Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby

9 reviews

jhbandcats's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I love SA Cosby - I would probably read a phone book if I knew he’d written it. That said, I have some quibbles with this book. 

I’m tired of the crazed serial killer story. If there were as many serial killers as serial killer novels, there would be a huge dip in our population. The weakest part of the story was about the fanaticism and insanity, the abuse to the victims, and the descriptions of the torture chamber. 

A minor complaint: when the sheriff finds the old woman who knew of the young boy, she doesn’t say his name and he’s referred to as “the boy” thereafter. Why no name? It wouldn’t have given anything away. 

Spoiler

Also, it felt like the killer was a rabbit pulled out a hat. I don’t think anyone would have figured out his identity by the end.

Spoiler

The strongest parts deal with the racism embedded in the South (and indeed the whole US) and the way Black people are confronted with it every day. The topical issues of white supremacy and rabid Confederacy adherents show that the worst bits of the story are all too real, not fiction at all. 

It’s a shame that Cosby is likely preaching to the choir - I can’t imagine any racist deciding to read to the end of this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Confinement, Gun violence, Hate crime, Animal death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Torture, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Pedophilia, Vomit, Racial slurs, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Violence, Chronic illness, Murder, Gore, Blood, and Mental illness

pomoevareads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This book won’t be for everyone but if you can stomach some sick gore wrapped in some captivating southern noir then Cosby’s latest crime fiction book All the Sinners Bleed might be up your alley. I had to breathe through a few parts as it was a bit much. 

This book is as much about a sheriff working to be a respectable and honorable leader as it is about the town over which he tries to maintain order. A group of confederate supporters want to hold a march in town to honour a statue that seeks to bring the town back to its (racist) roots. Opposing this group is another group led by a modern church leader who wants to see the statue removed and for the town to move forward in a more harmonious community. In the midst of tension between the two groups, a shooting occurs. As a result of the shooting, Titus learns about more deaths that have been carried out in his quiet town. Titus must track down a serial killer among a group of folks who don’t all stand out. 

Cosby excels at getting the reader to root for a character and presents moral issues in a meaningful way. I found his character of a Titus Crown, the first black sheriff in this small Virginian town, to be well built and interesting. Titus has his own demons which we learn about slowly throughout the novel. Many side characters are introduced and keeping notes helped me keep them straight. 

The pacing of the novel starts out a bit slow for a Cosby novel leaving me unsure what to expect but rest assured the action and suspense arrives. I stayed glued to a couple of clues but never guessed who the killer was. Looking back, I can see some more clues that were dropped that I glossed over. 

Overall, I found All the Sinners Bleed hard to put down once I got into it. There was a lot of religious imagery and quotes that didn’t mean as much to me as it will to others but helped develop the story. This book is not for the faint of heart and contains many topics that may be triggering to those who have experienced child abuse in particular. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Racism, Child death, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Death, Torture, Confinement, Gun violence, and Religious bigotry

bookbuyingwithkatie's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Confinement, Murder, Gore, Child death, Child abuse, and Death of parent

serendipitysbooks's review

dark mysterious reflective 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

4.75

 All the Sinners Bleed is a story about Titus Crown, the first Black sheriff of Charon County, Virginia. It opens with a school shooting. A Black teen has shot a beloved teacher and is in turn shot by police. The subsequent investigation takes Titus and his deputies in unexpected and horrific directions. This was one of the darkest books I have read in a long time. Thankfully the worst of the subject matter was alluded to rather than graphically depicted. I thought Cosby did a great job highlighting the chilling reality of white supremacism and the toll facing up to it places on Black officers. I also appreciated the way current issues - such as those surrounding statutes of Confederate soldiers - were woven into the plot, making the novel feel both real and relevant. There were other layers to the plot as well - religious extremism, the legacy of child abuse, Titus’s personal and family situations. The story does incorporate some potentially tired cliched tropes, as is often the case with genre fiction. But the plot and pacing made for a gripping read, and the many contemporary issues, particularly those related to race, helped to elevate it above its tropes. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Confinement, Kidnapping, Murder, Racism, and Violence

corpoto's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Death, Child abuse, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, and Grief

Moderate: Alcohol, Gun violence, Hate crime, Slavery, Sexual violence, Mass/school shootings, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Chronic illness, Confinement, and Addiction

feralbookwife's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

S.A. Cosby can take tropes of thrillers and make them deeper, darker, and more compelling. A tangled web of morality, Christianity, identity, secrets, and the many forms of violence in a society. This was the first thriller to make me cry. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Animal death, Confinement, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Addiction, Body horror, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Police brutality, Ableism, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Sexism, Slavery, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Torture, Vomit, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Blood, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mass/school shootings, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Rape, Stalking, Chronic illness, and Classism

chessakat's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Hate crime, Racism, Sexual assault, Gore, Mental illness, Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racial slurs, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, and Violence

Moderate: Abandonment

Minor: Alcoholism and Addiction

mollysbooklist's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

This book is very good but very heavy. If you love thrillers you definitely should read it. 

My thoughts:
1. The audiobook narrator was perfect for the characters. He did a great job. 
2. I feel like there is something left unsatisfied with this book, but I think it’s supposed to feel like that though. It’s got a sense of melancholy to the ending. 
3. This isn’t a book where you’ll guess who did it. You find out along with the MC which I kind of liked. 
4. The commentary on race and religion is excellent. 

**Please check the content warnings for this book if you have any triggers**





CW/TW: 

Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death of parent, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury / injury detail, Kidnapping, Mass school shootings, Murder, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Violence, Torture, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, alcohol abuse, and illegal adoption 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Torture, Blood, Confinement, Death of parent, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Violence, Sexual violence, Rape, and Physical abuse

Minor: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Police brutality

jessreadreceipts's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Murder, Racism, Child abuse, Violence, Child death, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Kidnapping, and Mass/school shootings

Moderate: Racial slurs, Gun violence, Death, Confinement, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Hate crime, and Torture

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, and Stalking