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Razorblade Tears

S.A. Cosby

Start date: August 23, 2022

Finish date: September 12, 2022

Why we're reading this: Razorblade Tears is Franklin Afternoon Book Discussion's September selection! This book club will be held…more
[close] Razorblade Tears is Franklin Afternoon Book Discussion's September selection! This book club will be held in person at Franklin Avenue Library on Monday, 9/12 at 1:00 PM. Visit our website or call 515-283-4152 for more details.

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Jan 30, 2022 Danielle rated it really liked it

Shelves: adult, audiobooks-read, mystery-thriller, contemporary

"That was the thing about violence. When you went looking for it you definitely were going to find it. It just wouldn't be at a time of your own choosing. It jumped up and splattered your nice new boots before you were really ready. The thing is, if you chase it long enough, you realize you're never really ready for it. Shit happens and you either roll with it or you don't. Eventually you got used to it."

I knew next to nothing about this book going into it. It was picked for a monthly book club "That was the thing about violence. When you went looking for it you definitely were going to find it. It just wouldn't be at a time of your own choosing. It jumped up and splattered your nice new boots before you were really ready. The thing is, if you chase it long enough, you realize you're never really ready for it. Shit happens and you either roll with it or you don't. Eventually you got used to it."

I knew next to nothing about this book going into it. It was picked for a monthly book club I'm a part of and I always give our monthly book choices a chance. I knew I had seen this book all over the internet, but I really didn't know what this book was about. Imagine my surprise to find out this is a book about revenge and it's quite graphic in the ways revenge is found. This book is quite graphic with violence (full list of trigger warnings below) and I definitely wasn't expecting my stomach to turn as much as it did. As far as the mystery part of this book, I loved trying to figure out the true reasons behind the murders of Derek and Isiah. I did guess the true person/reason behind the murder before it was revealed, but this didn't take away from the book for me. I was so captivated by Ike and Buddy Lee that I had to keep reading to find out what they were up to next.

It's a rare treat to find characters that make such "wrong" decisions and enjoy their company so much. I mean, knowing that you may (ok, definitely) will have to kill some folks to find out the true reason behind your son's murder usually puts a character in the "do not like" category. Yet as the story progressed, I found myself enjoying Ike and Buddy Lee's company more and more. The thing that stood out to me the most with their characters is they had some very strong beliefs about their sons and being married to each other (Derek and Isiah, to be clear). Yet, they found that as they adjusted to life without their sons that their beliefs mattered less than having time with their son. What a powerful message. I was never expecting to get a love is love message from this book but I am so glad this book is dealing with present social issues in addition to being a fantastic crime/mystery story.

I really enjoyed this story and would definitely read more from S.A. Cosby in the future. But knowing his style, I'll definitely want to be in the right frame of mind to read another book by him. My stomach is guaranteed to turn.

TW: violence, murder (on-page), death, dismemberment (on-page), grief, homophobia, cheating, gun violence, transphobia, kidnapping, emotional abuse, car accident, fire, physical abuse (on-page), alcoholism, cancer, racism, racial slurs, deadnaming ...more

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Sep 11, 2022 Becky rated it really liked it

Shelves: library, mystery, fiction, social-justice

What a wild wild read! This book was WAY outside of my usual comfort zone, full to the brim with unrelenting violence, killing, vengeance, bloodiness, lack of remorse between the main two characters Ike and Buddy Lee. And yet... And yet... I kept reading because I read somewhere that it was on Barack Obama's summer reading list, last year a different book by this author was NPR's Book of the Year or some such honor, and because it was this months selection for my library Book Club meeting. Our d ...more

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