Reviews tagging 'Trafficking'

The Gathering by C.J. Tudor

2 reviews

minimicropup's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious 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? No

4.0

I enjoyed most of this. Except, strangely enough, the vampires? 
 
Energy: Enervated. Conscientious. Cruel. 
Scene: 🇺🇸 Fictional town of Deadhart, Alaska
Perspective: We follow multiple characters in the town. Mainly an easygoing, dedicated detective with a background in vampire anthropology visiting to assist in the investigation, and an unknown captive being kept in a small room while being cared for (somewhat) by their captor. 
 
🐕 Howls: Losing interest near the end. The underdeveloped fantasy-style lore of the vampires. 
🐩 Tail Wags: The writing style. Barbara (the anthro-detective). The world-building and atmosphere. 
 
🤔 Random Thoughts: 
Reminded me of Stephen king style of writing. Cinematic, slow burn descriptive style.
 
To enjoy this, I think you need to build some level of care for the community (regardless of the vampires) otherwise it would probably feel like a slog. 
 
Audio was easy to listen to. The chapters aren’t from any specific perspective, so if you zone out for a second, you’ll likely be lost for a bit but quickly get context clues on who is speaking and where we are without having to skip back. 
 
I’m iffy with police procedurals, but this one was interesting. I agree it has a Fargo vibe, where people beyond the police are such characters and the police parts are more investigative hunting down clues rather than high stakes action. 
 
I was initially intrigued by the vampire structures/society, but near the end we do a deep dive in to the colony and lost my attention. It just felt like suddenly we were expected to understand the colony and its hierarchy. Maybe I was just hoping for more of a day-in-the-life get-to-know-them style, but it felt underdeveloped. 
 
I was losing track of peripheral characters late in the story, especially if they ended up having a more major role later on. At first, I felt like I was keeping up, so didn’t keep detailed character notes, but I wish I had!
 
The violence and high stakes action is quick and sprinkled throughout so never felt drawn out or boring. But I also wouldn’t call this heavy on high-stakes action-adventure if that’s what you’re looking for. 
 
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🤓 Reader Role: A little bit of an outsider. Observing and overhearing conversations, with the narrator filling us in and taking us to different scenes. 
🗺️ World-Building: Cinematic, immersive and descriptive. 
🔥 Fuel: Did a vampire murder a teen boy? If so, why? If not, who did? Why did one of the characters commit suicide? Who is the girl being held captive? Will Barbara be able to solve the case? Will it result in a legal cull to the vampire colony?
📖 Cred: Sci-fi style realistic (think modern day but vampires are real and were present throughout our human history). 
 
Mood Reading Match-Up:
  • Sour bar smells. Earthy scents. Christmas lights. Falling snow. Coffee. Rot. Dark buildings. Howling winds. 
  • Anthropological sci-fi with Us vs Them elements
  • Police investigation whodunnit and whydunit
 
Content Heads-Up: Infidelity. Suicide (brief mention). Prejudice. Confinement. Blood. Death. Murder. Alcohol use. Alcoholic parent (recall). Loss of child (teen). Animal death (bat, pig). Sex trafficking and abuse. Violence. Genocide/cull. 
 
Rep: Indigenous, Black, and White Americans. Transgender. Cisgender. Gay. Heterosexual. Diverse body sizes. 
 
📚 Format: Library Audio
 
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author2223's review against another edition

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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? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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