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xxfirerainbowxx's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Blood, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, and Colonisation
Minor: Alcohol
reddeddy's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism
Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Slavery, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, and Colonisation
tofufun's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Gore, Hate crime, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Hate crime, Racism, Torture, Mass/school shootings, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Pedophilia and Racial slurs
beckybeth's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Incest, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Stalking, and Alcohol
afriduss's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism
bellasandrarose's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I’m in two minds about the number of characters and
Writing-wise there were times where words were repeated that I think could have been crafted a bit and I think the characters did maybe need something a little deeper each to make them stick (like Pip was great cause he was the old one but Davy and Steve and I swear there’s another one were the same person in my head). Also one time they said
Overall, I enjoyed and I will check out some more from this author
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, and Alcohol
Minor: Religious bigotry
katiearcher's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Torture, Blood, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Mass/school shootings
Minor: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Alcohol
kenlaan'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
The first Black sheriff - Titus Crown - elected in the fictional county of Charon in rural Virginia must stop a serial killer before the county erupts from the tensions of fear and the foundational racism that's a facet of its people's daily lives.
In spite of my five-star rating, this is a book that I would hesitate to recommend to pretty much anyone I know, in contrast to Cosby's previous novel, Razorblade Tears, which isn't a light novel but not nearly as dark as this. It's undoubtedly one of the darkest books I've ever read: there is a school shooting in the second chapter (no children are harmed, but...) and it just gets worse from there. This is not something I would've ever been drawn to if I hadn't read his previous stuff.
Cosby can <i>write</i>. With most authors I can point to their particular strengths: he's good at characterization, her prose is really evocative, etc. I'd struggle to mention something that Cosby doesn't excel at. The characters are nuanced, multidimensional people, the plot is tightly-wound and intricately charted, and I hear, smell, and feel the environs of Charon County.
And the insight with which Cosby writes the experiences of a Black man living amongst the prejudices and racism of
If you know what you're getting into and aren't troubled by darker crime fiction, definitely read this, though I'd probably recommend Razorblade Tears as an intro to S.A. Cosby. And if you aren't sure, maybe stay away - I'm not someone that includes content warnings in reviews but I will be listing them as spoilers at the bottom.
I will read anything that Cosby writes and hope his next novel comes soon.
Opening:
Charon County was founded in bloodshed and darkness.
Literally and figuratively.
Even the name is enveloped in shadows and morbidity. Legend has it the name of the county was supposed to be Charlotte or Charles County, but the town elders waited to late and those names were already taken by the time they decided to incorporate their fledgling encampment. As the story goes, they just moved their finger down the list of names until they settled on Charon. Those men, weathered as whitleather with hands like splitting mauls, bestowed the name on their new town with no regard to its macabre nature. Or perhaps they just liked the name because a river flowed through the county and emptied into the Chesapeake like the River Styx.
Who knows? Who could know the thoughts of those long-dead men?
What is known is that in 1805 in the dead of night a group of white land-owners, chafing at the limits of their own manifest destiny, set fire to the last remaining indigenous village on the tear-drop shaped peninsula that would become Charon County.
Those who escaped the flames were brought down by muskets with no regard to age, gender, or infirmity. That was the first of many tragedies in the history of Charon. The cannibalism of the winter of 1853. The malaria outbreak of 1901. The United Daughters of the Confederacy picnic poisoning of 1935. The Danforth family murder-suicide of 1957. The tent revival baptismal drownings of 1968, and on and on. The soil of Charon County, like most towns and counties in the South, was sown with generations of tears. They were places where violence and mayhem was celebrated as the pillars of a pioneering spirit every Founders' Day in the county square.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, and Murder
crystalxxvision's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Blood, Mass/school shootings, and Death of parent
mhcovill'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
5.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail