Reviews tagging 'Murder'

A Winter's Promise by Christelle Dabos

41 reviews

luziefer's review against another edition

challenging mysterious reflective 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? No

4.75

I loved visiting this world. It's incredibly fascinating because there's so many different families with new abilities and it's just impressing how immersed one becomes in the story and the new things that can be discovered at the turn of every page.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Child abuse, Miscarriage, and Murder

ahobbitslibrary's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse and Murder

Moderate: Confinement, Toxic relationship, and Blood

Minor: Dysphoria

axolotlhappy's review against another edition

adventurous emotional lighthearted mysterious medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Sexism

Minor: Suicide and Murder

aseel_reads's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

3.0

pretty disappointed in this, only because I thought I would like it (I didn't know anything going into this but heard good reviews) and I definitely did not. the last 150 pages (of my 494 edition) was interesting but I hated the beginning part and I just hated all the characters and the world argh. also I don't know if the original french used fancy language but the translation used heaps of higher calibre words, in that I actually googled the definition of a word... and I've never done that before. probably won't continue with the series for a long time. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Police brutality, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

clabbb's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death

izgetsbetter's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

3.5

The world building and the plot really lured me in and kept me going throughout the book. I found I was more interested in how the world works and the political conversations than the main character, which is kinda sad. 

Not gonna lie, she’s the absolute worst! The author really tried to emphasize how “quirky” she was and how much she wasn’t “like other girls”. It’s pretty gross. And what’s worse is that she doesn’t really develop.... like at all. She was annoying from start to finish. In the end, I preferred the “antagonists” over her. 

Even though she annoys me to no end, I will most likely read the rest of the series. Wish me luck! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse and Violence

Moderate: Death, Sexism, and Murder

Minor: Animal death, Child death, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

bookspaperink's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying

Moderate: Death, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Animal death

dalawis's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Child death, Death, and Murder

mxrumphius's review against another edition

slow-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Blood and Murder

Minor: Child death, Sexual assault, Suicide, Xenophobia, and Police brutality

claudiamacpherson's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Ophelia has lived on Anima, an Ark populated almost entirely by her family, her whole life. When her family arranges her marriage with a mysterious man from the Pole, a distant Ark, she must move there, accompanied only by her godmother and armed with her Animist powers: "reading" objects' histories by touch and mirror travel. She soon learns that her life has become far more dangerous than she ever imagined, and she must decide who to trust in order to survive the brutal Ark.

3. 5 stars

I had high hopes for this book after seeing it on booktok, and while I enjoyed it, it didn't completely live up to those expectations. The world-building was a bit heavy-handed, but I really liked how the setting felt like a book version of a Studio Ghibli movie. It was a bit confusing trying to follow the details of the Arks, families, and magic system, but ultimately it created an interesting universe. The characters also weren't always likable, but Dabos did a good job (almost too good!) creating tension so that I never knew who to trust. Ophelia is not like most YA protagonists; not only is she mostly very quiet and thoughtful, but she barely used her powers throughout the book. I honestly didn't know that this book was originally written in French until about a third of the way through, when I looked it up because the writing style and word choice was often a bit odd. I'm not sure if that's due to the translator or if it's Dabos' writing style, but it definitely added to the tone of the book. 

Happy ending meter (no specific spoilers, just my judgement of how happy the ending is because I always wish someone would tell me that before I read books):

Kind of a cliffhanger, I guess? The end isn't really happy or sad, and I honestly still don't 100% know what to think about most of the characters, so we'll see.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Physical abuse, and Blood

Minor: Death, Incest, Miscarriage, and Murder