Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

Small Game by Blair Braverman

22 reviews

aqtbenz's review

adventurous dark fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Excrement, Animal death, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts

maggies's review

adventurous challenging mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

Back when I still used Twitter, Blair Braverman was one of my follows, and I loved her threads about dog sledding and the outdoors. She's an incredible storyteller, and Small Game, her first novel, really lived up to that for me. While I would never participate in a show of this kind and I'm not outdoorsy by any stretch (I always say I'd prefer to go first in an apocalypse), I was captivated by Mara and the other "survivors" and their creativity and problem-solving. In an episode of You're Wrong About, Blair said—paraphrasing here—that nature doesn't feel any animosity towards us and that's comforting to her. After reading this book, I can absolutely see what she means. I wouldn't quite call this a thriller, but it was very thrilling just the same.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gore, Vomit, Death, Animal death, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Murder

haave's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective tense 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Gun violence, and Animal death

erinoconnor's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-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

3.75

I read an advanced uncorrected proof copy - so I’m not sure if anything changed with publication, that being said - I really enjoyed the story. I wanted more and wish there was a more fleshed out ending, but I appreciate the mirror image of the beginning at the end. Some things seemed rushed and not fully answered - I want to hear EXACTLY what happened to Lenny and the crew, while I think it’s probably their last theory about money but STILL! - but I thoroughly enjoyed this read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Animal death, Medical content, Vomit, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, Animal death, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Sexual assault, Rape, Blood, and Sexual content

aunticles's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Medical content, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, and Animal cruelty

charles237's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Animal death, Grief, and Abandonment

Moderate: Blood and Vomit

Minor: Alcohol, Rape, Child abuse, and Suicidal thoughts

growintogardens's review

dark medium-paced

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

3.25

Rushed ending and just so-so characters. It did keep my attention though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Death, Grief, and Gore

Moderate: Animal death

Minor: Violence, Vomit, Blood, and Suicidal thoughts

ezahn17's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Death, Animal death, Violence, and Vomit

lovedubbles's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Blair does a beautiful job writing the suspense and fear of the woods. It’s not a book of jump-scares, but a tighter and tighter bow of tension.

the  ending absolutely fucks with you. After all the tension build up it’s not aliens, it’s not a pandemic. It’s just people and their capacity for tremendous harm. That is, in some ways, more frightening than some big supernatural event. We don’t get a grand happy ending either just - they lived.  

 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Murder

encyclopaediabrown's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death

Moderate: Blood, Sexism, Animal death, and Death

Minor: Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Gun violence, and Miscarriage