Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The King of Crows by Libba Bray

11 reviews

ashdawn's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

While still good, and a logical ending to The Diviners series, this was definitely my least favorite book of the series. It felt like it lost some of the relationship aspect between the characters for a large portion of the book, and was probably 200 pages longer than it needed to be. 

That being said, still good. The portrayal of the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 was incredible (and brought attention to an event I wasn't aware/had never heard taught before). Theta's healing was AMAZING, I loved her whole character arch so much!

The diversity in characters and perspectives was great. But, with that diversity plus their settings, there are a TON of big issues that could be triggering. Overall, I feel like the author handled/discussed them well, while also doing so in a way that makes sense in the 1920s setting.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Racial slurs, Murder, Racism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Sexism, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Death of parent, Child death, Domestic abuse, Stalking, Hate crime, and Fire/Fire injury

heather_freshparchment's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Domestic abuse, Xenophobia, Racism, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Antisemitism, Grief, Homophobia, and Murder

vanesst's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Murder

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Domestic abuse, Child death, and Grief

Minor: Ableism and Antisemitism

enchantressreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense slow-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Racism, Death, Violence, Animal death, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Torture, War, Child death, Blood, Gore, Domestic abuse, Antisemitism, and Xenophobia

Minor: Bullying

eugenics

k_galloway's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Religious bigotry, Body horror, War, Violence, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Gore, and Grief

Moderate: Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Racism, Kidnapping, Torture, and Medical trauma

aprlshowers's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring tense slow-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

5.0

This is easily one of my favorite books. Bray does an excellent job of bringing together the previous books and concluding eachcof the plot lines. But more than that, the overarching theme of never forgetting the sins of the past, the ghost that is ever present in US history is brought home in this book. As a practicing historian, this book means so much to me and I cry every time I read it. It helps that I love each of the characters. I wish more people knew about this series. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Confinement

Minor: Domestic abuse, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Animal death, Body horror, and Death

larareads's review

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child death, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Murder, Racism, and Violence

Minor: Sexual content and Slavery

riella_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

 Maybe this is an unpopular opinion, as I've seen many negative reviews on this last book. However I can say I really enjoyed this entire series, including this book. As sad as I am to be leaving these characters for good, I'm glad there's no plans for them in the future, as they have gone through a lot. If you haven't read this series yet I highly recommend you do! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Grief, Genocide, Hate crime, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

genny's review against another edition

adventurous emotional slow-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

3.75

At this point, I'm so invested in the cast that I couldn't give a lower rating, even though this was a bit of a letdown as the series finale. Loved the character moments - I can't believe I became attached to Bill Johnson and T. S. Woodhouse, of all people! Evie dealing with her grief over

Mabel

, Theta accepting her power and learning to control it, etc. All great. However, the plot was much too long and drawn-out, with the diviners separated and trying to survive on the road for a large chunk of the story...then when they finally meet, they spend ages dawdling on a farm. Although I saw that twist about

Sarah Beth

coming from a mile away, the reveal was done well. I was constantly yelling (internally) at Libba Bray not to kill off any more characters. 💀

Still, Bray's writing was as beautiful as always. My goodness, the imagery she can conjure. Even the author's note was a treat to listen to (I got the audiobook). I thought the ending was fitting, with its atmosphere of tentative relief and happiness but still with a hint of danger brewing on the horizon. All in all, I adore this series and I marvel at the way Bray was able to weave a tale with such a large cast that dealt with so many themes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Child death, Death, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Ableism and Racism

danaleelin's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Antisemitism, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Violence, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Ableism, Acephobia/Arophobia, Animal cruelty, and Death of parent