Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

Subway Slayings by C.S. Poe

9 reviews

annagy's profile picture

annagy's review

4.5
emotional mysterious fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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everrest_98's profile picture

everrest_98's review

5.0
emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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dark emotional mysterious reflective tense 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: Yes

Binged this in one day, I'm absolutely hooked on this series. Larkin has to be one of my favorite MCs of all time.

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herelieshenry's profile picture

herelieshenry's review

3.25
challenging dark mysterious reflective fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Not quite as gripping as the first one and a bit darker; the writing is still good but this book leans harder into the copaganda aspect and I really don’t like the fact that there’s a joke about police brutality in it.

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense 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: Yes

This book picks up with only minimal time passed from the end of the last book. This murder revolves around a cold case involving murdered youth and some creepy photographs.

This in general had a much darker tone. The murder was darker, dealing with p*dophilia, and we get to know our protagonists on a deeper level. They have some heavy baggage. Larkin is really struggling with his mental health in this one. 

However, it was balanced with a lot of sweet moments as these two build a solid foundation of trust, honesty, and communication. There’s some cute banter as we get to see more of Larkin’s humor. Honestly, I am loving how slowly these two are proceeding. They are truly trying to learn about each other and what the other needs. Respecting boundaries and meeting in the middle in such a healthy mature way! This is definitely one of the healthiest relationships I’ve ever read. 

There is one more book before I have to wait for book 4 to come out next year and I’m already kicking myself for the book hangover this is going to give me. 

Once again this is great on audio by Kale Williams. 

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purely_romantic's profile picture

purely_romantic's review

5.0
adventurous emotional mysterious reflective tense 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: Yes

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herfleurs's profile picture

herfleurs's review

3.0
challenging emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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_isabel_'s profile picture

_isabel_'s review

5.0
adventurous challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Utterly amazing.
I've loved C.S. Poe's books for several years now, but with this ongoing series, she's really outdoing herself. "Subway Slayings" was fantastic: chilling and creepy, angsty with a touch of sweetness, and ridiculously gripping and addictive. I managed to devour Larkin and Doyle's most recent adventure in a day, and now I'm really not sure how am I supposed to wait for the next book: maybe I can pay somebody to teleport me to next year? I'm perfectly willing to sacrifice my soul for it.

Anyway, "Subway Slayings" is a sequel that completely lived up to my expectations, and then surpassed them.

The murder mystery at the centre of this book is closely connected to the chilling reveal at the end of the previous book and the mysterious sender of Larkin's taunting letter. And it's even more scary, creepy and horrific: I'll be including some content warnings at the end of this review, because wow. This was a tough read, and (of course) I couldn't, for the life of me, figure out what was going on, and what was going to happen, right until the end. And what an ending! I feel the sudden urge to re-read, and satisfy my Larkin-shaped heart.

And speaking of our beloved, badass Cold Cases detective, I didn't think it was possible, but Everett Larkin broke my heart EVEN MORE than the previous book. I really love him to absolute bits: he's such an interesting character, so broken and insecure, but still scarily smart and resilient and lovable and snarky, and I need him to be okay. I really do.
And Doyle? Re-reading "Madison Square Murders" made me realize he's pretty much still a mystery, albeit a very charming, very yummy one. Here, we get to explore his backstory a bit more, and well. I think he broke my heart even more than Larkin did. GAH, these two deserve all the love and care and peace in the world.

I cannot wait to see what will happen with them, and how their relationship will develop. I'm a big fan of slow-burn, although I love spice and steam just as much. Regardless, I think the pace C.S. Poe has set for them is perfect. I'm excited to see what will happen, how it will happen, and I'm even more excited to get more information about the big, underlying, mystery plot surrounding Larkin's mysterious "observer" (and Larkin's own, still quite mysterious, past).

Also, seeing more of Neil Millett was an absolute TREAT. He could give Sebastian a run for his money with his snark. GAH, his is another book I wish I could sell my soul for. Maybe I should just re-read the whole "Snow & Winter" series? Yes? Good idea.


I received an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review.

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