Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Rosalera by Tade Thompson

18 reviews

thisisbecker's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gun violence, Torture, Physical abuse, Murder, and Death

queer_bookwyrm's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.0

 2 🌟 CW: violence, murder, mob violence/lynching, sex, zombies, descriptions of blood and corpses, medical/body horror, ethnic cleansing mention, cannibalism mention, grotesque descriptions of mutated bodies, torture

I Initially bought Rosewater by Tade Thompson, because it's a scifi novel by a Nigerian author, but upon reading I was very disappointed.

We follow Kaaro, a Yoruba man in Nigeria in 2066, who works for a secret government agency called S45 (reminds me of Section 31 in Star Trek.) Kaara lives in Rosewater, a town that didn't exist until 11 years ago when extraterrestrial life crashed to earth and released viruses called Xenoforms. The xenoforms that were released by the alien had different effects on people. In Kaaro's case he became a psychic they call a Sensitive. It sort of reminded me of the show Sense8, but instead of a specific cohort, you can read all people.

I did not enjoy this book. I struggled to get through and seriously thought about dnfing it several times, but powered through anyway. I found the MC to be a misogynistic asshole, and didn't really have any redeeming qualities. I thought the going back and forth in time was a weird choice, since the flashbacks were all out of order, which made it a bit hard to follow.

I felt like the author didn't know which plot points to follow, so he just threw them all at you. There was even a zombie plot at one point. I wasn't quite sure what the point of Oyin Da's character was since it didn't seem to really go anywhere. There was also a weird sex thing happening that I thought was unnecessary.

This was very high concept scifi, and the author is clearly very smart and a talented writer, this story just wasn't for me. I will not be reading the rest of the Wormwood trilogy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Blood, Body horror, Medical trauma, Torture, and Sexual content

Minor: Genocide and Cannibalism

violent, but consensual (although questionable) sexual situations, grotesque descriptions of mutated bodies

skudiklier's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

This book was super interesting! I had a weird experience reading it because I did so very slowly and deliberately, which is unusual for me. It was somewhat dark and not entirely what I expected. But I hope to read the rest of the trilogy eventually!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Murder, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Cancer, Confinement, Drug use, Excrement, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Vomit, and Xenophobia

Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Car accident, Child death, Colonisation, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Homophobia, Islamophobia, Rape, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide, Transphobia, and War

kylieqrada's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

3.5

I'm waffling between a 3.5 and a 4 ⭐s on this one. It is a fascinating and wholly original start to a sci-fi series set in Nigeria and following a biological alien lifeform that changes the makeup of Earth itself???? And then there's like people with telepathic powers???? And spy stuff???? And government conspiracies???? And I loved it???? The writing style was definitely different, it took a bit for me to get used to it. Also our MC is not the most likeable of bros. But overall, I enjoyed this immensely and will be continuing the series and reading more from Tade Thompson.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Torture, and Violence

v171's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

This was an incredibly engaging, interesting read from start to finish. I have been on a New Weird kick recently, and I think Rosewater has set the standard. Everything about this book's construction was spot on. The writing was accessible, but not bland. The characters all felt distinctly human. The aliens felt "appropriately" alien. The setting across real world African locations and fictional areas was interesting to follow. If I had only one critique, it was that the story was a bit touch and go, but with how engaging it was, I didn't mind at all. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Gun violence, Murder, Police brutality, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Addiction, Blood, Grief, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Minor: Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Excrement, and Suicidal thoughts

ohlhauc's review against another edition

challenging mysterious medium-paced

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

This was just an okay read for me. The concept was interesting and some of the plot points and ideas were interesting. While a small thing, it was also refreshing to see aliens not portrayed as a monolith race but as different groups of the same race (like we have people from different countries, etc.).

I didn't care much about any of the characters and felt most of them were underdeveloped, and the main character who was well-developed was sleazy, sexist, and moody.

What really didn't work for me, however, was the execution of the multiple timelines. The story jumps between different years in the main character's past, progressively moving towards understanding the alien technology. However, the chapters were very short and they often ended during an emotional moment or cliffhanger in a scene. As such, I never got the emotional payoff and by the time the story returned to that moment, much of the investment had dulled. Because the chapters were so short and there were quite a few timelines, it was also hard to keep track of each storyline, so I often felt in a daze, trying to remember what was happening, and having to flip through past pages to trigger. It was a frustrating readable experience and it meant that I was never able to fully connect with any of the side characters or scenes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Murder, Sexism, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Death, Homophobia, Torture, and Vomit

crow_enjoyer's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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

4.0

There's a lot going on in this book. Aliens, superpowers, various sci fi tech, and more. All set in a futuristic Nigeria.

The book is really about how one man reacts to all this. He's not particularly likeable. He's a horny kleptomaniac who struggles to maintain any friendships, and he admits as much. It makes sense why he is this way, given his circumstances, but regardless, he's not exactly a loveable guy. This is equal parts fascinating and frustrating, in my opinion, and ultimately I'm left wanting more. 

In a way, my ultimate opinion on this book will likely depend on what I get in the rest of the triology, but for now I can say it's been an enjoyable ride.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Rape, and Torture

horizonous's review against another edition

There are only so many orgasms - by the male MC, just for clarification; the women in this book only seem to exist in terms of his sexual satisfaction or for him to disrespect them - and descriptions of breasts and mentions of vomit I can read about before I call it quits.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Sexism

Moderate: Blood, Excrement, Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, Sexual content, and Vomit

Minor: Animal death and Misogyny