Reviews

King Nyx by Kirsten Bakis

emmettcvt's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

pixerina's review

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated

3.0

Weirdly...bad???? I loved the Lives of the Monster Dogs so so much. This one kind of let me down. 

I understand and respect Bakis's desire to tell the story of one of thousands of wives whose lives and personalities were totally eclipsed by their husbands', but I'm not sure why exactly she chose to tell Anna's story the way she did. Why this strange yet deeply predictable mystery? The doll metaphor felt quite on the nose for me as well.  Her husband's constant portrayal as a fumbling oaf fell flat, especially since his actual historical counterpart was a truly interesting individual. 

It certainly held my attention and some of the imagery was truly creepy, but overall a bit of a disappointment. 

purplepaste's review

mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

amina_writes_books's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.0

a solid Gothic thriller. More intrigued by the story around Charles' "the Damned" book which did actually publish in the late 1800s/ early 1900s. I loved the fact that this book was inspired by his wife, an oftentimes overlooked figure in literary history. Narration style and writing style nothing special to write home about, but the slight character descriptions as well as the setting on the island and Mr. Arkels home and dolls is quite good.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Gore, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Medical trauma, Murder, Addiction, Death, Domestic abuse, Abandonment, and Blood

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Self harm, Animal death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Blood, Child abuse, Body horror, Confinement, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse

sitnstew's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.75

emaried's review

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

2.0

I can’t decide if I didn’t ultimately like it because it’s badly written or because I kept hoping it was a different kind of book. Perhaps both. The mystery is pretty predictable, the premise takes forever to get anywhere, the characters act in a bizarre ways, and the prose has an odd quality—no urgency even when, say, dead bodies are discovered. Just a big disappointment. 

tubbikin's review

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.25

al_monaghan's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

3.5

sarah_grey's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

chiaraogan's review

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.75