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taural41's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Blood and Death
Moderate: Child death and Child abuse
Minor: Sexual content and Cursing
mementomoriiv's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Child abuse
navayiota's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Cancer, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Terminal illness, Child abuse, Suicide, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Child death
Moderate: Dementia, Pedophilia, Abandonment, and Alcohol
rieviolet's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Death and Murder
Moderate: Blood, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Violence
Minor: Ableism, Animal death, Cancer, Child death, Dementia, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Mental illness, and Pedophilia
rorikae's review against another edition
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
By utilizing the frame narrative, Horowitz weaves an engaging mystery that kept me consistently on the edge of my seat. Though I think both mysteries are fascinating, I think the story within a story in the Magpie Murders by Alan Conway was my favorite of the two. It has a cozy, British mystery feel and because it takes up the first half of the book, I found myself more invested in these characters than I did in the characters from the frame narrative. Even so, I did find the mystery surrounding the book's author interesting as well though I found the solution and situation around it slightly less satisfying than the one in the book itself.
I do have a few quibbles with this book. For one, there were a few points were it was clear that this was a male writer writing female characters, though a majority of these are in the fictitious Magpie Murders so I’m not sure if these are intentionally placed by Anthony Horowitz to give insight into Alan Conway’s character or if these were just slips on his part. My other issue is with the character of Susan Ryeland. She’s an interesting character for most of the book but towards the end, she makes some big mistakes that seem contrary to how she has been acting in the rest of the novel. Suddenly, she is too trusting and doesn’t think too much about certain situations, where she has been overthinking most of the situations previously.
Despite this, I think this book was a ton of fun and a very gripping mystery. I highly, highly recommend the audiobook as it uses two different narrators (one for Susan’s story and another for Magpie Murders by Alan Conway) and both do a splendid job. I’m actually kind of sad that all of the books that Alan Conway wrote aren’t real though I am very much looking forward to the sequel to this series. I already have the audiobook on hold. If you like mysteries and are a big fan of books, I think you’ll thoroughly enjoy this novel.
Graphic: Cancer and Terminal illness
Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Death, Suicide, and Violence
Minor: Animal death, Bullying, and Child abuse