Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

The King is Dead by Benjamin Dean

4 reviews

betweentheshelves's review against another edition

emotional 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

3.0

I'll be honest, I'm a bit disappointed in this one because I was promised a Red, White & Royal Blue read-a-like with a mystery/thriller angle, and it's not quite what I got. I can see some of the similarities, but it mostly ends with the queer royalty angle. And someone getting outed to the press. Honestly, I wish the romance would have been a little more developed, as it would have helped to make me more invested in the overall mystery.

I think part of the problem that this book has is the beginning is incredibly drawn out, partly to build this world of royalty after the king has died. To introduce us to the characters, to lay the groundwork for what's going on. I think there's too much of this weighted at the beginning, meaning that we really don't fully jump into the mystery until halfway through the story. When we finally get there, the plot itself feels a bit rushed.

There are a lot of twists and turns to get to the grand finale, but if you're paying close attention, it's a bit easy to see where the plot is going. I will say, there are some gems of conversations in here, especially in regards to race, but they get a bit lost in the rest of the story.

Not a bad read if you're looking for something quick and entertaining, but maybe look for something else if you're looking for a romance thriller.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Homophobia, Racism, and Outing

Moderate: Bullying, Classism, and Alcohol

Minor: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, and Confinement

evelynyle_88's review against another edition

emotional mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Grief, and Homophobia

Moderate: Classism, Alcohol, and Bullying

Minor: Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, and Confinement

merah's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious relaxing sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

couldn't put this down. 
kept trying to figure it out but was never sure. 

 
I was convinced Peter would turn out to be Grigor's dad. not entirely sure what to think about the true revelation of the not-actually-king revelation. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Kidnapping, Outing, Murder, Racism, Xenophobia, Abandonment, Death, Death of parent, and Violence

Moderate: Classism, Confinement, Infidelity, Alcohol, Gun violence, and Homophobia

Minor: Emotional abuse

further content warnings: - constant camera surveillance - unwanted sharing of personal information

-bomb threat

steffiraquel's review against another edition

emotional mysterious 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Racism, Hate crime, Outing, and Homophobia

Moderate: Alcohol, Bullying, Stalking, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Abandonment, Confinement, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Toxic relationship