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breanneporter's review against another edition
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!
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 (
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Transphobia, Lesbophobia, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Blood, and Homophobia
emilycmarshman's review
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Violence, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Transphobia, Sexual assault, and Animal cruelty
Moderate: Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Blood, Deadnaming, Child death, Grief, Gore, Child abuse, and Bullying
readingwithgoose's review against another edition
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Sexual harassment, Violence, Grief, Gore, Pedophilia, Self harm, Murder, Suicide attempt, Death, Lesbophobia, and Outing
Moderate: Drug use, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Transphobia, Addiction, Bullying, and Blood
nickel_books's review
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Outing, Pedophilia, Rape, Transphobia, Animal death, Deadnaming, Gore, Animal cruelty, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Child abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Addiction, Bullying, Child death, Drug use, Grief, Murder, Death, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, and Violence
hsheehan85's review against another edition
slow-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
2.75
The book started out really interesting. I liked following the story of the satanic panic during the 90s and what it was like to be gay during that time. Then, the main character kept making comments of something that happened and it felt like forever before we get to where it actually happens. Then takes even longer to get to the point of it all after the event. It felt to me like a lot of filler to make a longer book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Murder, Transphobia, and Homophobia
Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Bullying
caseythereader's review
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.
- 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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Deadnaming, Confinement, Drug abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Suicide attempt, Ableism, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Blood, Child death, Gore, Grief, Murder, and Transphobia
Moderate: Dementia, Racial slurs, and Fatphobia
Minor: Antisemitism and Cancer
lauravm's review
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Life has dealt young Lacey Bond a bleak hand. Bleak is not strong enough, let's call it torturous. Accused, abused, and utterly alone, Lacey faces a journey through unfathomable twists, and she can rely only on her own intelligence and an icy will to survive.
“Rainbow Black” touches every dark corner: pedophilia, bullying, addiction, murder, pack mentality, deceit, suicide, exploitation of the most vulnerable, homophobia, and crimes of every degree. I probably left something out. Somehow, Thrash finds beauty in the morass, bringing it all together in a strangely satisfying way without relying on neatly tied ends or miraculous resolutions.
The “couldn't put it down” factor in this one is strong.
Thrash’s character development in “Rainbow Black” is fascinating; none of these people are going to be who readers want them to be, protagonist and villains alike (and hardly anyone in fits neatly into either category). While the story involves much evil and harm, love also exists in all its complicated glory. Without revealing any spoilers, it's both ironic and triumphant to say that Lacey stays true to her identity as an independent, queer, headstrong survivor.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, and Suicide attempt
hannabee's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Murder, Violence, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Outing, Homophobia, Gun violence, Lesbophobia, Suicide, and Deadnaming
Minor: Addiction, Drug use, and Drug abuse
lilythebibliophile's review
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
2.0
Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Perennial for providing me with an ARC of this book.
I am a huge fan of Maggie Thrash’s previous works. I understood going into Rainbow Black that it would be a departure from her YA titles, as this is her adult debut and it tackles darker themes. I knew that I would either absolutely love or strongly dislike this book, and I prepared myself to have low expectations.
And then the first 25% of this book had to go and remind me why I love her books in the first place. It was tragic and funny all at the same time, with quirky characters who had believable relationships with each other. I enjoyed reading about Lacey and her sister dealing with the fallout of their parents’ court case. It was upsetting, but their relationship and humor lent a sort of hopeful levity to the story that kept the novel from being unbearable to read.
And that hope mixed with tragedy is a major reason why I love Maggie Thrash’s YA books and graphic memoirs. Her books aren’t happy, but she has mastered the careful balance of providing readers with a drop of hope among the sadness in her novels that is inspiring. It’s barely anything, certainly not enough to outweigh the suffering, but it’s enough for readers to feel slightly okay. It’s realistic, because in the real world there’s always something to poke fun at or push us to keep going when we are dealing with tough times. Plus, the irreverent humor innate to her YA writing is genuinely some of the funniest stuff I’ve ever read. I went through a lot between the ages of 13 and 14, and the Strange Truth duology as well as Honor Girl: A Graphic Memoir and Lost Soul, Be at Peace helped me to find a light in the darkness.
