Reviews tagging 'Gore'

The Witness for the Dead by Katherine Addison

10 reviews

ethuiliel's review

mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

The story was great, and the characters were compelling. I did have terrible keeping track of people and places though. Too many unfamiliar words. A glossary like there was in The Goblin Emperor would have helped

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Grief, Death, Murder, Gore, Violence, Suicide, Body horror, and Outing

Minor: Rape, Religious bigotry, Infidelity, Medical content, and Pregnancy

maecave15's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Gore

Minor: Suicide, Religious bigotry, Panic attacks/disorders, and Pregnancy

sophiesmallhands's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Classism, Death, Murder, and Violence

Minor: Child death, Rape, and Toxic relationship

kal517's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Homophobia, Gore, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Rape, Pregnancy, and Racism

bergha1998's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

It feels like a detective novel, except the detective is a priest who can commune with the dead. With that angle this book does get rather sorrowful. As someone who deals with depression, I saw a lot of that reflected in the main character, Thara Celehar. At times, when he was struggling, I found it quite heavy. It’s also a bit slow at times. However, it all wraps up in a very interesting way, but a bit fast for my liking. 

“‘Tranquility in strength’ meant having the strength to keep one’s tranquility of mind, no matter what the world brought.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gore, Murder, Body horror, Death, Grief, Suicide, Blood, and Mental illness

the_bees_books's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad fast-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? It's complicated

4.0

An amazing mash-up of high fantasy and crime thriller, this book will keep you on the edge of your seat, all the way to the climactic end! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Death, and Misogyny

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Gore, Suicide, Classism, Pregnancy, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Blood

noodletheriddle's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Death, Body horror, Blood, Murder, Suicide, and Gore

alyshkalia's review

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Suicide, Death, and Medical content

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Gore, Grief, Homophobia, and Outing

reebeee's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

The worldbuilding is excellent, and Addison really shows her skill in constructing a geography--you could probably make a map of Amalo based on the various descriptions and directions given throughout the book. Celehar is also vividly characterized. The driving force of the book his is character, after all, and most of my investment in finishing the book stemmed from my hope to see things work out for him. The themes of the book are similar to those of The Goblin Emperor: introspection, belief in a Good despite a lot of bad around you, sadness and hope mingled.

Unfortunately, none of the other characters in the book were quite as vivid as Celeher--even his (potential?) love interest seemed somewhat hollow to me. The plot was also disjointed, focusing on one mystery for an extended period, then seeming to forget about it for another extended period. There wasn't really a through-line anchoring the various plotlines and demonstrating why THIS time in Celehar's life and THESE particular cases were worth writing a book about. The mysteries themselves were also so-so--my pet peeve of mystery stories is when the reader has no chance of figuring out the solution for themselves.

TL;DR: The Witness for the Dead is more of a character study of Celehar than a plot-driven book; it seemed somewhat like a handful of different short stories stitched together. If you loved the characters and themes of The Goblin Emperor and don't mind reading a novel that's more like a modified short story collection, you'll like The Witness for the Dead. Despite my genre-based quibbles, I definitely enjoyed it and will definitely be reading the next book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, Murder, and Medical content

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Outing, Pregnancy, and Grief

Minor: Vomit, Racism, and Gore

cmoriarty's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror and Gore

Midway through the book, Mer Celehar leaves town and visits a village.

He is attacked by, and kills, a ghoul.