This was fun!! There is a bit of a learning curve for the audiobook version, because the audiobook’s narrator does not adjust her voice for most of thThis was fun!! There is a bit of a learning curve for the audiobook version, because the audiobook’s narrator does not adjust her voice for most of the POV characters.
Once you get past this, buckle in! The characters are a mix of comical and insightful, and while I didn’t appreciate the way their family “came back together” at the end, I found the pacing of this reveal to be well measured and ultimately enjoyable.
Would recommend to anyone looking for a breezy read with a layered plot, especially if you are fascinated by polygamy stories! ...more
Thanks to Michaela for recommending this one to me as a palate cleanser/Libby selection that could help me meet my reading goal!
Every Heart a DoorwayThanks to Michaela for recommending this one to me as a palate cleanser/Libby selection that could help me meet my reading goal!
Every Heart a Doorway was a fun deviation from my usual reading patterns, with some enjoyable characters that assume will be fleshed out in the following books in the series.
I had a bit of trouble following the magic in this story, and I couldn’t tell if that’s because the author left some needed explanations out, or if it’s because my attention span is still not strong enough for audiobooks.
Either way, I enjoyed the parts about Nancy’s asexuality, and it’s always fun to read a book with an OITNB-style cast. By this, I mean that each student you see in the present day narrative has an equally story-worthy past, which creates a layered onion effect that I hope the future stories will reveal.
I think my rating is mostly because I was confused in some places, and overall I don’t think this book will “stay” with me in any real way. However, I still had a decent time reading it, and would absolutely recommend to those who regularly enjoy fantasy work!! ...more
I used to love reading Kimberla Lawson Roby’s when I needed a quick pick-me-up to keep from entering a reading slump! Something has changed with her wI used to love reading Kimberla Lawson Roby’s when I needed a quick pick-me-up to keep from entering a reading slump! Something has changed with her work or with me, because this one wasn’t meeting the mark.
The dialogue was awful, and I couldn’t connect to a single character. I guess I need to find a new guilty pleasure, or stick to her church series!!!...more
My Libby reservation is expiring before I’ve finished this book, and I won’t be seeking out a way to renew it/get a physical copy.
This one wasn’t wortMy Libby reservation is expiring before I’ve finished this book, and I won’t be seeking out a way to renew it/get a physical copy.
This one wasn’t worth waiting out the eventual plot twist, because neither the characters nor the world surrounding them are well-rendered enough to make up for the time!!
Wouldn’t recommend to others, as I hate when the light/fun reads are too boring to provide the break I was looking for. ...more
This book is so stylistically and geographically rich. It is a faithful continuation of S.A. Cosby’s body of work, *and* a stActual Rating: 4.75 stars
This book is so stylistically and geographically rich. It is a faithful continuation of S.A. Cosby’s body of work, *and* a stunning expansion of the world he portrays.
As you might guess from the title, All the Sinners Bleed is chock full of these really interesting spiritual claims about the South. Cosby’s protagonist, Titus Crown, is a recently elected Sherriff grappling with the damnation of his hometown, Charon County, Virginia. Titus’ investigation of some of the most horrendous murders you can think of seem to bolster the book’s thesis that these violations are not isolated incidents portraying the worst of the South, but actually the most accurate portrayal of what this region has always been since its original sins (Indigenous dispossession and chattel slavery.) There is so much to unpack here, so I’ll try to do so in a few main sections.
