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nbrickman's review against another edition
2.0
Surely I might seem prudish by saying this and I certainly saw it coming, but Tolliver and Harper's relationship just about ruined this book for me. Too phony and joky and horribly horribly written. It ruined what was otherwise going to be a perfectly serviceable mystery story. Sadly I will probably continue to read this and other Harris offerings even though they offend me in terms of their writing style. What is wrong with me?! But seriously- I loved Harper until we hit this part of the story line. Oh well...
laurenca's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
1.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest, Sexual content, Rape, Sexual assault, and Pedophilia
Moderate: Child abuse, Animal cruelty, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Child death, and Death
ajlawford's review
5.0
wow! A rather gruesome but gripping mystery. I love how the seemingly inane details become important. Harper and Tolliver
ericawrites's review against another edition
2.0
TW: serial killers, child murder and rape (not explicitly detailed thankfully)
This is definitely the most gruesome murder mystery Harper has solved so far with young boys tortured, raped, imprisoned, and murdered by serial killers.
To bring levity, it had to be balanced with Harper and Tolliver finally hooking up. Along with Manfred and Xylda, cheery neighbors, and assorted Southern charm.
This is probably the best in the series so far. Harris' books are fun reads. However, I've lowered my rating because there's bits of internalized fatphobia and sexism from Harper, along with ableist nonsense about how she feels like a useful person because she doesn't complain about her disability and how proud she is that she doesn't draw disability checks from the government.
Reminder: your worth is not your economic output, there's no shame in taking what little social security net this country offers, and we should be doing more for everyone, but especially those most in need.
This is definitely the most gruesome murder mystery Harper has solved so far with young boys tortured, raped, imprisoned, and murdered by serial killers.
To bring levity, it had to be balanced with Harper and Tolliver finally hooking up. Along with Manfred and Xylda, cheery neighbors, and assorted Southern charm.
This is probably the best in the series so far. Harris' books are fun reads. However, I've lowered my rating because there's bits of internalized fatphobia and sexism from Harper, along with ableist nonsense about how she feels like a useful person because she doesn't complain about her disability and how proud she is that she doesn't draw disability checks from the government.
Reminder: your worth is not your economic output, there's no shame in taking what little social security net this country offers, and we should be doing more for everyone, but especially those most in need.
kdf_333's review against another edition
3.0
i am finding i just don't like [a:Charlaine Harris|17061|Charlaine Harris|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1399317093p2/17061.jpg]' protagonists. her characters are just not likeable, well maybe 1 or 3 in each book but never the main characters. they annoy me so much. i would never want to be them or hang out with them. yet.... i do love her books. i like the way she crafts a mystery. i like the settings. i like the cast of characters. i like how i can come really close or actually guess who the killer(s) is before or around the same time as the amateur sleuths in the books. i love how short the mysteries are. i like how each of the protagonists are not like most people they know. they have a unique ability or are talented in a way most are not but also have a disability or injury from a trauma or something that colors everything they do and helps/hinders them in life.
that being said. this is another good lil mystery series. i read all 4 in a few days.
the first book was a good lil mystery. as always Harris did a great job of explaining the backstory of the main characters and giving us a basic idea of the town characters. now how some things shook out in the end wellll.... she obviously graduated from the Agatha Christie school of mysteries. :-) oh and they have a mystery that they never solved that drives them also and doesn't get solved until the end of the series (of course).
number 2 was cool cuz we got 2 recurring characters that were...gasp likeable. it was basically the same as above with lots of twists and connections. old murders connected to and causing new murders. the suspects are easily identified but figuring out the why not so much (cuz she is like Christie in that respect). and some new supernatural/psychic elements as well.
number 3 was weird. i mean i expected what happened to happen but the details.....so many details. it was weird and seemed out of place. like hello i am adjusting to this new thing and now you are going to throw in weird graphic details which you did not do in the previous 2 books. ???
number 4 had the most convoluted solution to the mysteries and murders yet. it was like a dang soap opera. it was a bit much but she answered all the questions. but... smh just so convoluted. and no weird graphic details like in the 3rd book. i don't mind graphic details but lets be consistent, ms harris. she even had an epilogue type passage in the book that answered those what happened next after the murder and mysteries were solved questions.
if i had to rate them i'd say number 3 was the best one (even if it did have weird graphic details). number 2 was the most charming. number 4 the most unbelievable. number 1 well....um it felt like the start of a series.
that being said. this is another good lil mystery series. i read all 4 in a few days.
the first book was a good lil mystery. as always Harris did a great job of explaining the backstory of the main characters and giving us a basic idea of the town characters. now how some things shook out in the end wellll.... she obviously graduated from the Agatha Christie school of mysteries. :-) oh and they have a mystery that they never solved that drives them also and doesn't get solved until the end of the series (of course).
