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divafern's review against another edition
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol
penelopeja's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Death, Suicide, and Grief
Moderate: Homophobia, Physical abuse, and Murder
rcampbell's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This has the same dark, other-worldly, southern gothic feel to it. The story follows one boy, his family and the rural town he grows up in over one summer. Lots of moral lessons regarding religion, the "devil" amongst us and what evil is, were heavy going and not the most subtle but thoroughly enjoyed the story telling and use of language.
The setting is perfect and clearly one that McDaniels knows well. The heat and stiffling sense of the town was tangible, building as the tension in the story grew.
One reservation I have is in McDaniel's characterisation of the town's apparently only person with a disability as angry and bitter and being the 'evil villain' figure in the plot. This particular trope felt outdated and the book was written in 2016. Think this is a bit lazy and has the potential to perpetuate long-standing harmful trope of connecting disfigurement/disability with villainy. Or maybe this was the point....?!
I will look out for her future publications as I enjoy her use of setting, language and story telling and raced through this book in a couple of days.
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Religious bigotry, and Murder
happyreadings'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? It's complicated
4.5
Fielding, Autopsy's son, becomes close with Sal and learns where Sal came from and the trauma he went through with his abusive family. However, word spreads of Sal being the devil and a cult forms. Things escalate at the end of the summer when the cult takes it too far and the heat becomes too much.
This book was a lot but if you've read Betty, by Tiffany McDaniels, then you'll understand this is her kind of story telling. This story had a lot of lessons mostly being not to judge something just because we're told that it is bad.
Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racism, Suicide, and Murder
lorylor's review against another edition
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Murder
Minor: Miscarriage, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, and Death of parent
whatellisreadnext's review against another edition
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
My two main issues were:
1) the setting of 1984 to utilise HIV/Aids as a shocking plot point
2) the fact we are told to give empathy to the white supremacists that brutally murder a black child. Again this was utilised as a plot point to shock the reader.
This book is written by a white woman. It came out 5 years ago, but if it was released now, it would be getting major backlash. It didn't sit right with me, and I recommend you don't read it.
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, and Religious bigotry
Loss of a child