Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Death of a Bookseller by Alice Slater

25 reviews

wowsmeows's review against another edition

dark sad 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

3.5

"Reading is a way of life for some customers, the
kind of customers who buy more than they read, who behave as though 'bookworm' is as inherent as their blood type or their astrological sign."

Death of a Bookseller is about two characters told through their alternating POVs. There's Roach, a creepy true crime fanatic and Laura, who is unhealthily dealing with her traumatic past. The pair work together in a bookshop are are both unlikeable in their own unique ways. The book explores the idea of hating someone so much that it turns into an obsession and morphs into stalking.  As the title suggests, it does delve into a lot of morbid topics with a lot of grotesque language and descriptions throughout. I'd recommend checking out content warnings for this read. However, it is a very slow read and because we have the split POV, I dont think I would personally class it as mystery or a thriller novel as we know what both characters are doing and thinking at all times. 

What I I did enjoy was that it had some interesting ideas around the ethics of true crime as a genre. It really made me think about how healthy it really is to consume true crime content. I also thought the book was well written and I thought both characters had distinct personalities that shone through in the text. 

I will say that I did dislike the ending and I did feel a bit frustrated by it.

I felt that the story had already been wrapped up nicely with Laura finally escaping Roach and dealing with her past, but Roach's epilogue took it all away from her again. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Vomit, Alcoholism, Death, Grief, Violence, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Murder, and Gore

lottieingham's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Stalking, Vomit, Death of parent, Grief, Death, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

g_monaghan's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking

Moderate: Murder, Alcoholism, Sexual violence, Death of parent, and Grief

Minor: Body horror

mj_86's review against another edition

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

2.75

This book made me so uncomfortable in the worst way. Roach gave me the ick. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Grief, Death of parent, and Stalking

Moderate: Violence, Alcohol, and Vomit

anothergirlanotherbook's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death of parent, Murder, Stalking, and Grief

rkatw's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I think the ruminations on true crime were really interesting. 
Was sucked in immediately and finished reading in less than 24 hours. Thought the dual narrative was good, even though I definitely preferred one character over another, helped to really highlight their contrast and they key misunderstandings Roach has about Laura. 
Was so tense as I reached the book's conclusion. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Grief

Moderate: Alcoholism

Minor: Violence

thebookcident's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I don't often read crime/ thrillers, but I really enjoyed this one. The switching POV helped give me a needed break from each character and added to the tension. I think Slater had done a great job of creating two distinct voices for each character, that each leaves the reader feeling a certain way. Both of the protagonists are heavily flawed and I would say unlikeable, which I quite liked. I don't need to like a character to want to read them. 
I found lots of visually evoking imagery was used that rinsed my pallet from the darker themes in this novel. 
Also, Slater really captures the feeling of being a retail working over the Xmas period PERFECTLY. 😅
Would recommend as a summer read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Blood, Death, Grief, Rape, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Addiction, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

scarlettreadsbooks's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Addiction, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Stalking, Alcohol, Violence, Alcoholism, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Vomit

Minor: Animal death

mags94's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

This was very much a character driven book mixed with internal monologue. I did enjoy that. I enjoyed the two POVs but often wished we sometimes got POVs of other main characters. I think that could have added to the character driver book. However I did read this super fast and even though I found the characters annoying at times I think that was the point. I still couldn’t wait to read more about their lives. Overall this was a very enjoyable read to me but not quite a 5 star as I wish we got more views..

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Emotional abuse, Addiction, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Minor: Blood

readsbyhope's review

dark tense slow-paced

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Vomit, Stalking, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Grief, and Alcohol