Reviews tagging 'Death'

Death of a Bookseller by Alice Slater

23 reviews

laurajordensharris's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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: Murder, Stalking, Drug use, Blood, Cursing, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, and Mental illness

teatunesandtales's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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? Yes

3.75

I couldn't put this book down, nor get it out of my head. It's gruesome and raw and I'm unnerved by the ending. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Mental illness, Alcohol, Bullying, Death of parent, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Stalking

late_nite_reads's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

3.0

Not bad. But it was too long and was a character driven narrative rather than plot driven.  The characters were spelled out clearly therefore the book became very monotonous and repetitive The themes of the book were stretched out for so long that by the epilogues I was just left feeling meh.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Grief, Alcoholism, Blood, Death, and Panic attacks/disorders

withlivjones's review

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

A skin-crawling, chilling book about obsession. We follow our two main characters, booksellers Laura and Roach, navigate the autumn-winter months in a struggling bookstore, as Roach’s interest in true crime causes her to be drawn to Laura with an intensity that will doom them both. 

Most of this book is very slow-paced, while Slater takes the time to explore both Roach’s and Laura’s characters in great detail. Both characters are deeply flawed in different ways, and I really enjoyed reading about them in a “I don’t like what’s going on and I’m low-key disgusted but I can’t look away” way. There were definitely some parts that dragged, and some that felt a bit repetitive, but the plot really picks up in the last third or so as Roach’s obsession with Laura causes both characters’ mental states to spiral rapidly, and from then I could not put it down! And the ending made my stomach DROP. 

I also really enjoyed reading about the ins and outs of bookselling in this book - the stuff that goes on behind the scenes in a bookshop is really interesting to me, and it seems that Slater knows her stuff. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Sexual content

sarahsbookss's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Gaslighting, Excrement, Grief, Infidelity, Death, Murder, Self harm, Sexual content, Death of parent, Alcohol, Blood, Stalking, Alcoholism, Violence, Emotional abuse, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

barbarella85's review against another edition

dark mysterious

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking

Moderate: Death of parent, Murder, and Death

linguaphile412's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Vomit, Alcohol, Stalking, Gaslighting, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, and Drug use

Minor: Infidelity, Mental illness, and Self harm

norwegianforestreader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Murder, Stalking, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Vomit, Blood, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Animal death, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Animal cruelty

readwithloz's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Toxic friendship, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Violence, and Death

monnibo's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Death, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual content

Minor: Drug use, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Bullying, Police brutality, and Gore