Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Emperor and the Endless Palace by Justinian Huang

3 reviews

parchmentandflour's review against another edition

fast-paced

3.0

I really enjoyed the 3 intertwined timelines element of this novel. I think the first half of the book is the strongest and I read 150 pages in basically one sitting last night.  Another good aspect of the book is that most of the twists and turns were fun too. 

However, the ending felt incomplete and fell really flat for me, especially with all the build-up to it. I was really hoping for an ending I could bite my teeth into and instead I felt like I got a bag of chips that was just filled with air.  

I never got to a point in their relationships to ever get the feeling of "ok yes, they're in love and all of this makes sense" for a never-ending love that lasts through lifetimes. There aren't any real explanations/tied loose ends, the love felt very surface level at best, and the "villains" never villained? 

In my opinion, we needed the first two timelines to have been the main focus with more detail and story dedicated to it so that we could see this epic love story. The modern era was fun but it did not give what it needed to to further the thriller/intrigue of the story. It was just drugs, parties, and a bowl of nothing. 

There's also heavy drug use in the book, which is not a problem for me - however our MC had smoked something that makes him very randy and then he gets basically SA'd by someone, only for later on them to say he was actually in love with that guy all along. HUH? Did my copy miss some pages? Any time he pops up he is a bad guy and the MC does not have real feelings for them but then suddenly, lol jk you loved him too in all of our timelines. Made no sense but it did make me mad :)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Sexual content, and Death

Moderate: Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, and Sexual harassment

sarahb919's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

A wild ride from start to finish!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Sexual content, Death, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Violence, Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, Animal death, Self harm, Bullying, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Ableism, Colonisation, Gore, and Stalking

Minor: Classism, Suicide, Eating disorder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

myinitialsarecbd's review against another edition

emotional mysterious sad 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

3.75

While I did enjoy this freshman outing from Justinian Huang, it left me disappointed. While it felt initially like it would build to a happy ending, ultimately it didn't, which likely is by design. I spent much of my time reading the book trying to connect the who is whom within the three lifetimes of the book, until it was more explicitly laid out. It wasn't always clear if it only was three people reincarnated throughout the lifetimes or more. Ultimately it was the three characters. This is what led to my less than throaty 'wahoo.' Is this a book I'll want to read again, or listen to an audiobook version when available? Yes. Do I want to buy and own a copy for posterity? No. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Drug use, Violence, Domestic abuse, and Murder