In Rainbow Black, however, Thrash’s former trademark “suffering can coexist with hope” writing style is replaced with “life’s a bitch and then you die” nihilism. I’m disappointed that this incredible shift in her writing is already getting Rainbow Black more 5 star ratings than her other books have. I understand that life can devastate a human being, but I still don’t think it’s realistic to write a character study where the suffering never ends and there is no reprieve from it. Even during the darkest periods of my life, there has always been a glimmer of hope, even if it was only there for a second. Rainbow Black takes away that glimmer, that aspect of Thrash’s writing that made it realistic and made me feel attached to her work and her characters.
The plot of this book (without spoilers) can be summarized in this cycle: hope is given to Lacey and then taken away, over and over again, to the point where the plot is entirely predictable. The book ends on a slightly different note, but it doesn’t make up for the rest of the plot. During the flash forward to the 2006 timeline, the hope and “good times” Lacey had between the 90s and the 2000s are summarized and the reader is placed directly into another cycle of Lacey having problems. Her transition from being friends with Gwen to being in a relationship with Gwen is also summarized after the time jump, leading me to feel nothing for the romantic aspect of Lacey’s life because I only got to see the relationship problems Lacey and Gwen were having, not any great moments they shared.
In Thrash’s YA title Strange Truth, the relationship development between the two main characters was organic and well-built. Since I know Thrash can build character relationships well, I’m disappointed that she didn’t do the same with Lacey and Gwen here.
I can appreciate dark literary fiction books that detail extreme trauma happening to the main character repeatedly. I appreciate them when the main character is written in an empathetic, unflinching way that allows readers to see inside their mind and understand them. Lacey in Rainbow Black reads like a character whose trauma response was used as an excuse to not delve deeper into her psyche. Her character motivations are told, not shown.
Lacey is intentionally written to be immature. I understand this choice, but her immaturity is unabating in a way that makes it difficult to connect with her.
Rainbow Black is incredibly dull. I don’t mind a slow-moving plot if the characters and their relationships are compelling, but the book largely focuses on Lacey and Gwen’s relationship, and their romantic relationship development is summarized.
If you’re looking for a book that is “part murder mystery, part gay international fugitive love story,” look elsewhere. Yes, this book technically has these elements, but the blurb implies that this book is pulse-pounding and full of twists and turns. Instead, Rainbow Black is simply a 416-page chronicle of the same depressing cycle repeating over and over until the end, which doesn’t make up for it in my opinion. I don’t even care that the blurb is misleading, because if this book had been like Honor Girl: A Graphic Memoir or Lost Soul, Be at Peace I still would’ve liked it.
In conclusion, I would argue that most people in the world suffer enough to not want to read about it if it isn’t a balanced depiction. I would also argue that a lot of the people who enjoyed this book are mesmerized by the novelty of the brand of suffering present in this book, and therefore rated it highly.
Maggie Thrash’s previous books made me feel seen and hopeful in a way I can’t even quantify. I’m sure they made others feel seen as well. If I read Rainbow Black instead of her other books, I would have felt even more grim about my own life.
I did appreciate some of Thrash’s wit, which will always be present in her writing. And the end scene with the bee farm finally felt compelling, since it focused on Lacey’s other relationships outside of Gwen.
Overall, though, if I knew that this book would be written in an unbalanced, hopeless manner, I wouldn’t have picked it up.
I am a huge fan of Maggie Thrash’s previous works. I understood going into Rainbow Black that it would be a departure from her YA titles, as this is her adult debut and it tackles darker themes. I knew that I would either absolutely love or strongly dislike this book, and I prepared myself to have low expectations.
And then the first 25% of this book had to go and remind me why I love her books in the first place. It was tragic and funny all at the same time, with quirky characters who had believable relationships with each other. I enjoyed reading about Lacey and her sister dealing with the fallout of their parents’ court case. It was upsetting, but their relationship and humor lent a sort of hopeful levity to the story that kept the novel from being unbearable to read.
