Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear

8 reviews

lakea's review against another edition

adventurous emotional lighthearted mysterious reflective 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Grief, War, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Death, and Blood

Minor: Death of parent

bergha1998's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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? No

3.25

The mystery was interesting and the characters were great; I just really didn’t care for the pacing or the way the plot unfolded. Basically, in the beginning of the book the main mystery is all lead up to, but when it finally gets to the thick of it all of a sudden we are going back into Maudie’s backstory. That parts, although interesting, takes up half the book. Then it gets back to the main mystery and it’s like whiplash. If the book had been written in chronological order it would have been far more enjoyable. 

Historic Mystery, War Trauma, Good Character Development

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, War, Blood, Death, Body shaming, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Alcohol, Gore, Body horror, Confinement, Death of parent, Chronic illness, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Medical content, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, and Violence

wordsareworlds's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

1.0

I went into this book with high hopes that were completely dashed. We're introduced to Maisie as she starts her own investigative practice, and after she "solves" one case that leads to further questions, we're suddenly transported back in time to get the entire story of her life. Somewhere between half and 3/4 of the book is this flashback, and then we're just as suddenly in the present again!

The "mystery" is completely flat, as is Maisie's characterization. She has no flaws whatsoever, is loved by all, is the smartest person in the room, and has a psychic sense of impending doom when someone is going to get seriously injured or die. Her "investigative" skills are all tell no show, except when she somehow gets detailed information on someone's mental state by imitating their physicality without them noticing, often despite them looking at her when she's doing it. 

It's unfortunate because the premise was interesting, and there could have been a lot more done with the aftermath of the first World War, but that potential was squandered here and I won't be subjecting myself to any more of these books.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Mental illness, and Death

Moderate: Blood and Grief

Minor: Classism, Medical content, and Violence

tea_at_mole_end's review against another edition

mysterious sad slow-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Violence, Murder, Grief, and Medical trauma

Minor: Blood

knit_the_resistance's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad 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

4.5

I'm so glad my mom recommended this series. I think I will enjoy listening to them in order. I thought it was an excellent reflection of the impact of WWI on the lives of young people in Great Britain and made a sad context for the mystery. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Medical content, Suicide, War, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Blood, and Death

lawyergobblesbooks's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

3.5

This has potential -- it was a problem for me that the book took a detour in the middle for a long backstory/flashback. I think the backstory could've been sprinkled throughout. That said, I plan to plow through this series because I like Maisie and the writing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Medical trauma, Blood, Body horror, and Violence

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative lighthearted mysterious reflective sad 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

4.5

I think Ms. Dobbs will be my go-to detective. I feel like this book combines the mysteries I loved so much when I was younger and the effects and history of trauma that I'm so interested in today. This feels like a good curling-up-in-front-of-the-fireplace read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death, and Mental illness

Moderate: Confinement, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Murder, and War

rachaelbunny's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.0

Well written but poorly edited. The first half of the book dragged so much that I nearly abandoned it. The chapters about how Lady Rowen met Monsieur Blanche or about Maisie’s childhood seemed overly drawn out. I understand why Winspear wrote them, but they should have been significantly trimmed in the editing process or had their information sprinkled throughout the story instead of taking multi-chapter breaks to have flashbacks unrelated to the plot.
I plan on reading the second in the series and I am hoping that it is better paced.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, Grief, Medical trauma, Medical content, and Violence

Moderate: Suicide attempt and Suicide