Reviews tagging 'Murder'

La Musa de Las Pesadillas by Laini Taylor

29 reviews

oddduck's review against another edition

mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.0

I have mixed feelings about this book. Like, I liked it, but there was a lot that was not at all where I expected this to go, and I'm still not sure how I feel about it.

Let's start with the things I unequivocally liked. I really appreciated that the pace in this book was faster than the previous one. It was still slower than I would have preferred, but more happened in the present and there were fewer interruptions (flashbacks, exposition). I also really appreciated that Minya got more page time and development. I was very interested in her in the first book, so learning more about her was appreciated. I really liked both of her dreams that Sarai went into, and it was delightful to see Minya choose Sarai over her army. In general, the character development in this book was very good and exactly what I was hoping for, especially for Minya and Thyon Nero (I was so happy with his development).

I also loved the new bit, about Nova and Kora. At one point I had to skip ahead because I had to know what happened in their test on the ship. It was so interesting and tense. It also demonstrated that Laini Taylor can write short, succinct backstory that's interesting and conveys all the information we need to not be confused later on. 

Now then. What I’ve got mixed feelings about. 

For starters, Sarai and Lazlo's relationship was cute, but I do wish the timeline on it had been longer. It was very instalove in the first book, and the way it's written in this one felt as if they'd known each other and been together for a lot longer than they really were. And I get why Laini Taylor did that, since almost the entirety of Lazlo's motivation for what he does after Sarai's death is to protect her ghost, but it still was a little hard for me. I would have preferred Lazlo have multiple motivations and not essentially just Sarai. Still, they're a cute couple, at least until I remember how long they've known each other.

I’m not sure how I feel about the multiverse being introduced. In hindsight the whole “not of this world”/alien metal and mesarthim in general do kind of hint at this, but because magic exists in this world, I was not expecting the multiverse to be the answer to “where did the mesarthim come from”. I do like the end, when they go off to explore and find the other godspawn. But otherwise, it was not at all what I was expecting. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it can be difficult to adjust expectations without enough warning.

I'm also not sure how I feel about the way the plot was executed. The Minya-villain arc was mostly resolved because a bigger threat was introduced, and then the last of it was cleared up when Minya had to make a choice. I really liked that Sarai was trying to help Minya through dreams, so it would have been cool to finish the plot that way. And that's kind of what happened, but it was with Nova instead, so it didn't feel quite as meaningful to me.

This duology was a little outside of my usual reading, which was nice, but it did remind me why I don't usually read this genre. They were certainly enjoyable and a good change of pace though.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Death, Grief, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, and War

Moderate: Rape, Suicide, Torture, Kidnapping, Slavery, and Trafficking

Minor: Animal death

escapismforlife's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This was a wild ride. It's full of new self-discovery  for each of the characters. But also for the city of Weeps evolution of a better future. It took several  turns and I loved every second  of it.

Also I read  the Daughter of Smoke and Bone triology before this and was so excited  to see how this duology  world intertwined in this series. 
Also how cool Sarai's, Sparrow, and Nova's gift are after they change for better or worse.
Not to mention the fact that  Kora is Korako. Not to mention Rook, Warren and Kiska who are the most badass characters  reveals ever.

 This is one of the best  sequel  fantasy  books ever. Laini Taylor is a fantastic YA  author.  I felt a whole lot in the second half of February  reading this and wish I'd  done it sooner. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Violence, Confinement, Death, Abandonment, Grief, Torture, Blood, Child death, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, Bullying, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, and Self harm

greatu's review against another edition

emotional hopeful slow-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? No

2.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Blood, Slavery, Suicide, Trafficking, and Violence

Minor: Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Suicidal thoughts

dariusmortee's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective 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

Although I did like this one less than the first one, it’s still a really good book. Taylor hits some very delicate topics which I do there should be clearer trigger warnings for in front of the book so that people who do have trigger, can be warned before diving in. 

In general this duology worked really well for me because of the almost philosophical undertone in this carefully crafted fantasy world. I like how the books give freedom to believe that there’s all kinds of worlds existing next to eachother. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Child death, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Suicide

Moderate: Abortion

hotpinkmess's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Rape, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Violence

anushar's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious sad 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

This book was overall really good and the ending had me in my feels, unfortunately I found that I was skimming a lot in this book, it’s rather slow paced and despite the beautiful writing the story definitely feels longer than it needs to be. I would recommend it overall though. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Murder

Moderate: Sexual violence

bookcaptivated's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Grief, and Gore

Moderate: Death of parent, Kidnapping, Murder, Suicide, and Violence

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Slavery, Genocide, Trafficking, and Xenophobia

alexandra296's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Murder, Rape, Suicide, and Trafficking

daydreamermoonwalker's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I liked this more than the first book because I thought the plot picked up a lot faster. I loved Serai and Minya's character development, and several of the side characters got really interesting development too. My only complaint is that Lazlo was a pretty static character. His whole purpose and personality in this book was his love for Serai, while she had motivations outside of her relationship with him. There was a subplot with some side characters that was gripping and achingly sad which I absolutely adored. I also loved the themes of forgiveness and redemption. Overall I think that if you liked the first book, you'll like this one! 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Murder, Rape, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Trafficking