How this novel succeeds and fails as copaganda Okay, so we have to start here. As a genre, mystery novels are rife with characterizations of police officers, sheriffs, and state troopers/rangers as well-intentioned, often overzealous pursuers of justice. This, of course, could not be further from the truth. I think some readers will appreciate that S.A. Cosby is trying to make Titus a “self-aware sheriff”, but I mostly found this to be annoying and unsuccessful. This trope of the Black cop trying to land on the right side of history is clunky, but also something that authors like Cosby or even my beloved Attica Locke seem to be obsessed with. In the Highway 59 series, Locke’s portrayal of how Darren Matthews struggles with the sordid history of the Texas Rangers is much more compelling to me. I felt that Cosby’s attempts to do a similar level of anguish in Titus Crown mostly fell flat. Instead of focusing on the character’s internal waffling, Cosby seems to focus on the character feels cAuGhT bEtWeEn tWo wOrLdS. At points, the handling of this topic felt like a cringey biracial slam poem (this TikTok is a good example of what I mean.) If I had to read one more passage about how Titus “had to make peace with the number of his own people who rejected him for wearing the badge”, I was going to throw up!!
Unfortunately, I think this novel does succeed in painting small-town sheriffs as overworked public servants who are just trying their best to keep everyone safe. Cosby accomplishes this through several tactics, including an introductory scene that feels like a fantasy rewrite of the murders at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. In the novel’s first “jump to action” moment, Cosby creates a scenario that is directly opposed to what we now know that cops actually do in school shootings: tuck tail and wait out the slaughter, while parents risk their lives to actually save their children and other students. By setting up this situation that so clearly runs counter to a recent major news story, Cosby quickly ingratiates readers to Titus, if not the other deputies. Because we are gently nudged over to Titus’ side of the story, community members’ criticisms of the sheriff’s department become a pesky distraction from the main mystery, and not a natural response to a tragic police murder.
Cosby also works to make Titus’ occupation a mundane element of the story, and a key source of information about the setting. Our protagonist being the sheriff allows Charon County to feel like a more lived-in and fleshed-out place—something I actually loved about the setting in this story compared to some of Cosby’s other novels. Titus investigates his surroundings with municipal language and a bureaucratic eye—he observes that a part of the county that is barely tethered to the outside world through a rickety bridge, and muses on the multiple budget requests he’s made to address this issue. As an urban planner, I’ve had many discussions with colleagues about how working in city and/or county government essentially makes us coworkers to the police. Cosby’s narrative approach makes this connection very clear—Titus, as the sheriff, is concerned about the same elements of the built environment that concern me as a planner. Even for readers without the professional connection, I think this portrayal of Titus as a concerned, but mostly powerless public servant is a disarming approach that again, succeeds in entrenching the copaganda.
Why I keep reading all these books about deconstruction This is probably something I should work on, because even with all that said, I still I really, really enjoyed this book!! A lot of this is because of how this story connected to some of the topics that feel most relevant for my current life conditions. In my review of How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair, I mentioned how 2023 became the year of me reading a series of books where the narrators are chafing against the confines of their faith traditions. These books included How to Say Babylon, Temple Folk by Aaliyah Bilal, Hijab Butch Blues by Lamya H., and All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby.
Like with How to Say Babylon (and Hijab Butch Blues to a lesser extent), All the Sinners Bleed is deconstructing place and religion at the same time. Cosby’s novel is the one selection in this list using a Christian framework to interrogate the modern manifestations of the South’s original sins. Titus is such a self-righteous, anti-religious person, and I just loved that combination. The language in this book (which positions Titus as the primary narrator) is also dark, poetic, and often apocalyptic. Cosby plays with biblical language while also ruminating on the failures of the Bible in such a captivating manner—this is, bar none, his best-crafted novel.
I also think this book (and its particular offerings around deconstruction) reached me at a really opportune time. These days, when/if I call myself a Christian, I’m referring to my upbringing in and cultural connections to the Baptist/nondenominational tradition. However, as discussed on my other rant platform, in a time when many Christians are championing a LITERAL genocide, it feels wrong to align myself with any part of the faith. A protagonist like Titus Crown, who so clearly has been shaped by Black religious practice, but sees rampant evidence of Christianity’s rot in his daily life, speaks perfectly to where I am in life.
