Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Deathless Divide by Justina Ireland

26 reviews

kelburke's review against another edition

adventurous challenging hopeful tense fast-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Torture, and Racism

lilacs_book_bower's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective sad 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? Yes

3.0

I really enjoyed the first book.  Jane had such an engaging, funny voice, and she was really a character to root for.  It is an intriguing alternate history, where zombies (called shamblers) rise from the dead on the battlefields of Gettysburg, and kill and bite/turn people.  Black people are used as cannon fodder in the war against the dead, and young Black women can be trained to fight the dead and protect white women.  In the sequel, after the town of Summerland falls to shamblers, Jane and her friends escape, but there is an immediate death that sends Jane into depression and on a quest for revenge (over a character that I did not think was remotely worth it, but love is weird).  While the change in her character makes sense due to the plot, I really missed the old Jane's voice, and consequently didn't enjoy this book nearly as much.  It didn't feel like there was a lot to this book, if that makes sense.  On the plus side, we now have Katherine as a narrator, in addition to Jane, and I liked seeing her POV (and her ace rep).  Katherine, and her loyalty to her best friend Jane, is the saving grace of this story.  Ireland shows multiple races in the 1800s Western US and handles well the explanations of racism against Black people, and the stress that puts on them, just to survive.   On the negative side, story lines feel half-fleshed out, characters that should interact don't, the pacing was uneven, and I'm not entirely comfortable with the way Ireland handled the discussion of the Chinese immigrants or the Native Americans.  The book felt way too long for the amount of plot that actually happens.  I was looking forward to this one, and unfortunately, I was disappointed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Child death, Gore, Grief, Murder, Slavery, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Blood, Colonisation, Racism, Violence, and Abandonment

breesbookmark's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Death, Gore, Police brutality, Sexism, Gun violence, Violence, Misogyny, Colonisation, Medical trauma, Murder, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Racial slurs, Slavery, Xenophobia, and War

Minor: Child death and Abandonment

honuzbubbles's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Murder

Moderate: Racism

gattolinos_nerdy_nook's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense fast-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

4.5

This had me hooked from start to finish. The plot and character development was something that I thought was done very well, and without spoiling everything I appreciate it felt realistic for the development to backtrack and then go forward again with the events of the book.

This is the second and final book in the Dread Nation duology, which picks up right where the last book left off. This book hits the ground running and doesn't hold back on moments that will shock or hurt at all. It is a ride that I loved it. The characters all feel real when reading too. They have their wants and needs and they are all the same, but it doesn't mean they are against one another.
This time the book had dual prospectives of Jane and Katherine which is changed up from the first book. I really liked this change up at it felt like it gave the whole story better and also really lets us see the world that the girls are living in.

This was perfect to read during spooky season.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Death, and Racism

Moderate: Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, and Murder

romiress's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

2.5

The pacing was all over the place and it felt like the book didn't know what it wanted to do. I had some major issues with the depictions of non-white minorities in this book, and how they were represented. The ending was bizarre, and the overall struggle felt... off.

The entire 'actually, Gideon was evil THE WHOLE TIME' felt so out of place.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Racism, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Slavery

mydearwatsonbooks's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Racism, Child death, Murder, Blood, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, and Grief

Moderate: Animal death

Minor: Racial slurs, Animal cruelty, Alcohol, and Vomit

midnightcomets's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.0

*review to come, because I love this duology*

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Grief, Violence, and Racism

Moderate: Homophobia and Acephobia/Arophobia

outtoexist's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.5

This book was amazing!! It has some pacing issues, as any fantasy book pushing 700pg is going to, but overall I loved it. I loved the explicit aro/ace representation, and I appreciated that the only Indigenous representation got his own redemption arc. I also just adored the genuine love between the main characters, and having a chance to see behind Katherine's eyes. I feel like the first book of this duology get so much love, but this sequel deserves just as much!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Death, Child death, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, and Gun violence

Moderate: Abandonment and Suicidal thoughts

alicelalicon's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Racism, and Murder