itsmarkyall's review against another edition
5.0
Eli Cranor was kind enough to send me an ARC of his novel DONT KNOW TOUGH and damn I’m glad he did. The man can write his ass off. Keep an eye out for this book. It’s one of the best coming out in 2022. It’s sharp, tough, and will absolutely wreck you.
alexcarbonneau's review against another edition
5.0
In a small Arkansas town where hopes and dreams never stopped by, born again outsider coach Trent Powers, and sizzling hot tempered high school running back Billy Lowe's lives collide like two freight trains on a collision course.
In a story about finding yourself when you’ve spent all your life alone in a crowded world, Eli Cranor shows the readers of DON'T KNOW TOUGH, through the eyes of highschool football, that salvation and redemption comes in many form—and at many prizes.
What struck me instantly in DKT is the voice of Billy Lowe. Rarely have I been immersed as I was in Lowe's reality. And Cranor manages to do that in a couple sentences from the very first words of the book. It grabs you by the throat and make you face a world that might not be yours, only to let you catch a breather once in a while, but will shove you right back into it until you're completely absorbed by it.
Two people running.
Billy Lowe on the football field running away from his deadbeat and violent stepdad, from his mother, from the beaten track his older brother and father left before him, from secrets he refuses to acknowledge, from his own demons, dynamos generating an incommensurable amount of hate inside him.
Coach Powers, running from a life he left behind, from his father in law--the unreachable gold standard his wife hammers down on him day in and day out.
Two noticable tours de force in Eli Cranor’s debut novel here is how he plays so smoothly with both ends of different scepters. Courage and cowardness, facing adversity, fighting for what’s right and taking the easy way out, or just… running away.
Throughout DON’T KNOW TOUGH, the reader would easily be tricked into thinking the worlds of Powers and Lowe are nothing but a black and white living, only to be dragged across a rough and hard grey areas.
DON’T KNOW TOUGH might be Cranor’s debut novel, but it will quickly become a comparative novel and his author and comp one too!
In a story about finding yourself when you’ve spent all your life alone in a crowded world, Eli Cranor shows the readers of DON'T KNOW TOUGH, through the eyes of highschool football, that salvation and redemption comes in many form—and at many prizes.
What struck me instantly in DKT is the voice of Billy Lowe. Rarely have I been immersed as I was in Lowe's reality. And Cranor manages to do that in a couple sentences from the very first words of the book. It grabs you by the throat and make you face a world that might not be yours, only to let you catch a breather once in a while, but will shove you right back into it until you're completely absorbed by it.
Two people running.
Billy Lowe on the football field running away from his deadbeat and violent stepdad, from his mother, from the beaten track his older brother and father left before him, from secrets he refuses to acknowledge, from his own demons, dynamos generating an incommensurable amount of hate inside him.
Coach Powers, running from a life he left behind, from his father in law--the unreachable gold standard his wife hammers down on him day in and day out.
Two noticable tours de force in Eli Cranor’s debut novel here is how he plays so smoothly with both ends of different scepters. Courage and cowardness, facing adversity, fighting for what’s right and taking the easy way out, or just… running away.
Throughout DON’T KNOW TOUGH, the reader would easily be tricked into thinking the worlds of Powers and Lowe are nothing but a black and white living, only to be dragged across a rough and hard grey areas.
DON’T KNOW TOUGH might be Cranor’s debut novel, but it will quickly become a comparative novel and his author and comp one too!
thomwallace's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
jtouchard23's review against another edition
5.0
This hit my reading mood perfectly. A little dark, complex characters and also a good mystery. Mixed in with some football? Sure! I loved it. I can wait to read more by this author.
jhoffmann's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
jfbfsf's review against another edition
4.0
This is a hard book to pin down. I'm not sure what I was expecting (well, I was expecting Friday Night Lights meets Southern Gothic - like the description says!) But this was just a little different.
The head coach speaks reverently about how Jesus saved him. So there are some moments of heavy religious language. There was a passage that almost lost me, where he's telling another character about how Jesus can save him, and for a moment I thought maybe I had been tricked into reading a Christian book. But it never comes back that strongly. It's a defining characteristic of one character - but it turns out that it's not more than that.
I found the character of Lorna to be not quite believable. She was an interesting combination of characteristics, but it didn't ring true to me that they would all come together in this person, in these circumstances.
The end, as noted by other reviewers, is dark. But it was clear to my by about 1/2-2/3 of the way through the book that this couldn't end anywhere other than dark (although I didn't guess the specifics.)
But even with it being dark - it almost felt dreamlike. The procession of events - and then ending - didn't feel fully resolved. Yes, everything was (mostly) resolved for all of the characters and this particular story arc, but it didn't make sense to me that everyone would consider things done.
I enjoyed it - and thought the author did a great job narrating it, which is often not the case - but I can't say that I thought it was great - or that I thought it was bad. It was a little different - and generally that's good.
The head coach speaks reverently about how Jesus saved him. So there are some moments of heavy religious language. There was a passage that almost lost me, where he's telling another character about how Jesus can save him, and for a moment I thought maybe I had been tricked into reading a Christian book. But it never comes back that strongly. It's a defining characteristic of one character - but it turns out that it's not more than that.
I found the character of Lorna to be not quite believable. She was an interesting combination of characteristics, but it didn't ring true to me that they would all come together in this person, in these circumstances.
The end, as noted by other reviewers, is dark. But it was clear to my by about 1/2-2/3 of the way through the book that this couldn't end anywhere other than dark (although I didn't guess the specifics.)
But even with it being dark - it almost felt dreamlike. The procession of events - and then ending - didn't feel fully resolved. Yes, everything was (mostly) resolved for all of the characters and this particular story arc, but it didn't make sense to me that everyone would consider things done.
I enjoyed it - and thought the author did a great job narrating it, which is often not the case - but I can't say that I thought it was great - or that I thought it was bad. It was a little different - and generally that's good.
areaxbiologist's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
slhandy45's review against another edition
3.0
High school football coach meets troubled player meets coaches daughter. Liked the action but needed more backstory to get the characters.
ajnel's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
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
4.0
Eli Cranor's Dagger (New Blood) nominated debut novel truly is a tour de force in the effective use of pacing and the power thereof esp in Southern noir. Though not yet on the same level as SA Cosby, "Don't know Tough" despite its slightly obvious whodunit, deals with the impact of a number of "personality forming" events and philosophies in the lives of the principal cast and leaves substantial food for thought for the reader. Bravo!