SA Cosby’s gender trouble I want to preface my criticism by saying I am NOT an avid reader of male authors. In 2023, I read 60 books, 49 of which were written by women or non-binary people. Of the remaining titles, 5 were novels, and 3 of those were written by Cosby himself. My reading patterns may create a situation where I don’t realize that the bar is in hell for cishet male authors, and they aren’t even attempting to pass the Bechdel test. Given that it is 2024, I think Cosby’s continued challenges to craft compelling and fully realized female characters in his work are straight-up embarrassing.
I previously discussed these challenges while reviewing My Darkest Prayer, a much earlier novel of Cosby’s. It’s unfortunate to see that with all the recent praise and additional time to hone his craft, Cosby still cannot write a woman that has anywhere near the depth of his titular characters. In All the Sinners Bleed, I feel that he’s expanded his work in so many ways, but this is NOT one of them. Darlene is a shell of a human being from the minute she’s introduced, and I felt like Kelli came into the story too late to matter. Her main purpose, as far as I can tell, is to serve as eye candy and another person for Titus to “protect.”
This inability to think critically about gender is matched by an inability to think critically about sexuality ( I felt this way in Razorblade Tears , too.) In comparison with the other deconstruction stories I’ve read and mentioned above, Cosby’s failure to interrogate patriarchy (or even clearly name it) makes his discussions of the villainous characters fall flat. Like with many stories in the true crime/mystery genre, Cosby’s antagonists are all queer characters who are never fully discussed as such, and the narrators have no honest or even meaningful reflections on how matters like homophobia might have helped facilitate their abuse. Instead, they are written off as self-hating monsters who were able to prey on Black children. This is an unfortunate missed opportunity to dig deeper into the content provided, but again, I’m not sure I can expect much better from this author!
Titus—what’s in a name? Finally, let’s end on a happier/more explorative note! Cosby’s embrace of symbolism and puzzles throughout this novel has inspired me to make a small detour into the naming of the protagonist, and what it might be signaling in this story. I have a few ideas, all of which stem from the book of the Bible that bears the same name. Growing up, we were taught about Paul’s letter to Titus along with his other twelve epistles. So, this was one of the first times I actually got to dig into the Epistle to Titus on its own, and learn about the context behind it—which pretty neatly mirrors All the Sinners Bleed. In the Book of Titus, a Greek convert to Christianity has returned to his home country as a missionary under the guidance of the Apostle Paul (I will call this character “Missionary Titus”.) In All the Sinners Bleed, “Sheriff Titus” Crown returns to his home county with the goal of providing Charon County with a more just form of “law and order.” In both stories, these Tituses are appointed leaders in their childhood hometowns, attempting to share new information or ways of being with the people around them. In both cases, these Tituses encounter resistance from many of the people around them.
In the Letter to Titus, Paul is trying to instruct Missionary Titus on how to minister to, teach, and lead the people on the island of Crete, despite their alleged wickedness. This wickedness as a form of resistance is mirrored in All the Sinners Bleed, as Sheriff Titus operates within an environment where people are deluded about the South’s sinful history. Both stories are also complicated by the presence of false teachers, or people who would bolster the resistance to Tituses’ “new ways of living” by rejecting sound doctrine and seeking to promote their own principles. In Cosby’s novel, the main false teachers are snake charming preachers and the leaders of cosplay Confederate militias. Sheriff Titus is often trying to get people swayed by these false teachers to believe in his sound doctrine of more just policing—which of course, in my opinion, is neither sound nor unbiased. Either way, these themes are constantly pinging back in forth between the biblical and modern text, in a way I really enjoyed.
