Reviews with content warning for Blood - Rainbow Black

This is a gripping literary thriller that left me breathless! When the Satanic Panic hits small-town New Hampshire, 14 year old Lacey Bond loses everything - her parents, her sister, her innocence, and even her identity. I was completely captured by this gutwrenching narrative where the only justice is that which you seize for yourself. The portrayals of PTSD and trauma in this book were so relatable and vivid. And to be honest, I just wanted to give Lacey a hug by the end for what she had endured.

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breanneporter's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

Hmm! This was a weird one that I mostly liked. Rainbow Black follows our protagonist and narrator, Lacy Bond, starting in the early 90s, when she's 13, as her parents are swept up in the satanic panic of the time and accused of (and tried for) performing satanic sex acts on the young children that attended their daycare. From there, things somehow only get worse.

Obviously it's quite dark, darker than I'd realized it'd be, and while I was quite engaged for the first two parts, I did find my interest waning a bit in the third (and final) part, where I felt like it was dragging on a bit longer than necessary, especially given the narration style, which frequently hinted at what was going to happen (or at least the spirit of what would happen) long before we got there chronilogically. There stopped being surprises/plot twists after part 1, which surprised and disappointed me, as I was hoping for another gasp-worthy moment that never came. It's very gay, with both a cis and a trans lesbian as main characters, which I loved, but it was often just so bleak and often the ways that characters acted and the things they said felt too horrible and ridiculous than could be believed. There were a few different developments that I felt were introduced and then didn't go anywhere interesting (

like the first lawyer disappearing and sending that weird cryptic note and book?? What??

), which was frustrating, and I'm honestly just not sure what to take away from this. Is it a love story? A journey to self-forgiveness? I do feel like the protagonist's inner voice was more self-punishing than I felt she deserved, and I think that's what I was meant to feel, but in that case the ending was more than a bit of a letdown. Anyway, it was an interesting read but wouldn't be my top recommendation; will keep an eye out for more from this author, though!

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emilycmarshman's review

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challenging dark emotional funny sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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queerbooksandtea's review

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adventurous dark emotional tense medium-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

4.0

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readingwithgoose's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad medium-paced

2.5

The writing is really good and I think the story was told well. I just felt no joy while reading it. Not quite "trauma-porn", but everything just kept getting worse and darker and idk. Don't recommend if you want a fun read.

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nickel_books's review

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challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

This novel is not for the faint of heart. Thrash's adult debut chronicles the life of a New Hampshire teen whose whole family is caught up in the Satanic Panic, experiencing tragedy and trauma for the 20 years that follow the fateful night of her parents' arrest. Rainbow Black is a challenging read that produces a wide range of emotions - anger, frustration, horror, dismay, compassion, and a smidgen of hope.

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caseythereader's review

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challenging dark emotional sad medium-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

4.25

Thanks to Harper Perennial for the free copy of this book.

- Whew, RAINBOW BLACK is a ride. I was fully gripped from page one and couldn’t read it fast enough.
- It’s extremely dark and gruesome, but also filled with black humor and little bread crumbs dropped to keep you wanting to read one more chapter.
- Every character in this book is a complicated person. You can fully understand why they are acting the way they are, and yet they are doing horrible, villainous things. It’s really a feat. (It’s also extremely queer.)
- I do want to note that a big chunk of this book is set among teenagers in 1990, and the language reflects that. It’s a bit shocking to read homophobic and ableist slurs tossed around so casually now, but it is true to what I remember of the time.

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