And that hope mixed with tragedy is a major reason why I love Maggie Thrash’s YA books and graphic memoirs. Her books aren’t happy, but she has mastered the careful balance of providing readers with a drop of hope among the sadness in her novels that is inspiring. It’s barely anything, certainly not enough to outweigh the suffering, but it’s enough for readers to feel slightly okay. It’s realistic, because in the real world there’s always something to poke fun at or push us to keep going when we are dealing with tough times. Plus, the irreverent humor innate to her YA writing is genuinely some of the funniest stuff I’ve ever read. I went through a lot between the ages of 13 and 14, and the Strange Truth duology as well as Honor Girl: A Graphic Memoir and Lost Soul, Be at Peace helped me to find a light in the darkness.
In Rainbow Black, however, Thrash’s former trademark “suffering can coexist with hope” writing style is replaced with “life’s a bitch and then you die” nihilism. I’m disappointed that this incredible shift in her writing is already getting Rainbow Black more 5 star ratings than her other books have. I understand that life can devastate a human being, but I still don’t think it’s realistic to write a character study where the suffering never ends and there is no reprieve from it. Even during the darkest periods of my life, there has always been a glimmer of hope, even if it was only there for a second. Rainbow Black takes away that glimmer, that aspect of Thrash’s writing that made it realistic and made me feel attached to her work and her characters.
The plot of this book (without spoilers) can be summarized in this cycle: hope is given to Lacey and then taken away, over and over again, to the point where the plot is entirely predictable. The book ends on a slightly different note, but it doesn’t make up for the rest of the plot. During the flash forward to the 2006 timeline, the hope and “good times” Lacey had between the 90s and the 2000s are summarized and the reader is placed directly into another cycle of Lacey having problems. Her transition from being friends with Gwen to being in a relationship with Gwen is also summarized after the time jump, leading me to feel nothing for the romantic aspect of Lacey’s life because I only got to see the relationship problems Lacey and Gwen were having, not any great moments they shared.
In Thrash’s YA title Strange Truth, the relationship development between the two main characters was organic and well-built. Since I know Thrash can build character relationships well, I’m disappointed that she didn’t do the same with Lacey and Gwen here.
I can appreciate dark literary fiction books that detail extreme trauma happening to the main character repeatedly. I appreciate them when the main character is written in an empathetic, unflinching way that allows readers to see inside their mind and understand them. Lacey in Rainbow Black reads like a character whose trauma response was used as an excuse to not delve deeper into her psyche. Her character motivations are told, not shown.
Lacey is intentionally written to be immature. I understand this choice, but her immaturity is unabating in a way that makes it difficult to connect with her.
Rainbow Black is incredibly dull. I don’t mind a slow-moving plot if the characters and their relationships are compelling, but the book largely focuses on Lacey and Gwen’s relationship, and their romantic relationship development is summarized.
If you’re looking for a book that is “part murder mystery, part gay international fugitive love story,” look elsewhere. Yes, this book technically has these elements, but the blurb implies that this book is pulse-pounding and full of twists and turns. Instead, Rainbow Black is simply a 416-page chronicle of the same depressing cycle repeating over and over until the end, which doesn’t make up for it in my opinion. I don’t even care that the blurb is misleading, because if this book had been like Honor Girl: A Graphic Memoir or Lost Soul, Be at Peace I still would’ve liked it.
In conclusion, I would argue that most people in the world suffer enough to not want to read about it if it isn’t a balanced depiction. I would also argue that a lot of the people who enjoyed this book are mesmerized by the novelty of the brand of suffering present in this book, and therefore rated it highly.
Maggie Thrash’s previous books made me feel seen and hopeful in a way I can’t even quantify. I’m sure they made others feel seen as well. If I read Rainbow Black instead of her other books, I would have felt even more grim about my own life.
I did appreciate some of Thrash’s wit, which will always be present in her writing. And the end scene with the bee farm finally felt compelling, since it focused on Lacey’s other relationships outside of Gwen.
Overall, though, if I knew that this book would be written in an unbalanced, hopeless manner, I wouldn’t have picked it up.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse and Sexual assault
Moderate: Child death, Murder, and Homophobia
book_ish_bitch's review
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Drug use, and Homophobia
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