Another major theme in the Epistle to Titus is the need to rebuke those who do wrong. As usual with Paul, his rebukes come with a lot of ableism and self-projecting hatred, so I will refrain from quoting all but one verse of this passage: “Everything is pure to those whose hearts are pure. But nothing is pure to those who are corrupt and unbelieving, because their minds and consciences are corrupted.” (Titus 1:15, NLT) In All The Sinners Bleed, Cosby continues to harp on the topic of Sherriff Titus’ unbelief, and how the things he’s seen and done through his work leave a lasting stain on his own sense of guilt and morality. In this way, Sherriff Titus’ belief in his own corruption is actually less like the Missionary Titus, and more similar to his mentor—the Apostle Paul. This, in my opinion, is Cosby’s greatest trick: to have Paul, himself, mirror Titus Crown. Paul (particularly in his former life as Saul) was a man with a proven capacity for violence, who has embraced his calling as Apostle to the Gentiles as a way to make penance for his former actions. This is very similar to how Titus Crown conceptualizes his role as sheriff, and it’s notable that both men have a deeply troubling capacity for self-flagellation. So in the final biblical comparison (Sherriff Titus as the Apostle Paul writing to Missionary Titus), I think Cosby does an amazing job at showing how his protagonist mirrors Paul’s fanatical adherence to a demanding profession.
Final Thoughts This is a book you won’t be able to put down, and it is well worth your time. There are many layers of moral exploration within the story, and I think these sections will appeal to anyone on a religious deconstruction journey. Cosby’s stylistic choices also create a game-like experience for readers, where the mystery is revealed as we solve an increasing number of puzzles. I didn’t find a category for this point earlier on, but I particularly loved the format where Cosby shared small vignettes of the people who found more dead bodies. That is just one example of how intricately this book has been crafted—the use of small narrative devices had me literally feeling goosebumps in anticipation of certain revelations.
If you can handle levels of gore that recall True Detective Season 1, and don’t mind the author’s benevolent misogyny and homophobia, then I would enthusiastically recommend this book (even as your first introduction to S.A. Cosby’s work.) However, if you are at all squeamish, please tread lightly or read this one during the day. It’s been over three months since I finished this book, and I’m still haunted by some of the scenes. So, proceed with caution, but also excitement! You are in for a scary, deeply enjoyable read....more
In some ways, My Darkest Prayer lacks some of the narrative refinement of S.A. Cosby’s more recent books. It’s difficult to geActual rating: 3.5 stars
In some ways, My Darkest Prayer lacks some of the narrative refinement of S.A. Cosby’s more recent books. It’s difficult to get pacing exactly right in a 200-pager, but I thought the big reveal and final action scene in this book wasn’t given nearly enough time to unfold. In contrast, I loved how meticulously the plot unfolded in both Razorblade Tears and Blacktop Wasteland. My other gripe is one that My Darkest Prayer holds in common with the other two books of this author’s that I’ve read so far: the women are upsettingly two-dimensional. These two options for female characters in these stories adhere very closely to the Madonna-whore complex, with an extra splash of colorism for the women in the latter category (like the mark of attractive characters in this book is literally whether they have green/gray/blue eyes—how embarrassing!!!)
Despite these flaws, I loved the backdrop of this story. Out of the three S.A. Cosby books I’ve read so far, Southeastern Virginia is most palpable in this story. The planner in me loved his description of the ins and outs of Queen’s County and the surrounding areas. I felt like in My Darkest Prayer, the author was really committed to fleshing out the region, instead of name dropping counties in the way I sometimes feel like he falls back on in his later novels.
Finally, the mystery itself did the trick for me!!! There was just enough expansion (and contraction) of the web so you felt clear on who the players were, but still surprised by their connections to each other. I would recommend this to any fans of the genre, and I look forward to reading this author’s most recent novel next!...more
A World Between by Emily Hashimoto is easily one of my favorite sapphic romance novels in the last five years! That’s saying sActual Rating: 4.5 stars
A World Between by Emily Hashimoto is easily one of my favorite sapphic romance novels in the last five years! That’s saying something, because we’re reaching a critical mass of options to actually choose from now. Even in the pack, Hashimoto (they/them)’s work stands out from the others. This is technically a 400+ page book, but my buddy read partner and I ended up flying through this story, and we both agreed that we would’ve read another 200 pages if Hashimoto had written them! Sequel, anyone?!?!
