstartsthings's review against another edition

challenging tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Classism, Alcohol, Racial slurs, Toxic friendship, Death of parent, Bullying, Cultural appropriation, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Terminal illness, Cancer, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Slavery, Violence, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, and Torture

Minor: Vomit and Outing

narbine's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny informative reflective 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

3.25

Didn’t care much for the beginning but it redeemed itself last half

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Alcohol, Bullying, Death of parent, Racism, Drug use, Gaslighting, and Grief

jillaay_h's review against another edition

challenging dark funny mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Death, Racial slurs, Cancer, Classism, Alcohol, Racism, Drug use, Suicide, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Medical content, Mental illness, and Violence

josie2k's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Racial slurs, Alcohol, and Cursing

ahopper7's review against another edition

dark funny medium-paced

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

3.5

I wanted to like this more than I did; but the book didn’t end up working completely for me.

It’s definitely funny (100% helped by listening to the audiobook, the narrator did a fantastic job),and  has some important themes on race especially in corporate America (this part worked for me as a black mixed race woman in corporate America, the micro and macro aggressions really hit for me).

I think, though, the story lost its way after the middle. The ending didn’t sit well with me, the final having a mix of “it really be your own people sometimes” felt out of place for me with the overall goal and themes of this book. 

But this is a debut, so I will 100% be picking up this author’s future work, because the comedic writing alone is spot on for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing and Racism

Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, Violence, Racial slurs, and Hate crime

Minor: Drug use, Alcohol, Confinement, and Cancer

cheye13's review against another edition

challenging funny tense fast-paced

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

2.0

Wayyy too boot-licky for me.

This is excellently written and maintains a strong voice throughout. The depiction of race relations did not pull punches. The story surprisingly sustained a sense of broad hope.

I wanted more of everything. I wanted it to push further in every way. I wanted a deconstruction of capitalism, I wanted a deconstruction/exploration of masculinity (esp in white vs black spaces), I wanted a deconstruction of ambition. I disagree with reviews that say the back end went off the rails - it didn't go far enough off the rails.

Ultimately, it felt like a middle class cishet black man's white collar day dream - he gets to be a jetsetter, he gets to earn big bucks, he gets a nickname, a driver, a girl - he gets to Save The World. Which is a very good and important story to tell - there's plenty of those white stories out there, and this is miles better than any of those. But pitching it as a Sorry to Bother You comp does it a disservice.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, and Racism

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Sexual content, Classism, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Medical content, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Cancer, Slavery, Alcohol, Drug abuse, and Toxic friendship

also: minor mention/depiction of lynching (in a photograph), moderate discussion of incarceration, discussion of drug dealing in addition to drug abuse. A brief discussion of outing somone, not followed through. The hate crime I tagged is a scene of white coworkers "pranking" the only black employee by dumping white paint over him; not sure if it qualifies as a hate crime, but it definitely felt like one in context.

suzyvee's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Alcohol, Cancer, Ableism, Death of parent, Grief, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Addiction, Classism, Drug use, and Fire/Fire injury

moriahleigh's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Racial slurs

Moderate: Cancer, Cursing, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Grief, Drug use, Hate crime, and Torture

Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Alcohol

peachani's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Hate crime, Bullying, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Racism, and Cursing

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cultural appropriation, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, and Grief

Minor: Blood, Chronic illness, Death, Confinement, Drug abuse, Alcohol, Ableism, Addiction, Classism, Death of parent, and Terminal illness

fongyay's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny tense fast-paced

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

4.0

What a wild ride this was. I devoured it quickly but it was also brutal to read at times, watching a train wreck kind of vibe. The first sections were utterly riveting and the later ones less so, but I was invested enough in the plot by then to keep going. 
Suggested song pairing: Flying Monkeys by Jay Stone

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Death of parent, Racism, Torture, Violence, Cancer, and Cultural appropriation

Moderate: Ableism, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Homophobia