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annahelle's review
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
reflective
slow-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? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Domestic abuse, Racism, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Child death, Murder, and Racial slurs
lyndsayreads's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Listen, I know asking you to commit to an over 800 page book just to get all the answers is a big ask. But trust me when I tell you that this is one of the most satisfying reading experiences I've ever had. Essentially, this book is one big mystery and all of the characters are sort of using their combined knowledge to solve the mystery. But it's also an incredible character study on morals, rights and wrongs, and trusting yourself to know what's best and do the right thing. This book is like a puzzle and each chapter gives you a few more pieces. You won't be able to solve the puzzle until literally the very last chapter. But it's so engrossing and I really never wanted to put this down.
I haven't quite settled on a rating for this. I'm thinking either 4 or 4.5 but I'm going to sit with it for a little bit and then I'll come back and rate it. But in the meantime, if you don't mind a bit of a challenge and you are willing to be patient to get the end result, I really would recommend this book.
I haven't quite settled on a rating for this. I'm thinking either 4 or 4.5 but I'm going to sit with it for a little bit and then I'll come back and rate it. But in the meantime, if you don't mind a bit of a challenge and you are willing to be patient to get the end result, I really would recommend this book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Drug abuse, and Murder
cursedepub's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The Luminaries gave me a very satisfying mystery - lots of twists and turns in a very intricately woven web of secrets, lies, alliances, associations, coincidences, and crime. Not everything is solved neatly by the end either, which I liked, and the last chapters were impossible for me to put down (stayed up until 6am to finish it, from around page 500 onward). There is very good balance of appeals to a reader's intellect, sense of ethics and justice, and romance and emotionality. The narrative tone is very pointed in flaying characters open for us to pick at their weaknesses and gasp at their tragedies, yet allows us to understand why each person might do what they did, and chose whom to sympathize with. It's a very well-rounded story, with a cast of characters who are flawed and self-centered in ways that are really fun to read about.
The prose itself does kind of... "put on airs," as the novel is meant to remind a reader of the writing conventions of 19th century literature, to match the setting. In this vein the novel is very clever and very witty, and is very aware of how witty and clever it is. You get the sense that this nothing in this novel is there by accident, and that it's proud of itself for that. To me this was part of the charm, but others may be put off.
One thing to note is that there is a lot of anti-Asian racist violence in the novel, a lot of casual racism in general, and anti-Asian and anti-sex work slurs tossed around liberally. I guess this would be typical of the period and setting. The novel does not excuse the racism and misogyny, but it's very there.
The prose itself does kind of... "put on airs," as the novel is meant to remind a reader of the writing conventions of 19th century literature, to match the setting. In this vein the novel is very clever and very witty, and is very aware of how witty and clever it is. You get the sense that this nothing in this novel is there by accident, and that it's proud of itself for that. To me this was part of the charm, but others may be put off.
One thing to note is that there is a lot of anti-Asian racist violence in the novel, a lot of casual racism in general, and anti-Asian and anti-sex work slurs tossed around liberally. I guess this would be typical of the period and setting. The novel does not excuse the racism and misogyny, but it's very there.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, and Trafficking
Moderate: Miscarriage and Misogyny
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