Hashimoto gets a lot right here, but the first thing they do masterfully is develop characters that we either want to root for, or enjoy rooting against. In the age of diFFiCuLt wOmEn and CoMpLeX nArRaTiOn, it has become a rare luxury to enjoy all the characters in a book. To me, this is not the same as liking all the characters—it’s moreso about appreciating the author’s vision with each character, because their personality has a clear purpose and positive impact on the story as a whole. For instance, I found Nasrin to be one of the most repulsive, smug little assholes I’d read about in a long time. Thankfully, Hashimoto is aware of how this character comes across, and skillfully uses Nasrin as a classic heel who seeks to destroy the budding roomie-lover-friends plot. This means Nasrin’s character fulfills the role of a delightful villain that you love to hate, instead of a troublingly annoying character that takes readers out of the story. Hashimoto is also skilled at making readers love unexpected characters. Making the bisexual’s boyfriend a clueless but mostly enjoyable tech bro was a brilliant move, and I found myself enjoying each time Dhaval was mentioned or popped back up in the later scenes.
I did have some timing gripes with this story, most of which could have been solved with even more chapters. ...more
I really admire the respect that S.A. Cosby has for the hijinks of his protagonists. The lead-up to each heist requires the main character to run an iI really admire the respect that S.A. Cosby has for the hijinks of his protagonists. The lead-up to each heist requires the main character to run an impossible number of calculations, and account for so many personalities, risks, and settings. I enjoyed this story the most when Cosby lets us see a sliver of this work, while also leaning into the improvisation that comes when the plan starts to unravel. You never feel like the protagonist "just got lucky", but you also realize that they barely escape each action scene.
Unfortunately, in the case of Blacktop Wasteland, I found the main character to be a bit too brooding for my tastes. By the end of the story, Cosby is trying to force Bug to have a relevation about fatherhood that I could have done without. This is the only reason I am docking a star, but I still would definitely recommend this book to others--it's a great time!...more
This book, and the life it encapsulates, are achievements in every sense of the word! It took me a few months to end up reviewActual Rating: 4.5 stars
This book, and the life it encapsulates, are achievements in every sense of the word! It took me a few months to end up reviewing this one, partially because the content was so raw, and partially because I had so much to say about it! So, here goes another essay/review. ...more
Incredible!!! I need to reread the novella in light of the final plot twist (!!), and collect my thoughts. Might be a five-star review when all is saiIncredible!!! I need to reread the novella in light of the final plot twist (!!), and collect my thoughts. Might be a five-star review when all is said and done. ...more
This is a chaotic but very clued-in peek into the lives of 21st-century white lesbians. I think this is one of the first books I've read books about pThis is a chaotic but very clued-in peek into the lives of 21st-century white lesbians. I think this is one of the first books I've read books about people my age that was actually WRITTEN by someone my age, and Dykette is startlingly accurate as a result of this. At several places in this book, I found myself thinking "how do they [the author] know about that?!?" I'm used to the sorts of twenty-something novels where the Millennial or Gen X author is grasping at straws of Twitter topics in order to make their characters seem relevant. Reading a book like this, where the dialogue, inside jokes, and mannerisms of each Gen Z character are so believable, was a refreshing experience that I look forward to experiencing more of as more people my age get book deals. It was just such a delight to not have to suspend disbelief when a character who is allegedly my age says something they'd never say, or makes a joke they'd never find humorous, just because the author and editors don't know better. I didn't know this was actually such a major part of my reading experience with modern novels, but apparently I care a lot about this!!
In addition to my enjoyment of the accuracy of this book, I also thought Sasha was a delightfully honest narrator, and I enjoyed her musings on just how terrible of a partner she could be. Some of the passages about her detachment and lack of effort in the emotional areas of her relationship with Jesse even made me think differently about some of my patterns in romance. Her particular dynamic with Darcy was the most enjoyable relationship in the book to me, and you could feel the cringe in every interaction between them.
