Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

167 reviews

keaganbailey's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.0

The book starts off well, but by the end of chapter 1 you know exactly what's going on until near the last third. The plot until over 60% of the way through is straight forward, the main character doesn't even realize what happened to them until about 40%. This is frustrating as the reader as you're sitting around waiting for the book to catch up to where you know it's going. 

The main character is one dimensional and does not change at all throughout the book, interestingly this ties into the plot and is excusable. What isn't excusable is that all other characters in the book are also one dimensional, the son could be replaced with a cardboard cutout the wife carries around and the story would not change dramatically. There are also several characters at the end of the story that the author explicitly tells the reader that they have "changed" but goes into no detail about this and does not explore the concept beyond the surface observation that their motivation has changed because the plot demands it. 

As much as it pains me to say it, the show Rick & Morty has explored many of the concepts in this book and dulled the wonder of interacting yourself in a multiverse. But if you have not watched the show this book may be a 4 or 5 star for you. 

If you enjoy the dilemma at the end of the book you will also really enjoy the game SOMA which came out in 2015, it goes on sale for $5 often. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Violence, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Self harm, Sexual content, Blood, and Pregnancy

kal517's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, and Violence

Moderate: Blood, Kidnapping, and Murder

Minor: Sexual content and Abortion

linestavland's review against another edition

reflective fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

shrimpflavor's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I really liked this book. Honestly I went into it not really expecting to like it. But you really root for your Jason at the end. I thought each character was well considered and felt whole, and the physics were fantastical but still interesting. Very well paced, well dialogued, on the cusp of being too plain. But mostly just pretty good. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gore, Murder, and Pandemic/Epidemic

joshmgoetz's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Just when I thought parallel universes were getting stale, Blake Crouch came to the rescue with a quick, fun and unique take on it. Very excited to check out more of his work.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Kidnapping, and Murder

refractionsofray's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

My first si fi book, I really enjoyed it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

squirrelwithanut's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence and Murder

mlynnesoc's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence and Murder

vivisms_82's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Clever sci-fi thriller with a dash of spousal romance :) It started off blazing but lost quite a bit of steam and got a little convoluted but overall was good enough to keep me turning the page.

Explores themes of regret, what ifs, is the grass greener on the path not travelled?, identity, ego and what makes a life meaningful and fulfilling. 

The only issue I had was the way

all the Jasons' seem to view/treat Daniela like she was a piece of meat that they could manipulate, muck about and be dishonest with in order to suit their own needs and the choices they made = choices they made without her say (the end being the exception when she is finally included). It was all THEIR road not travelled they were exploring. They also all tricked her and slept with her - even the "good Jason", before telling her the truth. Made my skin crawl. Actually all the Jason's were varying degrees of icky to me. Still, I don't have to like the main character to appreciate an otherwise good and thought provoking story.

The narrator is fine but not my fave and ended up borrowing the book from my library instead.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Violence, Kidnapping, and Murder

Minor: Gun violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

abbiechron's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book WRECKED me. Incredible.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Stalking, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Cursing, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Abortion, and Pregnancy