Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Likeness by Tana French

19 reviews

poetsofsweetpea's review against another edition

emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

The likeness, while on its face is mostly implausble, was a clever and fascinating mystery.  I adore Detective Cassie Maddox and was glad to spend more time with her.  I was enamored with In the Woods and I honestly thought there was no way I would enjoy this book as much. I was wrong, and now I"m obsessed with these novels and I can't wait to dive into the next one.  Each character is developed so earnestly and then elegantly decostructed. By the end of the novel the reader knows that character so well they would recognize them in the dark.  Really brilliant, interesting and unique.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Homophobia, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Death, Murder, and Suicide

hdunscombe's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Blood, Infidelity, Alcoholism, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Homophobia, Medical content, Child death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Car accident, Pregnancy, and Stalking

taque's review

emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Murder, Death, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, and Gun violence

krissymcgeehan's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Grief, and Gun violence

mama_vees_reads's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Death

Moderate: Gun violence and Suicide

Minor: Abortion

cfell's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Violence, Suicide, Alcohol, Classism, and Death

bootsmom3's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Pregnancy, Violence, Death, Gun violence, Alcohol, Blood, Cursing, and Murder

Moderate: Death of parent, Gore, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Abortion, Fire/Fire injury, Classism, Suicide, and Sexual content

serendipitysbooks's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

 The Likeness was my first book by Tana French, even though it is actually the second in a series. It opens with Detective Cassandra Maddox (I confess a fondness for the name - had my mother had her way it would have been mine) being called to a murder scene where the victim looks exactly like her, and bears the name of Lexie Madison, an entirely fictional alias Cassie once used on an undercover assignment. To take advantage of this somewhat unbelievable coincidence Cassie is persuaded to go undercover once more and, claiming to have been only injured, take up Lexie’s life in an effort to discover exactly who killed her and who she really was.

What I enjoyed most about the book was the eerie atmosphere - the almost gothic vibes from the house, compounded by the attacks against it, and the claustrophobic closeness of Lexie‘s friends, all very idiosyncratic PhD students sharing an isolated run down mansion one of them had inherited.

I also appreciated some of the issues which were raised, if not necessarily covered in great depth - the continuing resentment against the British colonialism in Ireland, material vs spiritual wealth, art, the factors that make a good life, class, and the rural-urban divide.

I had mixed feelings about Cassie. While I loved the badass side of her personality, and the nature of her relationship with her former boss Frank, her deliberately violating protocol and taking unnecessary risks irked me. Why put yourself in danger for no good reason? Possibly if I had read the first book in the series I might have had more insight into what drove Cassie’s behaviour.

I did find this book a little on the long side but it mostly held my interest. While I enjoyed the reading experience it wasn’t enough to convince me to join the Tara French fan club. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Death

Minor: Homophobia

ginger95's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Better than In The Woods imo, Cassie is very likable as a character, the mystery is tense and thrilling (it seemed like i couldnt read fast enough during some scenes) and there was a nice conclusion. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Abortion

Minor: Gun violence

piscero's review against another edition

emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Death

Moderate: Murder