Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft

6 reviews

lex24's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious 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? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Trafficking, Murder, and Torture

cianarae's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

Unique and intriguing! great character development. I wish we could hear from Marya sometimes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Torture, Grief, Gaslighting, Slavery, Trafficking, Murder, Gun violence, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Death, Kidnapping, and Drug use

kerrygetsliterary's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gore, Body horror, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Gun violence and Slavery

2treads's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Bancroft makes of the Tower of Babel a rising, stacked mass of capitalism, greed, oppression, thievery, masquerading, authoritarianism, manipulation, and much more. He examines the two-sided coin of relationships, survival, and determination.

I enjoyed the changing experiences as Tom ascended the tower, each level bringing its own difficulties and pushing our characters past their usual limits, encouraging them to adapt to every new experience and difficulty.

The tower is not what is advertised and the longer you stay the more you change. I enjoyed the portrayal of Marya, Tom's lost wife, who shows a wit and survivalism that most authors would not write when the main character is the husband and the main plotline his journey to find her.

The writing is engaging, the characters interesting, and the world-building is well done and the intricacies of the power structure and hierarchy familiar and complex.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Gore and Murder

bookswithjk's review

adventurous dark emotional sad 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

3.0

This book is a straightforward quest story, in which a man loses his wife and climbs the tower in an effort to find her. I appreciate Senlin’s character growth from a timid daydreaming headmaster to a more hardened realistic pirate to be, but I found that the plot tended to drag a bit in certain areas. I would recommend this to those who enjoyed the Phantom Tollboth - Senlin Ascends definitely reminded me of that book a lot. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Murder, Slavery, and Trafficking

atalea's review

adventurous hopeful 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Drug use, and Murder