Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton

57 reviews

amiegold's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

In The Devil and the Dark Water, we are treated to a Sherlock Holmes, locked-room mystery that has been turned on it's head.  After Sammy Pipps, a talented investigator, is imprisoned on a ship, his friend and body guard, Arent, accompanies him on a journey full of mystery, murder and intrigue.  As Sammy is a prisoner, Arent finds himself with the unfamiliar responsibility of solving the mystery before it is too late.  The plot twists kept me on my toes, as I was unsure if there was a supernatural element to the mystery or not.  I enjoyed this book, the ending and the characters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Vomit and Religious bigotry

kou_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Domestic abuse

Minor: Rape

thedinosaurkid's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

A good book!
It has all the good mystery traits of his previous book (7 ½ deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle) but with more paranormal-esque things.
Not my cup of tea, but still  excellent!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Gore, Blood, Classism, Confinement, Death, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Genocide, Physical abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, and Violence

Minor: Slavery, Infidelity, Alcohol, Excrement, and War

pkc's review

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.25

This book was WILD. Really confusing, but quite witty and however you think it will go is probably not how it will go. Violent, tense, scary, but very complex.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Gore, Domestic abuse, Torture, Infidelity, Fire/Fire injury, Medical trauma, Classism, Colonisation, Cursing, Murder, and Sexual content

esme_may's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This was so much better than I was expecting! I wouldn’t have picked this up if I hadn’t got a copy for free but I might read Turton’s other book now. I’d recommend reading this when you have a bit of time on your hands because of the slow pacing: I took it on holiday and it was great for that!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Torture, Animal death, Blood, Colonisation, Gore, and Violence

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death of parent, Genocide, Grief, Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Physical abuse, Ableism, Alcohol, Murder, and Medical content

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, and Vomit

christinereads1823's review

dark mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

4.5

Love love love Turton's writing ability and style. Really immersive and wonderfully intricate! 

I was able to guess half of the ending before the reveal but the rest was a surprise.  Overall excellent read and highly recommend for anyone who loves the tangle of a well-plotted mystery!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Death, Violence, Blood, Animal death, and Gore

Minor: Alcoholism, Vomit, Alcohol, Excrement, Cursing, and Grief

kaylamoran's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.75

Stuart Turton is an auto-buy author for me now.  I loved this almost as much as I loved Evelyn Hardcastle.  Arent and Sara were both very interesting main characters and I loved following them while they investigated the whole thing.  By the end of the story I still had absolutely no idea if the devil was real and who was pulling it off.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Alcoholism, Sexual content, Blood, and Death

Minor: Confinement

wrestleacademic's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Animal death, and Violence

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Torture, and Ableism

kimberlyswalters's review against another edition

adventurous challenging funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I know how unlikely it is, but I'd willingly read stories of Sammy & Arent's previous mysterious in a heartbeat. They sound so thrilling and wonderful, which is just a testament to how amazing this book is. The few times their past cases are mentioned is more than enough to convince me of their greatness. I would also read a sequel

about how they manage and pull off their plans afterwards and spin Old Tom into a warning for horrible noble people to fear

. The afterward/apology at the end was also a delight to read. I think I just really love Stuart Turton's writing. It makes me giddy. I feel excitement like I imagine Sara and Lia probably did reading stories of Sammy & Arent's cases.  I can't wait for his next book (although I'm well aware it will have nothing to do with this story, and that's fine. My wants are just praise for his world-building.). All of this is just me trying to say that if you're reading my review, you should read this book. I love it.

Addressing the afterward;
P.S. I imagine Arent as John Cena, but gruffer. Not necessarily sexy, but not not sexy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Blood

Moderate: Murder

Minor: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Vomit, Torture, War, and Pregnancy

genny's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-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

I finished this quite a while ago so I can't say much other than it was...okay. I found it slow and a bit of a chore to get through, even though I liked Arent and Sara. For some reason it didn't really feel like a mystery? The reveal was a bit confusing, I just remember that I ended up hating

Sammy 🙄 Him trying to joke around after revealing everything pissed me off

. Haha. I currently have Evelyn Hardcastle on loan from the library so hopefully I'll like that better.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Blood, Murder, Animal death, and Sexism

Moderate: Confinement