You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Scan barcode
sdowling's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism and Alcohol
keats1787's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Transphobia, Police brutality, Medical content, Stalking, and Outing
rwgabbard's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Terminal illness, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Cultural appropriation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
searobin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
On one hand, I loved it in a guilty-pleasure kinda way and couldn't put it down. On the other hand, a lot of the actual plot was rather weak, the twists were obvious a mile out, the similes were excessive, gross, and/or weird (e.g., "his chest was as tight as virgin pussy"), and the characters were two-dimensional at best. It was just really, really, really violent. I have aphantasia, so gore in books doesn't bother me in the same way as in movies/tv shows, but some of the descriptions were just unnecessary - like, way too much detail about someone's guts spilling out like taffy that had had merlot spilled on it or something, for example.
I am queer, but don't have a lot of queerphobic trauma, so that aspect of things wasn't triggering for me, just terribly sad and hard to read, but I can see how it would be really terrible for some.
Idk, it was a weird read. I was so hyped when I finished it; it felt like I had whiplash from the whole thing. However, the more it settles and the more time I have to process it, the more I realise that I think it was more an adrenaline high than a good book.
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Excrement, and Fire/Fire injury
cadence99's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Terminal illness, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
hkveit's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Alcoholism, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racism, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Racial slurs, Sexism, Terminal illness, Transphobia, and Kidnapping
Minor: Deadnaming, Excrement, Grief, and Death of parent
momlovesbooks17's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Racism, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cursing, Hate crime, Homophobia, and Kidnapping
Minor: Deadnaming and Infidelity
_bookish_lauren's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
The fathers didn't exactly agree with their sons' relationship, but ultimately loved them and in avenging their deaths, found a way to accept and come to terms with who their sons loved and realized that they were living their own lives wrongly in how dismissive they were.
It showed some pretty significant character development for both Ike and Buddy Lee. They were also a truly unlikely team.
The story was fast-paced and compelling, while also diving into many difficult topics. Please be careful when reading and check your triggers for the content, because there are a lot. Racism, homophobia, transphobia, slurs, on page gore/violence, discussion of the prison industrial complex (specifically the fathers' experiences while incarcerated in Virginia prisons), kidnapping, and others.
The only thing was that the identity of the big bad, the person truly behind everything, seemed a little predictable, at least to me.
Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Deadnaming
angiesix's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
taylorfield's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Craft: 4/5
Overall: 4/5
Graphic: Alcoholism, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail