Reviews tagging 'Death'

Liar City by Allie Therin

8 reviews

quillye's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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ramakn22's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad 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

4.25

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chantelbecky's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

A fast-paced, thrilling read with twists and turns that made me gasp on more than one occasion. Allie Therin truly outdid herself with this one. Beautiful storytelling and commentary on social and political differences and the harm prejudice and ignorance can inflict on not only a single person but an organization/country as a whole.

The characters are interesting, and not a single one falls flat or bland on the page. I was captivated by each POV change and how Allie utilized this tool to allow the mystery of the story to unfold. 

Liar City is very well written, as most of Allie's stuff usually is. 
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laketwentytwo's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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galleytrot's review against another edition

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

5.0

READ: Jul 2023 
FORMAT: Audio 

BRIEF SUMMARY: 
In this murder mystery/supernatural thriller set in Seattle, the world is still trying to figure out what level of regulation or oversight is needed for the first generation of empaths, the breadth of whom’s abilities are still not widely understood or fully explored. After the murder of a high-profile politician championing anti-empath legislation, Reece is contacted by a stranger who is widely known and feared as The Dead Man, a boogeyman who by all accounts should have just been a made-up bedtime story used to scare little empaths like himself into behaving. Evan sets Reece on a path to support and assist his detective sister’s investigation, when the very last place Reece needs to be is anywhere near the victim of an especially brutal murder – particularly in a case so deeply tied into empathy leaving the city on high alert. 

ENTERTAINMENT VALUE: 5 / 5⭐ 
Oh man, where do I even begin? This book takes place over the stretch of a little over 24 hours, and it’s a high-octane ride from front to back. I am absolutely exhausted, but I don’t have it in me to let this review simmer for a while. I don’t typically reach for books like this – I can’t take the emotional strain of stories that lean so heavily into conspiracy and shadow agents and coverups and “this goes all the way to the top” -ism. The ‘emotionless supersoldier’ trope is also one that can be difficult for me to handle. Despite that, I finished this book in one sitting and didn’t take nearly as many breaks as I probably should have. 

When Reece gets a strange call on a newer phone where only a small handful of people even know his number, and the caller has a shocking amount of information about him, he is warned that his sister doesn’t have what she will need for what will probably become the most important murder investigation in the city’s history, he literally cannot help but to run off to her aid. When he finds Jamie, she is less than thrilled to see him there, because the last thing this particular crime needs is an empath consultant. His big mouth and his compulsion to help those in need soon have him meddling in a way that irreversibly entangles him into the investigation. 

Evan fully intended for Reece to get carted off and hidden away from the crime for the duration of things resolving and blowing over, but his warnings go unheeded and he soon finds himself playing chaperone to the snarky and opinionated empath. Reece doesn’t – and shouldn’t – trust Evan, particularly when his abilities are about as effective with the man as a whisper against a brick wall, and so much is at stake. There are things The Dead Man must never find out about himself and Jamie, but at the same time, he might be the only person who could have any insight about their unusual circumstances. 

TECHNICAL / PRODUCTION: 5 / 5⭐ 
I’m not sure I have anything to complain about regarding the writing of the book. It’s not my typical genre, so I’m willing to admit that I could simply be easily impressed, but for as challenging as these types of stories can be for me to enjoy, I never felt like this one was inaccessible or excessively convoluted. I was able to call a number of beats before their reveal, but always in a way that felt like I’d done the work for myself, and never negatively impacting the direction of the book in a meaningful way. 

The story here followed a lot of similar beats to another supernatural series that I absolutely adored (the Shadows of London series by Ariana Nash). The main characters are similarly special chosen-one types in a modern world where their powers are poorly understood, largely feared, and regulated by some form of government oversight. They both are facing the possibility that they’re losing control of themselves and liable to cause some pretty extreme damages and risk to the safety of others. There’s a similar theme of villains tapping into the true potential of their powers to become something greater. And both men are guided by secretive, mysterious blond hotties who are above the law and know way more about the lead’s powers than they’re letting on. 

I’m not sure Joel Leslie was the right narrator for this one, but I appreciate the effort he put into its performance all the same. 

FINAL THOUGHTS - OVERALL: 5 / 5⭐ 
My thoughts on this story may cool down over the next week or two, in which case I might revisit this review and adjust as I feel necessary, but as it stands right now I highly recommend this book and I am truly excited for further installments to be released in the future. If you’ve read this book and you need more of it and you haven’t yet discovered the series I mentioned in the previous section, please please please do yourself a favour and look up Twisted Pretty Things, because the Shadows of London series is more of this but British. And I especially encourage you to seek out the audiobook formats, because the performance is peak Cornell Collins. 

This book has representation for bisexuals, and lots of them. Some characters are noted as being mix-raced; a small handful of others are implied to be non-white. 

The following elaborates on my content warnings. These may be interpreted as spoilers, but I do not go into deep detail.
This book contains: government tracking/privacy concerns; xenophobia and themes of racism/otherism; panic attacks; blood, injuries, deaths, particularly cruel murders; multiple instances of vomiting; homophobic comments; kidnapping/confinement; implied substance abuses (drugs); mention of a suicide; security personnel using excessive force; implication of genocide being a consideration; alcohol use; human experimentation; and, weapon violence (guns, sharp utensils, multiple improvised weapons).
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paulasnotsosecretdiary's review

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious relaxing 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

4.0

Book Page described this book as a romance with the caveat that there was no kissing. Book Page's description should have gone further. This is a paranormal thriller. There's no central love story or HEA, not a romance. To their credit, the publisher is not marketing it as a romance. It is, however, a very entertaining and worthwhile read. Imagine a world where empathy and emotions can be weaponized, and used to kill people. An empath (think squishy marshmallow with great driving skills) and a taciturn investigator team up to figure out why and how another empath has been turned into a killing machine. Readers will enjoy seeing how this puzzle is put together even though some plot elements are predictable.  
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siad's review

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adventurous challenging emotional funny mysterious 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

What was that? What just happened? When is the next book coming out? I need answers!

The story takes place in alternative Seattle where due to a mutation some people have empathic abilities and can feel other people's emotions. It also makes them hate the idea of others being in pain even if it gets them hurt. The plot revolves around an empath named Reece Davies, a shadow agent named Evan Grayson who goes by the code name Dead Man and Reece’s half-sister Jamey St. James, who’s a detective with the SPD as they try to solve a series of murders including that of the author of the country’s strictest anti-empath bill.

I got so attached to all the characters. Even to some I probably shouldn’t have because I could see from the beginning, they were a red flag. 

I really loved the relationship between Reece and his sister and I can’t wait to find out more about Evan’s backstory because even by the end of the book we still knew barely anything about him. 

There was no romantic relationship between Reece and Evan in this but there was definitely some underlying tension between them and I’m really excited for it to be explored more.

When the killer was revealed I was really shocked. I didn't expect it at all and I really did feel bad for them to some extent.

The story was fast-paced and really gripping. It honestly has so much potential and I feel like it’s going to be quite a rollercoaster of emotions! There were a lot of questions that were left unanswered but given that it’s the first book in a trilogy if I'm not mistaken, I have really high hopes that everything will be answered in the following books. 

I can’t wait to see what’s to come for Reece, Evan and Jamey.

 
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escapistlit's review

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adventurous funny mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

full review on my blog. 

a sassy bisexual pacifist empath and a southern-accented mysterious empath “specialist” work together to solve a brutal high-profile murder. allie therin does it again making me fall in love with her characters and world. 

this is an urban fantasy mystery/suspense with a slow burn romantic subplot but retains all the things i love about therin’s category romances, including: amazing cast of diverse characters; spunky, vulnerable and always growing protagonists; fluid blend of the fantastical with reality and amazing world building; intriguing layered mysteries; and sweet, high chemistry romances and just as strong and prevalent platonic and familial relationships. 

i love reece. would die for him. sassy and sarcastic with a mouth that gets him in trouble, and, as one character says, snack-sized. 

and if you love banter, there is /plenty/ of that between reece and grayson. between reece’s uncontrollable mouth and grayson’s dry drawls there are plenty of great interactions that leaven tense scenes and plot developments. 

i need the next book, heck, the rest of the series and anything else allie therin’s got in her magic writer brain asap. 

thank you @netgalley, carina press/@harlequinbooks, and allie therin for the review copy. 

*carina adores is a harlequin imprint and part of harpercollins, however they do not fall under the harpercollins union who are, as of posting this review, still striking.*
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