Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo

87 reviews

rosagruen's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

3.5

A southern gothic queer horror story full of folklore & hauntings sounded like the perfect book to transition from summer to autumn & it definitely was.

Honestly I had a hard time getting into the story for about half the book, it took me a while to understand the basics of the story, especially the way the hauntings worked. I also didn’t like how much the characters evolved around car races, which is  just bc I personally cannot connect with that. 
But around half the book the story took me really in & I loved the last 20% of it. 
If the whole book had more focus on the folklore and murder mystery, like the last chapters did, this would have been a a 4-5 stars read for me, but as I said I had a hard time connecting with the first half of the book.
Even though I figured out the mystery pretty early on, I still liked the way it was written and it remained exciting to me. 
I also ended up liking the romance way more than I did. 
So overall a pretty good reading experience but far away from being a favorite. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Suicide, Cannibalism, and Murder

Moderate: Drug abuse and Homophobia

Minor: Racism

kakenn21's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

3.0

The first half the book was slow and Andrew's lack of emotional availability is tedious. But once he opens up to Riley and Sam a bit and the mystery gets going I enjoyed it. Writing was wordy and the lack of a large cast of characters made the reveal anti-climatic. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Racism, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

kastanienlady's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Gore

Moderate: Drug use, Racism, Blood, Vomit, Grief, and Death of parent

valerian_honeybee's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Deadnaming, Transphobia, Medical content, Cannibalism, and Fire/Fire injury

hellavaral's review against another edition

medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Drug use, Gore, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Homophobia, and Racism

maregred's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Physical abuse and Terminal illness

atuin's review against another edition

dark tense slow-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

3.5

This was very slow paced to start off with, as the first several chapters focus on the main character spinning his wheels in grief. I understand the point is that he felt trapped by his own grief over the death of someone close to him, but it took too long for the actual story to start for me. That said, the story was good when it did get going. What made it worth it was the characters and the main theme of pushing down your own nature does not solve the problem. The protagonist struggles against accepting his supernatural abilities and his queer nature, and must accept both parts of himself. 

I liked the characters of the book, as I found their deeply flawed but still caring natures interesting. It was that same dynamic of deeply flawed people caring for each other that drew me to this author in the first place, as I loved his short story in Uncanny magazine. 

I'll admit the constant drug use, drinking, and reckless driving felt a little absurd, especially when they all got mixed together. I can suspend my disbelief for ghosts and the supernatural, but drinking and driving with no consequences? That's just ridiculous. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Grief, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Racism, Sexual content, and Injury/Injury detail

atomicbritt's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, and Sexual content

c_alexander's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

(june 2024 edit: i changed my rating to 5 stars cuz this book hasn’t left my brain once)

loved this - loved the complex characters and relationships, the imagery, tone, and the pacing!

was disappointed side characters weren't further developed - especially in terms of the bipoc characters; racism is a theme explored in the book but in a really brief capacity considering its relevance

took a little while to 'pick up' but had me hooked in the second half

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Religious bigotry, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Child death, Car accident, and Death of parent

btaylorb's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

5.0

😭

The comparisons to The Raven Cycle are very accurate. There were some occasional descriptive moments that were confusing and I would have to re-read, but overall I loved this. Spooky shit, southern gothic, magic that is a stand-in for something else, a hint of dark academia and ending that is a glimmer of hope while also guaranteeing nothing, hurts so good, satisfyingly unsatisfying.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Drug use, Suicide, Blood, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Sexual content and Torture

Minor: Racism, Toxic friendship, and Classism