The only challenge I had with this one was that the level of drama that Sasha brings to each mundane occurrence meant that I found it very hard to stay on top of what exactly was happening in this book. Each activity was so overly processed and theorized (the queer theory rabbit holes were both expected but also annoying) that it became hard to stay in the moment with the characters, and I often found myself wishing there was just a bit of a clearer arc to the scenes. However, even with my bit of confusion, I would still recommend this one!...more
An unexpected end to an underwhelming book! Something I regret picking up in the airport because I finished my other book. Wouldn’t recommend because An unexpected end to an underwhelming book! Something I regret picking up in the airport because I finished my other book. Wouldn’t recommend because it just never comes together…very disappointing...more
Don’t want to give this a full negative review, since I never finished it. However, the stories I did read felt both underwhelming and hard to follow.Don’t want to give this a full negative review, since I never finished it. However, the stories I did read felt both underwhelming and hard to follow. I never reached the throughline between the stories, and did not feel like forcing myself to get to that point (though I doubt I would have enjoyed that point either, since I did not connect with any of the characters enough to want to see them come back around.)
I think others may enjoy this, so I don’t want to not recommend. However, neither I nor my buddy read friend (who forced themselves to read the whole thing) thought it was time well spent. ...more
I wouldn’t say this was hard to follow, but it was not what I expected, and this made it hard for me to keep my interest in this one. The interspersedI wouldn’t say this was hard to follow, but it was not what I expected, and this made it hard for me to keep my interest in this one. The interspersed story lines never fully took off for me, and I found myself struggling to figure out who I was supposed to be connecting with at what specific time.
I think if I went in understanding that there wouldn’t be a single main character, I might have enjoyed it more. I certainly enjoyed the concept, and would be interested to reading a more focused and fleshed out book in a similar setting in the future. However, based on my experience with Our Gen, I don’t think I’ll be rushing to pick up any of this author’s other work....more
Nothing wrong with this book, but I didn’t find it to be very memorable, either.
The concept is interesting, but it was hard to access the characters’ Nothing wrong with this book, but I didn’t find it to be very memorable, either.
The concept is interesting, but it was hard to access the characters’ emotions. We were told that one character was grieving, or that another felt conflicted about their profession. However, I didn’t feel that the author truly designed the story based on these things.
I also had a difficult time remembering all the character names, but that could’ve just been a personal challenge!...more
The first part of this book had a good thing going about the hypocrisy of political influencers in our modern era, etc. etc. However, the ongoing reveThe first part of this book had a good thing going about the hypocrisy of political influencers in our modern era, etc. etc. However, the ongoing revelations and plot twists that come after the wedding just continued to muddy the plot until I felt like the focus just wasn’t where it should have been.
There were some promising parts, but I must say I was disappointed when I was done. Another reviewer called the author’s approach “callous”, and I couldn’t agree more. Whether it was due to a misguided sense of equality or a simple lack of range, Adegoke ends up spending way too much time asking us to sympathize with the very characters we don’t need to hear any more from. She concocts these ridiculously convenient exceptions for two characters on the list, and the mental gymnastics it took to follow and feel upset by how they were being “unfairly framed and accused” were just not worth it. I am really curious if she understands how much of the book was spent on the admitted 1% of sexual assault cases. She treats the few victims of those other 99% of cases as afterthoughts in this story, so much so that I could barely remember their names and kept confusing them with other characters. The evil boss lady is more fleshed out, FFS!!!
So, despite the exciting start, we ended with a disjointed narrative arc and unclear moral of the story in a book that desperately needed to come to an ethical conclusion, given the characters’ incessant soapboxes. Better luck next time!!!...more
The plot for this one was just a bit too straightforward...I wanted there to be like at least one more degree of separation between the characters andThe plot for this one was just a bit too straightforward...I wanted there to be like at least one more degree of separation between the characters and shell accounts. It was just too easy to guess exactly how everything was connected within the first two chapters, and the book is not well-paced enough (nor are the characters developed enough) to make up for this predictability. Once you guess exactly what the grift is, the rest of the novel becomes significantly less enjoyable. ...more
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