Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch

45 reviews

jacquy's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, and Death

Moderate: Gun violence and Sexism

Minor: Racism and Xenophobia

kartoffel_00's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

23/02/23:

It was a fun and okay read. Like not particularly exciting but also not particularly boring. The MC's musing and observations were fun to follow, like comments about bureaucracy. I didn't enjoy the male gaze parts though. Its not at the level of Dresden files but still there, which not going to lie, made me really uncomfortable. Not to say there weren't varied personalities of female character. The MC is just horny and makes it really really obvious. If I could reach inside the book and smack his head I would rate the book much higher. (jk)

Final rating: 3.5/5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Gore, Child death, and Violence

Minor: Sexual assault

This book has gruesome scenes so just prepare yourself for those. And gruesome in the sense that it doesn't provide details but the scene does make your stomach lurch for being what it is.

jdieperink's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

3.0

I really wanted to like this book more than I did. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gore, and Body horror

Moderate: Racism

Minor: Addiction, Xenophobia, and Misogyny

itsalina's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Gun violence

valodniece's review against another edition

adventurous dark lighthearted 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? Yes

3.75

 A delightfully weird and promising start to a whole new world in urban fantasy, set in my most favourite city, London. Can't wait to read the rest. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Body horror, and Blood

Moderate: Vomit

Minor: Gore

katieo156's review against another edition

I really liked the premise and was interested in the characters, but I got sick of the main character's obsession with sex- he sounded like a 14 year old going through puberty who was suddenly unable to look at anything but tits. I tried to look past it but it was every interaction he had with any woman- exhausting and weird. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Body horror

Moderate: Sexism

purplepenning's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Death

Moderate: Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Alcohol, Child death, Gore, Cursing, Murder, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Violence, Sexual assault, and Blood

Minor: Racism and Xenophobia

epellicci's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted slow-paced

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

3.5

If you're a fan of crime, or police procedural books, I suspect The Rivers of London will be more up your street than it was mine. I really wanted to love it but just couldn't get into the story. After a very slow start, my main issue with it was that I found it too crime, not enough fantasy. But I also found many of the characters hard to gel with - especially Peter Grant. Until it was specifically mentioned that he is meant to be a POC character, I had no idea from the writing. Which was particularly surprising given, being set in the British police force, Aaronovitch had ample opportunity to explore the mix-race experience within law enforcement in his writing. This was completely wasted, with Peter reading like a white guy for 90% of the book. It felt a bit like an afterthought, or token diversity.

While occasionally funny, and having an interesting take on relating old magic to the modern world, I found the events of the book very stop/start and the stakes hard to invest in. At about 35% it became much more readable pace-wise, but I still didn't really warm to the characters or the fantasy world which had initially encouraged me to pick up the book. Disappointing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Gore

Moderate: Misogyny and Sexual assault

tamaraepps's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Gore

Moderate: Death

Minor: Racism, Sexism, and Child death

clivemeister's review against another edition

funny

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Murder, and Blood