Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

Small Game by Blair Braverman

6 reviews

zigzagzmak's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.75

An interesting read! I'm glad I picked it up, and the audiobook was a great listen. The reader had amazing character voices and it really felt like she was acting the book. 

I felt like the author didn't know what genre to write this story in, so at times it feels a little disjointed. It wasn't quite horror but it was dramatic but not really a drama either. I don't know where I'd place it even after reading it. 

None of the characters were particularly likeable either, which isn't automatically an issue, but I found it hard to root for Mara, since she felt like an incredibly unreliable narrator. She was constantly lying to the other players (especially to Ashley) and possibly even to the reader too. I enjoyed Kyle

but then he dies so early on, so that was a bummer.

Bullfrog was also interesting to me, but he's not in the main frame of the story for the majority of it, just sort of right off to the side. 

I also felt like the ending

wasn't satisfying. If you want to write an ambiguous ending to your story, then write it ambiguously. Don't tell us what's going to happen in a few short sentences and then be like "who knows what's gonna happen next!" Because you know who knows? The audience! Because you told us! But you aren't going to explain what actually happened to these characters to strand them? That's what I would have rather had information about, not that they find a ginseng farm.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Medical content and Gun violence

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

caseythereader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, Cursing, Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Vomit, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Infidelity and Sexual content

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

squarahreads's review against another edition

adventurous reflective tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Blair Braverman is a masterful storyteller— having know this already from hearing her on podcasts, I am pleased to find that it holds true here as well. A quick read. The ambiguity of the ending won’t be everyone’s cup of tea but, despite leaving me with questions, it worked for me. What happened next is not what this story was about. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Animal death, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Medical content and Gore

Minor: Vomit