Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

Even Though I Knew the End by C.L. Polk

3 reviews

emily_mh's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• 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

Usually I’m not a fan of paranormal stories (e.g., urban fantasy, angels and demons type stuff) but I really liked it here. Polk fit in some nice depth to the world which is always a challenge in a novella. I especially appreciated the history we were given of the angels as this fleshed out the angel characters well. I also liked how the politics between the various supernatural factions had such direct influence over the plot and characters. I will say I was a little confused whether the supernatural/magical world was hidden or the norm for all humans everywhere. 

The story was so easy to fly through. The plot was fast-paced and investigation-driven, the latter essential in a murder-mystery for me. It was also clever, the resolution satisfying. 

I got a good sense of the MC Helen and was fully rooting for her. She’s a puzzler and a thinker, she’s driven, but most important she loves HARD. My heart was in my throat seeing the lengths she would go to to save and protect her loved ones. 

Unfortunately I didn’t totally get the romance between Helen and Edith. I didn’t feel the depth of their connection like most other readers have seemed to. But it wasn’t a biggie for me overall. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Drug use, Gun violence, Death of parent, Violence, Death, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Car accident

Minor: Addiction, Sexual content, Homophobia, Ableism, Forced institutionalization, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Grief, Cursing, Sexual harassment, and Alcohol

Moderate: conversion therapy, eye trauma Minor: gambling, loss of a loved one, self-injury

dark_marble_eyes's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny tense medium-paced

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

4.5

It certainly went in a direction I was not expecting, and I think fans of noir or neo-noir would very much enjoy it. My only real complaint is that the book wasn’t longer. It feels a bit like it could have been fleshed out more, but also, I would have loved to just read more about the characters, backstory, and lore.
It took a bit of a long time for me to read because I knew it would be over too quickly. I’m definitely hoping to read more from this author in the future.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Violence

Moderate: Ableism, Homophobia, Gun violence, and Gore

purplepenning's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Torture, Death, Blood, and Sexism

Moderate: Grief, Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, Homophobia, Murder, Body horror, Ableism, Injury/Injury detail, and Gun violence

Minor: Mental illness and Alcohol