Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Witches of Ash and Ruin by E. Latimer

11 reviews

reflectiverambling_nalana's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Toxic friendship, Grief, Outing, Blood, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Biphobia, Death, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Mental illness

midnacine's review

adventurous funny mysterious medium-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? It's complicated

3.0

I initially wanted to give this 3.5 but lowered my score by half a star once I actually finished the book. I really struggled with the last 15%- I just wasn't interested, and if I hadn't been reading it for a book club I probably would've DNF'd.

I'm so confused as to why the ending seems to set up for a sequel when it's clearly a stand-alone book. And bouncing between five different perspectives made it tough for me to enjoy the characters, save for Meiner. The ending also left me with more questions than answers, and not in a good way.

Things I liked though: Dayna and Meiner's chemistry, Reagan and Yemi's energies, the OCD rep and Dayna and Meiner bonding over their mental illnesses, and the general plot. Other than that was a bit disappointed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Mental illness, Murder, Violence, Biphobia, and Religious bigotry

msradiosilence's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Tldr; I ship Meiner and Dayna, but this book leaves a loooooot unanswered. Hoping for a sequel, because there were several interesting plotlines that were just…dropped.

Read my full review at: https://www.rainyreader.com/single-post/witches-of-ash-and-ruin.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Cursing, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, Blood, Death, Dementia, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Outing, and Violence

Moderate: Abandonment, Biphobia, Cannibalism, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

solarorange's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Religious bigotry, and Stalking

Moderate: Self harm, Biphobia, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Murder, Physical abuse, and Violence

Minor: Dementia

aseel_reads's review against another edition

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? Yes

4.5

huge fan, this book was made for me, just all my favourite things and my only problem is IS THERE A SEQUEL?!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Biphobia, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Confinement, Mental illness, Blood, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death, and Domestic abuse

vallevia's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Body horror, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Dementia and Murder

beesknees's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-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

3.5

Witches of Ash and Ruin called to me the moment I read the summary on the back of the book. A main character who is a bisexual anxiety-ridden witch with mom issues really resonated with me, so I picked it up. The writing style is really enjoyable in this book, and the characters are all interesting. The book's biggest flaw is that it bites off more than it can chew. Juggling multiple perspectives, some of which drop off and are never given closure, and trying to tackle many themes end up making things feel a little half-baked. Going in, I will say I was immediately looking for how OCD was handled by the author, and what I ended up seeing was how anxiety creeps into everyday life. Describing panic attacks accurately is neat to see, but for a book that advertises the MC as having OCD instead of casually including it in the contents, I was expecting more. Of course, I also have to say the romance was pretty cute too! I feel like the ending of this story could make for an interesting sequel!

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Murder, Biphobia, and Child abuse

candycain's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Death, Abandonment, Dementia, Mental illness, Stalking, Blood, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Outing, Religious bigotry, and Physical abuse

halfwaytoaugust's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, Murder, and Torture

Moderate: Biphobia, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Physical abuse, and Religious bigotry

bi_n_large's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.5

I have a lot of “why” questions.

WHY did this book end with a sequel hook??
As soon as I realized we were headed for sequel territory, I immediately stopped caring about how the book would end.

WHY was my favorite character killed off?
Cora was my favorite of the MANY POV characters because of her ambition and brutality. I would have preferred to read an entire book about her. Sadly, she unwittingly sacrifices herself in the climax and is possessed by a goddess?? Probably?? She was the only character I really liked, so my investment in the sequel is compromised.

WHY did Dayna’s ex-boyfriend have a POV???
At no point did I feel like Sam needed to be in the narrative AT ALL. His true crime obsession didn’t add much to the plot and, OH, HE OUTED DAYNA. AND some of the comments he made throughout the book revealed a biphobic belief system? FUCK this guy!! Why should I care about him??

Because this book tried to set up so much, the plot felt chaotic throughout. I did like the OCD and bisexual rep, though, as well as Dayna’s relationship with her very religious father. If either of those elements had been explored in more depth (as was promised in the plot synopsis), this could have been one of my favorite reads of the year.

I’m of two minds about the sequel. I wouldn’t mind reading more about these messy magic girls.

If, however, it means stomaching 400 more pages of Sam the biphobe, I’ll pass.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Outing, Bullying, Mental illness, and Animal death

Moderate: Murder, Violence, Death, and Blood