Reviews with content warning for Murder - The Bones of Ruin

Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Bones of Ruin by Sarah Raughley

9 reviews

arsenelouppain's review

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

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

2.75

I wanted to like this book so bad! It's got a great premise, and I loved the writing style. I also think the author is really cool!

My main complaint is about the protagonist, Iris. I found her largely unlikeable and her behavior was downright erratic at times. I lost it when

she decided to make out with a dude in the middle of a mission where lives hung in the balance.

It took me five months to get through this just because I hated Iris so, so much.

I was also not a fan of the love triangle (love square? Love pentagon? Maybe even a hexagon.) It was unnecessary and annoying to read through. Perhaps just Jinn and Adam would have been fine. But

Max?

They barely even knew each other! I understand that it's possible to fall in love at first sight, but there was way too much going on

between all the fighting and mysteries and drama for them to form any kind of connection. Especially after he abandonned her and Jinn in the first round of the tournament.

One thing that also bothered me was when

all of the Fanciful Freaks acted like the apocalypse was somehow impossible. Like, you went to a fair in South Kensington and can now breathe fire, but you don't think it's possible that the world might end one day?

Seriously?

I liked the ending. I was actually surprised when

Max was revealed to have betrayed them. In hindsight, it's painfully obvious, but please remember that I read this book over the course of five months.

It was a nice set up for the sequel.

I also approve of the way Raughley addressed the issues of race, class, gender, and sexuality.

In the end, this book was not for me, but if you're interested, I recommend giving it a go!

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readingsitaaras's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

What a wild novel! Such a fascinating premise and for the most part it delivers on it. I actually liked Iris, found it hilarious how everyone just falls in love with her as soon as they meet her. I think overall most of the characters were well developed but they could use just a bit more work. The plot was complex, interesting and full of twists. I could’ve done with maybe one less plot line since the story got a little hard to follow sometimes. Overall, I’m intrigued enough to read the next book, especially since that ending was so chaotic that I have to know what happens afterwards.

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foreverinastory's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-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

4.5

Read with the B2 Weird book club on Discord as our February book pick!

This was amazing!! Also so bloody and violent, lived for it all.

Rep: African cishet female MC, BIPOC cishet male side character, BIPOC female side character, MLM side pairing.

CWs: Violence, murder, death, racism, mentions of eugenics, torture, non-consensual medical experimentation, cannibalism, blood, gore, gun violence, injury/injury detail, fire, medical trauma. Moderate: sexism, misogyny, slavery, trafficking, mentions of sex work. Minor: suicide attempt, xenophobia, sexual harassment.

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nikspandya's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-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

5.0

YOOOO WHAT THE FUCK BRO IDK WHAT TO DO EXCEPT LAUGH LIKE A CRAZY PERSON EXCEPT NOTHING IS FUNNY

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clairedinn's review

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adventurous dark 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? No

3.5

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clairophy's review

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dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

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starlessnights's review

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2.0

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redthistle's review

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adventurous dark mysterious tense 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

2.0

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jenny_librarian's review

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I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

4 days in of 3+ hours reading and I'm still not halfway through despite everything going on. Hell, the "tournament" hasn't even started yet.

It's a good idea, but there's just way too many characters and way too much worldbuilding that doesn't ultimately give us anything. It's all so complicated that you get lost in between what is historical and what's fantasy. And it just keeps building up. Every time you think you'll get an answer, it's just more questions popping up that left me unsatisfied as a reader. I wanted to keep going, but after reading other reviews it doesn't seem to get any better and I have too many books to read to spend another 4-5 days on this one.

This is prime example of why the first book in a series should NOT be 500+ pages...

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