number 2 was cool cuz we got 2 recurring characters that were...gasp likeable. it was basically the same as above with lots of twists and connections. old murders connected to and causing new murders. the suspects are easily identified but figuring out the why not so much (cuz she is like Christie in that respect). and some new supernatural/psychic elements as well.
number 3 was weird. i mean i expected what happened to happen but the details.....so many details. it was weird and seemed out of place. like hello i am adjusting to this new thing and now you are going to throw in weird graphic details which you did not do in the previous 2 books. ???
number 4 had the most convoluted solution to the mysteries and murders yet. it was like a dang soap opera. it was a bit much but she answered all the questions. but... smh just so convoluted. and no weird graphic details like in the 3rd book. i don't mind graphic details but lets be consistent, ms harris. she even had an epilogue type passage in the book that answered those what happened next after the murder and mysteries were solved questions.
if i had to rate them i'd say number 3 was the best one (even if it did have weird graphic details). number 2 was the most charming. number 4 the most unbelievable. number 1 well....um it felt like the start of a series.
rclz's review against another edition
5.0
For some reason I didn't do a review but I gave it 5 stars so I must have liked it. I know I liked all the other books in the series.
beeboisourgod's review against another edition
3.0
This was another buddy read with the lovely Summer (speaking_bookish), and I want to give this two/two and a half stars because of one specific detail I can't get over no matter how hard I try, but the mystery was just too good to warrant anything less than a solid three stars, so I grudgingly grant it that respect.
In fact, this book probably had the best mystery of the series so far, constantly and consistently keeping me in suspense. I mean, in these books/types of books, they always say everyone's a suspect, but rarely is that really the case. However, in An Ice Cold Grave, literally everyone was a suspect, I didn't trust a single one of these people and they were all cast in a suitably large net of suspicion that even if I started suspecting one person more than another, I still was never entirely sure and was jumping at each new turn, latching onto each new red herring. I found the mystery in the first two books pretty obvious, but this one was handled splendidly. You'd think I was doing ballet for how much it kept me on my toes.
So why the grudge when giving it the three stars, you ask? Well, I-I honestly can't say I didn't see it coming, anyone with eyes could see it coming from miles away, but one can still hold onto the blissful naive hope it won't happen... but it happened, and it happened so painfully awkwardly I had to look away. What happened? Well, dear reader, the most minor of spoilers but: Harper and Tolliver, who have been introduced as step siblings from the start, who have shared biological siblings, who have referred to each other as siblings in public and private time and time again, and yet who have had the weirdest, most uncomfortable and un-sibling like sexually tense bond from the start of the series... they hooked up, much to my chagrin. Now, I've tried to make my peace with this fact seeing as they're not biologically related and their parents married when they were already teenagers, but it's still weird, okay, really weird, and so is the fact they have to keep reminding each other and themselves they're not really siblings, like at that point it honestly kind of sounds like you are, (if they hadn't constantly played up the sibling angle, maybe it'd be less weird), but I have yelled enough about that particular aspect of this series, that's not even what I'm here to complain about this time, I've moved on. What I'm here to complain about is the fact that when they did hook up, even if they weren't step siblings, that was one of the most painfully cringeworthy sex scenes I have ever had the displeasure of reading in my entire life. Phallus??? Phallus, Charlaine?? What?? Harper's internal monologue during it felt horribly stilted and unusual, almost like a clinical description, like... phallus, really? Then nonsensical at times. HBO? I would almost rather she be horribly blatant. Like okay, I know I don't like reading sex scenes in general, but I have read semi-decent enough ones I can gloss over without a thought, and that one was not it, step sibling or not. A lot of the sex scenes Charlaine writes have a tendency toward the awkward I find, not just in this series. And then the conversation afterwards, have I used the word awkward enough yet?
But moving on! Because I can and will rant about how bad that was forever.
Some more random things I did like:
-Seeing more of Manfred and his grandmother, though Charlaine Harris seems to flip-flop his personality and dialogue traits at will, I still think he's an interesting character.
-The serial killer aspect, definitely makes for a little more of a kick/thrill to figure out the endgame, very good use of Harper's gift
-The small little cameo of someone else with a gift like Harper's
-The atmosphere and creep factor was spot on
There's a couple other things but they're spoiler-y.
Some more random things I didn't like:
-Some strange uses of phrases that just feel out of place, along with odd dialogue quirks like omitted words that jar you out of the text at times. Also odd out of place dialogue in general.
