Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Monster of Elendhaven by Jennifer Giesbrecht

75 reviews

chris_reads's review against another edition

dark funny lighthearted sad slow-paced

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

3.0

I have such mixed feeling on this because I loved the prose and atmosphere and setting, but not so much the plot. As with the characters, they were fascinating and well-crafted but I wasn't exactly rooting for them. This had so many elements I love but they just fell short for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Murder, Self harm, Child death, Death, Gore, and Gun violence

Moderate: Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Classism, Violence, Blood, and Terminal illness

Minor: Animal death, Stalking, and Drug abuse

ashley_elizabeth's review

dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

I'm not even sure what to say about this book other than it is dark. The writing is incredibly atmospheric and so descriptive it's like I had a mini movie playing out the whole time I was reading it.
The characters are awful in the sense that there's no goodness or redeeming quality in any of them. The scenery is bleak and cold, both literally and figuratively. What we have here is a bit of a folktale and a bit of a revenge story, and I loved it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Sexual assault

meecespieces's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gore, Body horror, Gun violence, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse

Minor: Rape

dracodinoraf's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Child death, and Death

ambrcult's review

dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.25

it was not what i expected, i enjoyed it nonetheless

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Gore, and Violence

tahsintries's review against another edition

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Gore, and Murder

mafii's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

Vibes are off the charts!!! Very fucked up and atmospheric. :)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Medical trauma, and Murder

Moderate: Rape

Minor: Incest

antimony's review against another edition

dark

4.0

i really really love elendhaven. and you may say "celeste it is described and cold and gross and smoky and like if a city was a factory. and the sun never comes out and the streets are always wet and the ocean is evil and it's full of awful people" and i will respond "it is dreary and wonderful and the ocean is evil!!!:)"

besides just the fact that elendhaven was like if you put a bunch of my favorite settings in a blender with a dash of Evil Creepy Powder, i really loved this book!! i loved the writing and i loved the characters. yes johann is awful but he really is quite funny. and the atmosphere was spectacular. yes things could have been developed more but that's kinda a given with novellas. i would LOVE to see more of this world!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Gore

vigil's review against another edition

dark emotional funny tense slow-paced

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

3.75

the venn diagram of comedy and horror is a circle.

the plot is mostly straightforward until you reach the ending where things get murky.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Excrement, Grief, Murder, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Violence, Blood, Body horror, and Chronic illness

starship_olympus's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

1.5

The prose and imagery are absolutely wonderful!! Gothic horror just isn’t my cup of tea, hence the low (personal) rating. I can imagine though, if you love a dark protagonist in a spooky, pre-apocalyptic Gothic, Northern town, this is the book for you.
I did like the mythos and the world building! I’d love to learn more about the stories and gods of this world. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Body horror, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Stalking, and Violence

Minor: Alcohol