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tahsintries's review against another edition
3.5
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Forced institutionalization, Torture, Blood, and Homophobia
seyfert's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Blood, Murder, and Gore
Moderate: Death, Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, and Sexism
Minor: Death of parent, Car accident, Lesbophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, and Gun violence
lycheeteareads's review
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Murder, Blood, and Death
Moderate: Homophobia, Forced institutionalization, and Misogyny
Minor: Car accident and Death of parent
emfass's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Blood, Gun violence, Police brutality, Grief, Death, Violence, Murder, Gore, and Sexism
Moderate: Homophobia, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Confinement, Mental illness, and Car accident
readingthroughinfinity's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
I honestly can't emphasise how much I loved this. It's well-written, clever, and completely compelling. The author manages to pack so much action, drama, and brilliant world-building into the book that I was enrapt from beginning to end. It's a skill to make readers connect with characters so deeply in such a short space of time, but it's a skill that C.L. Polk has most definitely mastered. We feel all of Helen's anguish, yearning, and desperate determination and we get to see how far she'll go for Edith. I loved Helen as a character and adored the sapphic romance in this.
Moderate: Murder, Blood, Gun violence, Misogyny, Car accident, Death of parent, Homophobia, and Gore
Minor: Vomit
just_one_more_paige's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Mental illness, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Murder, Police brutality, Death, Grief, Homophobia, Misogyny, and Violence
cj13's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Homophobia
emlen's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Murder, Forced institutionalization, and Gun violence
Moderate: Death, Violence, Child death, Car accident, Stalking, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Misogyny, Confinement, Death of parent, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts
rorikae's review
- 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
Helen is coming up on the 10 year deadline of the deal that brought her brother back to life. But before a devil comes to reclaim her, she has one final case to solve, the White City Vampire. The payout will be significant, even more that she can squirrel away for her love, Edith, to use after she is gone. But when her client floats the possibility of returning her soul as part of the payment for solving the case, Helen will do anything to see the murderer brought to justice.
Polk knows exactly how to set up characters that make you care for them even with the limited length of a novella. Helen's predicament appears straightforward toward the beginning but as the story progresses, the case turns out to be far different than what it originally seemed. Polk builds off of relatively well known Christian mythology to build out the world and the supernatural elements, which does a lot to make the world feel lived in. Polk is one of my favorite authors for a reason and I think this book demonstrates why. I do think this story had the potential for a longer work but I think Polk does a good job of fitting it to the novella length.
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Gun violence, Murder, and Blood
Moderate: Forced institutionalization and Car accident
Minor: Death of parent and Homophobia
mar's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Murder and Blood
Moderate: Homophobia and Forced institutionalization