-Some questionable cognitive functioning and conclusions on Harper's part
-Women still falling all over Tolliver when nothing he says/does or is described to be like sounds attractive
-The fact that Charlaine Harris feels the need to keep reminding me Tolliver has a moustache
-Massive cast so I kept forgetting names, but that's a me problem
Anyway, I am a veritable Grinch and Scrooge when it comes to my reviews, but I did enjoy trying to solve this one. Ignoring the awkward relationship and even more awkward romance, it's got a well written plot and interesting angles to explore. I am still intrigued to know what became of Harper's sister in the next book, and I had a good time with this buddy read. So, until next time. I better cut myself off here or I will end up ranting more about how badly that scene was written for hours.
In fact, this book probably had the best mystery of the series so far, constantly and consistently keeping me in suspense. I mean, in these books/types of books, they always say everyone's a suspect, but rarely is that really the case. However, in An Ice Cold Grave, literally everyone was a suspect, I didn't trust a single one of these people and they were all cast in a suitably large net of suspicion that even if I started suspecting one person more than another, I still was never entirely sure and was jumping at each new turn, latching onto each new red herring. I found the mystery in the first two books pretty obvious, but this one was handled splendidly. You'd think I was doing ballet for how much it kept me on my toes.
So why the grudge when giving it the three stars, you ask? Well, I-I honestly can't say I didn't see it coming, anyone with eyes could see it coming from miles away, but one can still hold onto the blissful naive hope it won't happen... but it happened, and it happened so painfully awkwardly I had to look away. What happened? Well, dear reader, the most minor of spoilers but: Harper and Tolliver, who have been introduced as step siblings from the start, who have shared biological siblings, who have referred to each other as siblings in public and private time and time again, and yet who have had the weirdest, most uncomfortable and un-sibling like sexually tense bond from the start of the series... they hooked up, much to my chagrin. Now, I've tried to make my peace with this fact seeing as they're not biologically related and their parents married when they were already teenagers, but it's still weird, okay, really weird, and so is the fact they have to keep reminding each other and themselves they're not really siblings, like at that point it honestly kind of sounds like you are, (if they hadn't constantly played up the sibling angle, maybe it'd be less weird), but I have yelled enough about that particular aspect of this series, that's not even what I'm here to complain about this time, I've moved on. What I'm here to complain about is the fact that when they did hook up, even if they weren't step siblings, that was one of the most painfully cringeworthy sex scenes I have ever had the displeasure of reading in my entire life. Phallus??? Phallus, Charlaine?? What?? Harper's internal monologue during it felt horribly stilted and unusual, almost like a clinical description, like... phallus, really? Then nonsensical at times. HBO? I would almost rather she be horribly blatant. Like okay, I know I don't like reading sex scenes in general, but I have read semi-decent enough ones I can gloss over without a thought, and that one was not it, step sibling or not. A lot of the sex scenes Charlaine writes have a tendency toward the awkward I find, not just in this series. And then the conversation afterwards, have I used the word awkward enough yet?
But moving on! Because I can and will rant about how bad that was forever.
Some more random things I did like:
-Seeing more of Manfred and his grandmother, though Charlaine Harris seems to flip-flop his personality and dialogue traits at will, I still think he's an interesting character.
-The serial killer aspect, definitely makes for a little more of a kick/thrill to figure out the endgame, very good use of Harper's gift
-The small little cameo of someone else with a gift like Harper's
-The atmosphere and creep factor was spot on
There's a couple other things but they're spoiler-y.
Some more random things I didn't like:
-Some strange uses of phrases that just feel out of place, along with odd dialogue quirks like omitted words that jar you out of the text at times. Also odd out of place dialogue in general.
-Some questionable cognitive functioning and conclusions on Harper's part
-Women still falling all over Tolliver when nothing he says/does or is described to be like sounds attractive
-The fact that Charlaine Harris feels the need to keep reminding me Tolliver has a moustache
-Massive cast so I kept forgetting names, but that's a me problem
Anyway, I am a veritable Grinch and Scrooge when it comes to my reviews, but I did enjoy trying to solve this one. Ignoring the awkward relationship and even more awkward romance, it's got a well written plot and interesting angles to explore. I am still intrigued to know what became of Harper's sister in the next book, and I had a good time with this buddy read. So, until next time. I better cut myself off here or I will end up ranting more about how badly that scene was written for hours.
lesliethewanderlust's review against another edition
4.0
I really like the 3rd book in this series. The case itself was interesting with all the murder of those boys. It was sad what happened to them all. The relationship between Harper and Tolliver had me conflicted. On one hand they aren't biologically related and they met when they where teenagers. on the other hand they considered themselves brother and sister for years now. I can only imagine how there siblings are going to react, but you could tell where Charlaine was going with the storyline early on in the book. I really can't wait till the next book is out.