Reviews

Grave Peril by Jim Butcher

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book_concierge's review against another edition

3.0

3.5***

The third Harry Dresden novel finds Chicago’s only professional wizard puzzled by a sudden increase in spirit activity in the Windy City. Who or What is agitating the ghosts? In this book we are introduced to Michael Carpenter, one of God’s knights – a righteous man who fights evil with the help of his sword Amoracchius. Lt Karrin Murphy plays a backseat in this one, as she is under a spell for most of the book. Harry and Michael will battle ghosts, a nightmare, vampires and his faerie godmother (stop thinking Cinderella … Lea is NOT nice). They’ll make at least one new (sort-of) friend, and many enemies.

I really like this series, which is surprising given my usual avoidance of the paranormal / fantasy genre. But Butcher writes a good action-packed, page-turner and he explains the rules of the NeverNever so even a non-fan can understand. If I have any complaint it is that they are starting to be too formulaic. Harry goes up against a bad guy and is “more terrified than I’ve ever been” but manages to dig deep to reserves he barely knew he had, exhausting himself to the point of fainting and thereby being in further danger, only to dig deep to reserves he barely knew he had, further exhausting himself … well, you get the picture.

Still, I enjoy going along for the ride. They’re not great literature, but they are fast, entertaining reads.

dobbyssocks421's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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

4.0

Content Warnings

dritter's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes

4.0

debrx94's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.25

abarnhart's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

kcrawfish's review against another edition

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4.0

I liked this book. I was surprised that Michael was such a prevalent presence and I found I really liked him. Susan is growing on me, this whole godmother subplot is intriguing. Ghosts are always an Achilles heel with me. I think the series might be gathering steam. We shall see. I didnt like the out of the blue problem solving, but the villains of the book and the stakes were great. We’ll see how the plot develops.

I will acknowledge the issue other reviews have taken with this book, that Harry seems to be coming across a bunch of sexy sexy ladies, be they friend or foe or side character, and pass it like a ship in the night. I don’t care if the ladies are hot & described as such, especially dealing with vampires - I mean it might make me roll my eyes or skim forward a bit, but really wasn’t too distracting. The women are still major players in the plot, and because Harry is loyal to his girlfriend, it never gave me skeevy vibes.