Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher

135 reviews

hedsek's review against another edition

adventurous dark lighthearted 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? No

2.0

I really wanted to like this but I couldn't with the writing style. Why is the main character so annoyingly aware of the (modern) reader? It feels very anachronistic and kind of took me out of the book a few times. I also really did not enjoy the snarky dialogue and all the random stereotyping about different nationalities, which is like 1/3 of the dialogue. There's also a few times where it is super clear what we're supposed to figure out as the reader but the author still pretends it's mysterious only to drop it at the end of a chapter like it's some huge plottwist, especially

the thing with Madeline walking like the hare

. I'll be reading the original story as well, the book did get me curious. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Alcohol, Animal death, Body horror, and Medical content

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Alcoholism, Confinement, Sexism, Cursing, Misogyny, Suicide, and War

onthesamepage's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? No

5.0

I really love T. Kingfisher as an author, but before reading this book, I didn't have much luck with her horror stories. I read two, enjoyed them well enough, but other than loving her writing and sense of humor, the plots and characters were fairly forgettable. I picked up What Moves the Dead as a sort of "last chance" for me with Kingfisher's horror, and I was kind of shocked by how much I loved it.

This has a lot to do with the main character. Alex Easton is just a delight to read about. By page 26, I knew exactly what kind of person they were. The snark and sarcasm were right up my alley—opinionated characters are so much fun, truly.

"But the war," said Denton. "Weren't you frightened?"
Sometimes it's hard to know if someone is insulting or just an American.

Denton lifted a hand in protest. "Barely that," he said. "I had one year of schooling and then the South took it in its head to secede, and I was shoved out the door with a bonesaw and a sheet of paper saying I knew how to use it."
"Were you frightened?" I asked, with gentle malice.

I also found it impressive how much Kingfisher managed to do in a scant 165 pages. There was enough room for character development, the story, and worldbuilding. The concept of sworn soldiers was really interesting, as is the way she used pronouns throughout the book. I'm not familiar with The Fall of the House of Usher, but I am curious to read it now and see what is different and what is the same. The horror elements were appropriately creepy, and the cover is both so stunning and so horrendous that, even as my brain was going "DO NOT WANT", I had to buy a copy anyway.

A few more quotes that I loved:

I am never sure what to think of Americans. Their brashness can be charming, but just when I decide that I rather like them, I meet one that I wish would go back to America, and then perhaps keep going off the far edge, into the sea.

A Frenchwoman once told me that I had no poetry in my souk. I recited a dirty limerick to her, and she threw a lemon at my head. Paris is a marvelous city.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Body horror, and Gore

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Suicide

skranz's review

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Terminal illness

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Chronic illness, Body horror, and Death

Minor: Alcohol

darkdahlia9's review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Body horror, Death, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

Minor: Suicide and Fire/Fire injury

mendelbreakdown's review

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Short, sweet, and made me sick

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Gore, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

keen's review

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, and Body horror

Moderate: Alcoholism, War, Murder, and Suicide

Minor: Misogyny and Fire/Fire injury

cyberhavok's review against another edition

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? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, and Body horror

Moderate: Murder and War

Minor: Suicide and Fire/Fire injury

whimsylee's review

dark emotional funny informative inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• 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? No

5.0

Obsessed. The quick witted gender nonconforming protagonist is an absolute delight. I will happily venture into the unknown with kan again and again. The dark gothic fungi infested mysteries of this book broke a spell of artists block for me that had gone on for over 6 months. Highly recommend if you enjoy fungi, dead things, rotting houses, and gothic mysteries. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Body horror, Chronic illness, Gore, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, War, Suicide, Alcohol, Vomit, Terminal illness, Animal death, Suicide attempt, Dementia, and Eating disorder

binch's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This was a phenomenal read. Tense and gripping, with just the right amount of horror to turn your stomach while keeping you turning pages. I picked it up and did not put it down until I finished.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Gore

Moderate: Animal death, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, and Suicide

jadeyfish's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Slow for the first chapter or two, but pushing through was definitely worth it! Creepy and entertaining until the end :) 

I read along with the audiobook and I think that helped with the somewhat dense writing! Made it a more enjoyable experience overall !! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, and Death

Moderate: Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore

Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Suicide