Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Scorched Grace by Margot Douaihy

13 reviews

grunbean's review

dark mysterious 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

3.0

The first half of this book would’ve been a two and half stars for me. The second half was closer to three and a half stars. But the ending was like reading something that had a deadline, and the author realised it was due the night before. 

The idea of a queer nun detective is fresh, and I enjoyed that aspect of it. I think the religious trauma and exploration of what it’s like to grow up queer in these communities was interesting. But these didn’t really have much to do with the story of THIS book. A lot of the book didn’t have much to do with the story and mystery. I don’t know whether I’m not smart enough and I didn’t pick up on all the clues, or whether the answer to the mystery was shoe horned in at the end.

I found myself questioning the choices of the characters a lot. Not because they’re bad, but because their choices just didn’t make sense to me in the context. 

Given that this is a series I feel like more time was spent on building up this world and characters for the series than on the story. It sort of felt like the author remembered there was a mystery to answer at the very end. It gave me whiplash, but not in the ‘oh my gosh I don’t know how I didn’t see this coming’ way. It was more of like ‘was I meant to see this coming’ way. If that makes sense. 

There’s a lot of promise and the writing is beautiful in places. The author definitely has a flair for description. There’s a lot of promise, but it doesn’t deliver here. I will be picking up the next book in the series out of curiosity.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Sexual content, Blood, Death of parent, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal death, Death, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Car accident, Rape, and Violence

lambkm's review

mysterious medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Addiction, Death, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicide

Minor: Animal death and Self harm

bmbriar's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

3.0

I heard "queer nun detective" and said "give it to me" but I didn't enjoy this book as much as I anticipated. The homage to Chandler-esque mysteries almost veers past homage and into parody. Sister Holiday is a character I know I would like under other circumstances, but her narration is so indulgent and over-written that I was not able to be submerged in the character and the story. 

I did enjoy Holiday's relationship with Riveaux, and the overall plotting picks up towards the end, but the ending nonetheless felt rushed, with characters' attitudes towards each other turning on a dime.

I also called the murderer/arsonist early on, not because of breadcrumbed evidence (the main case-solving clue was presented right at the end of the book), but because she was the only character that Sister Holiday didn't suspect for a moment, thus making my correct call much less satisfying.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Animal death

Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Suicide, Rape, Pedophilia, and Incest

joannalouise's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Gore, Blood, Toxic relationship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Misogyny and Suicide

Minor: Abortion

styx_the_gremlin's review

dark hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

The characters were well-written and compelling, and the writing vastly improved towards the end of the book. It's a bit cliché (whaaat, a sleuth with a bunch of personal problems and ex-alcoholic), and the ending mostly forseeable. There's too much prose in the wrong places, while some important scenes are skipped over, and the entire plot is a bit convenient. But the interpersonal relationships the books dive into make up for it a bit, and were a lot more intriguing than the actual story. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Blood, and Death

aliciavalenski's review

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Rape, Death, Drug abuse, Addiction, Alcoholism, Homophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Animal death, Blood, Emotional abuse, Grief, Murder, Religious bigotry, Self harm, and Child abuse

evadaisy's review

dark medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

So unnecessarily traumatising. Maybe it's a good book if you don't mind that sort of thing, but please take care of yourself and check the content warnings. This book is so much darker than I expected and I wouldn't have read it if I'd known.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Bullying, Sexual violence, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Cancer, Homophobia, Cursing, Grief, Incest, Sexual content, Death, Drug use, Drug abuse, Pedophilia, Self harm, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Child abuse, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Medical trauma, Pedophilia, Rape, Addiction, Bullying, Cancer, Death, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Medical content, Murder, Drug use, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Alcohol, Drug abuse, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Alcoholism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Outing, Pedophilia, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Classism, Emotional abuse, Blood, Bullying, Addiction, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, and Violence

oliverreeds's review

dark funny 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Terminal illness, Bullying, Cancer, Death, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Chronic illness, Cursing, Incest, Addiction, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Blood, Pedophilia, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Homophobia, Murder, Rape, Religious bigotry, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Suicide

preciouslittleingenue's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.5

I defended this book while everyone else in sapphlit bashed it…and then I actually finished it. How absolutely stupid. I’ll copy what I said in sapphlit chat:

“It’s one of my least favorite cliches in crime of all time. They bury the lead so far that it really and truly comes out of nowhere. It’s not burying the lead if it actually makes no narrative sense”

“Sister Augustine showed NO signs of being unhinged like that. Like that isn’t just covering up crimes. She’s a NUN who BURNED PEOPLE ALIVE because she thought it was god’s will. People like that aren’t just functional in society and undetectable as sociopaths ”

I was seriously so annoyed. And why why why was SA used as a plot device twice. That’s one too many. I’d argue two too many, but people should be able to write about it if it’s something they’ve lived through. But it just felt…glorified. And like, way to spread the narrative that SA survivors turn into monsters/unmanageable psychos. 

There’s no explanation for why Holiday tried to help her escape instead of turning her in. So dumb. And then the grotesque ending? Unnecessary. Wish I didn’t finish.

But. Other than that. I enjoyed the vibes. Didn’t care for her “love interest”, again, she fed into the stereotype that bisexual women are just lesbians who cheat on their husbands with women. Not a fan of that, and I don’t feel sorry for either of them. They made their bed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury and Blood

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious tense slow-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

3.25

I would read another in this series because the premise is interesting. I also appreciated the reveal. But it had a little much ultra-heavy hinting to the backstory until I wanted to scream "JUST TELL ME WHAT TO HECK HAPPENED TO YOU A FEW YEARS AGO GOD." I also felt like 7/8 of the book was kind of pressing forward and at a pretty slow pace and then the last 1/8 was really rushed and everything happened at once. Okay, and I also felt like the running themes and motifs were much farther on the smack-you-in-the-face side of the spectrum than the oh-i-could-see-that side. Also I think I wanted more fighting against god, but that's my personal issue. But I think it has potential! And I would listen to Mara Wilson read an ingredient list, and I'm not even kidding.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Murder

Moderate: Alcohol, Bullying, Cancer, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Infidelity, Grief, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Violence

Minor: Sexual harassment, Suicide, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Incest, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Addiction, Child abuse, Sexual content, Car accident, and Confinement

Please avoid if fire freaks you out!