Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

Whiskey When We're Dry by John Larison

4 reviews

sarahkorn's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.25

I picked this up at random looking for another cowgirl/sapphic western and was very pleasantly surprised at how good this book was. Lots of cowboy gun-slinging action, beautiful place setting, and a loveable yet complicated cast of characters. Jess as the lead had a huge heart, and I was warmed by the overall message.

There are two big downsides for me: lots of violence/gore (personal preference - check the trigger warnings) and heavy usage of racial slurs. I understand the argument that could be made about keeping the language accurate to the time period (that part I think succeeded) but at a point, especially for a book written by a white male author, it's excessive and fairly lazy as a creative device in 2024.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

ceruleanseas's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad medium-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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Minor: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual content, Slavery, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, and Colonisation

alex_wordweaver's review

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-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

5.0

First of all: *sobs* Stop blowing holes in my ships! TWT

Secondly, this book is great. It shows the enormous diversity of the West and the brutality of the times. The Wild Bunch would've been even better if they'd had more screen time before SPOILERS HAPPEN. As it was, I loved Annette the most. Also Greenie was cool, even if I was screaming "No, you little shit!" by the end. That fucking ending, though. I understand why it happened. But at the same time. I am angry about it.

Third of all: TRANS MC who's a POC! NATIVE GF! The Wild Bunch are all POC! Chef kiss on the rep! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Blood, Medical trauma, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Abandonment, Colonisation, Dysphoria, and Classism

Minor: Animal death, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Slavery

bluejay21's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective slow-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Colonisation

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Grief, and Alcohol