Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Shutter by Ramona Emerson

6 reviews

jhbandcats's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious sad 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

This is an exceptionally gory and gritty mystery narrated by a Navajo crime scene photographer who converses with the ghosts of the dead. She has seen ghosts her whole life but now they pester her incessantly to solve their murders. 

Outside of the violence, it’s a beautiful portrayal of Navajo connections between family and friends, describing the community, history, and culture. We see the insular life on the reservation and the casual discrimination of the cities. 

Rita is a sympathetic character, plagued by the ghosts, struggling to find a balance between staying with her beloved grandma on the reservation and the necessary work she does in Albuquerque. 

Two very small quibbles: I wasn’t convinced that she’d have that much influence as a civilian working for the police, and I found Erma’s aggression extreme. But I’ve never seen ghosts so I don’t really know what I’m talking about. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racism, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

winifara's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Death

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Animal death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

jemau11's review against another edition

dark sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

The depiction of Navajo culture and particularly how the Navajo see death was so interesting, and Rita was a complex and likable character. There are parts of the book that are hard to read, especially the scene in the judge’s house, but it’s necessary to understand what Rita’s job is really like. Definitely one of those where you should take the content warnings seriously, though. 4 stars because I didn’t like the way things wrapped up.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Child death, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Animal death, Sexual content, and Police brutality

pitbulls_and_prose's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

This definitely was a lot more “scary” than I imagined it would be, even though seeing ghosts is a major plot point. Some of the depictions were particularly gory and gruesome. This book could have benefited from some TW at the front… 

I really loved the structure of this book as it weaved between past and present. How her childhood informed her adulthood. The mystery was pretty predictable though and that was a little disappointing. I also wished we got to know more about the main character. A lot of who she was as a child, but not who she was as an adult. 

Nonetheless, this was a solid read, if not anything special. Could totally see this as a pretty decent thriller/horror movie. I would read more from this author in the future. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, and Gore

eicart_reads's review against another edition

challenging mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Racism, Grief, Car accident, and Colonisation

Minor: Animal death, Bullying, Drug use, Terminal illness, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

j_squaredd's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

3.0

I think they did a disservice by marketing this book as a thriller. It only gets fast paced and thriller-y in the last quarter. The first three quarters is quite slow with not a lot of plot.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug use, Racism, Kidnapping, Car accident, and Alcohol