Reviews with content warning for Animal cruelty - Small Game

Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

Small Game by Blair Braverman

18 reviews

pokako's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.75

I really loved it—the writing and story were gripping and I was fully invested in what the hell was going on. I would’ve given it five stars but I just couldn’t get past

Ashley the fawn killer. Mara’s obsession with that bag of dicks made me like Mara less.

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tarshka's review against another edition

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sad slow-paced

Loveable characters? No

2.0

A trigger warning for animal lovers:

One of the characters kidnaps a infant deer because they wanted a pet, and then lets it die because they can't feed it. And no one seemed to care much or blame the character. I can accept hunting animals for food, it is a survival story after all, but this was just not okay to me.

The overall for me is that the story was boring and one part about an animal just made me sad and angry and stop caring if the characters survived at all.

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lilykmarks's review

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adventurous fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

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chris_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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mairead_parade's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Totally gripping but not overly plotty, and didn’t feel like anything else I’ve read recently. Braverman makes the reader sit with some dark stuff and grapple with the choices you might make in similar circumstances. I thought Mara was a fascinating character to have as POV - at times she seemed to verge on sociopathic with the way she managed her behavior and emotions in response to others, but later I came to see it as just another survival tactic. I see some other complaints about the ending but I found it fitting for the style of story and would just warn against approaching Small Game like a mystery to be solved.

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aunticles's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I discovered Blair Braverman through sled dog Twitter and from there read her journalism. Her writing has always been good but I was blown away by her novel. A really compelling story and the details of the camp and the TV show all rang true. The pace didn't flag and there were moments that made me gasp. The characters were real and complex. I would have liked a little more time with Bullfrog but the story is through Mara's eyes so you only see what she sees. Sadly the ending was terribly rushed and didn't work for me. I'm at a loss to understand why it was done this way, but it didn't ruin the rest of the book which is still very much worth reading.

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graceert's review

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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knenigans's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I really like the way this was obviously written by an author who knows her subject well but I personally struggled to connect with the characters. The sense of foreboding was extremely good and all the situations were realistically terrifying which earned the 4 stars.

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jupiter_01's review

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dark reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

This started off great. Despite the fact that little happened in the first half of the book, this author's writing kept me very engaged. There was a surprise queer relationship! And it was introduced so lovely! However, after

the sour turn it took for them—which I found unnecessary—

I grew quite dismayed with the story's final arc.

And then the book just ended with no reveal, no answers.

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lindsayerin's review

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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