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chezler24's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-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
4.5
"The secrets on this island have teeth, and they don't like being dragged into the light." p.225
Stuart Turton has successfully blended the genres of mystery, sci-fi, and dystopian fiction to create something quite intriguing! He drops you on this mysterious island which seems to be the last safe haven for humanity in a world consumed by a deadly fog; however, secrets lurk behind this backdrop of idyllic village life. After a brutal murder is committed, the villagers must race against the clock to solve the crime, or humanity as they know it will cease to exist. You're going to need to hang on as the pieces of this ingenious, high-concept puzzle are slowly uncovered, BUT you will be amazed at how Turton has threaded everything together. A read for those who want something to shake up the concept of a murder mystery! I'm honestly going to miss this island setting and world he's created; I can definitely see this as a book I'd love to revisit later.
Read an ARC
Stuart Turton has successfully blended the genres of mystery, sci-fi, and dystopian fiction to create something quite intriguing! He drops you on this mysterious island which seems to be the last safe haven for humanity in a world consumed by a deadly fog; however, secrets lurk behind this backdrop of idyllic village life. After a brutal murder is committed, the villagers must race against the clock to solve the crime, or humanity as they know it will cease to exist. You're going to need to hang on as the pieces of this ingenious, high-concept puzzle are slowly uncovered, BUT you will be amazed at how Turton has threaded everything together. A read for those who want something to shake up the concept of a murder mystery! I'm honestly going to miss this island setting and world he's created; I can definitely see this as a book I'd love to revisit later.
Read an ARC
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, Blood, Death, and Vomit
shelfofunread's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Confinement, Toxic friendship, and Medical content
Minor: Suicide, Death of parent, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, War, Vomit, and Violence
skylarkblue1's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
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
4.75
Thank you Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!
Why are book synopsis' going the way of movie trailers where they seem to aim to reveal way too much about the thing it's trying to introduce/describe? I loved seven deaths of Evelyn hardcastle so I requested this book without reading the full description, just knowing it was a dystopian sci fi, and honestly that was a really good choice. I read the full description when I got near the end and was so shocked to just see how much got revealed in the description alone.
I honestly absolutely loved this book. Complex characters, fast paced story and intricate plot threads that slowly weave together. So many questions but answers are given at a good pace and I believe most if not all the questions did get an answer by the end - I can't think of anything major right now at least!
I loved the characters so much. They're all so complex and unique with so many goals and motives and ideas, it was just so delightful to read about these characters! I normally struggle quite a lot with remembering who was who, who was what name, etc but I actually never had that problem once throughout this whole book despite there being actually quite a lot of characters because of how unique to each other they were.
The plot was just so incredibly thick with mystery and questions, but it manages to handle all of that incredibly well. The world gets established in good time while still leaving a ton of mystery to drip through the rest of the book. The questions felt believable, so did the whole premise honestly - despite how apocalyptic sci-fi it is. The prologue sucked me in instantly and really set up the story perfectly.
I think the only negative about this is the same negative I had with 7 deaths - the ending. It's miles better than how 7 deaths handled it's ending imo but it's still very... I'm not even sure how to explain it. It feels a bit rushed, incredibly lore dumpy and it's just constant explanation monologues with a solution that feels a teeny bit underwhelming in my opinion. It is an answer that fits and makes sense, and the additional information that plays out during the ending is quite nice so it's better than 7 deaths in that regard. It's just.. not sure about it honestly. But also like 7 deaths, it really didn't change my overall opinion of the book that much because the rest of the book is just that good.
Suprisingly, there's also queer representation in this. A very nice sapphic relationship and in all honesty I think it was done very nicely. It's not something that's pointed out, it's just a normalised relationship and treated within the book as any other relationship. It is really nice when books have that. It's not a book that's heavy in romance though, if you dislike romance you'll be fine with it. There's people missing loved ones, relationships that get torn apart - so there's certainly conversations about relationships - but not really much romance at all.
I would strongly recommend this book if you enjoy mysteries. Absolutely perfect for a book club as well!
This probably means I should read Stuart's first book now as I've enjoyed everything else from him haha!!
Why are book synopsis' going the way of movie trailers where they seem to aim to reveal way too much about the thing it's trying to introduce/describe? I loved seven deaths of Evelyn hardcastle so I requested this book without reading the full description, just knowing it was a dystopian sci fi, and honestly that was a really good choice. I read the full description when I got near the end and was so shocked to just see how much got revealed in the description alone.
I honestly absolutely loved this book. Complex characters, fast paced story and intricate plot threads that slowly weave together. So many questions but answers are given at a good pace and I believe most if not all the questions did get an answer by the end - I can't think of anything major right now at least!
I loved the characters so much. They're all so complex and unique with so many goals and motives and ideas, it was just so delightful to read about these characters! I normally struggle quite a lot with remembering who was who, who was what name, etc but I actually never had that problem once throughout this whole book despite there being actually quite a lot of characters because of how unique to each other they were.
The plot was just so incredibly thick with mystery and questions, but it manages to handle all of that incredibly well. The world gets established in good time while still leaving a ton of mystery to drip through the rest of the book. The questions felt believable, so did the whole premise honestly - despite how apocalyptic sci-fi it is. The prologue sucked me in instantly and really set up the story perfectly.
I think the only negative about this is the same negative I had with 7 deaths - the ending. It's miles better than how 7 deaths handled it's ending imo but it's still very... I'm not even sure how to explain it. It feels a bit rushed, incredibly lore dumpy and it's just constant explanation monologues with a solution that feels a teeny bit underwhelming in my opinion. It is an answer that fits and makes sense, and the additional information that plays out during the ending is quite nice so it's better than 7 deaths in that regard. It's just.. not sure about it honestly. But also like 7 deaths, it really didn't change my overall opinion of the book that much because the rest of the book is just that good.
Suprisingly, there's also queer representation in this. A very nice sapphic relationship and in all honesty I think it was done very nicely. It's not something that's pointed out, it's just a normalised relationship and treated within the book as any other relationship. It is really nice when books have that. It's not a book that's heavy in romance though, if you dislike romance you'll be fine with it. There's people missing loved ones, relationships that get torn apart - so there's certainly conversations about relationships - but not really much romance at all.
I would strongly recommend this book if you enjoy mysteries. Absolutely perfect for a book club as well!
This probably means I should read Stuart's first book now as I've enjoyed everything else from him haha!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Racism, Death, and Blood
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Terminal illness
Minor: Suicide, Medical content, and Gore
Loss of a Loved One,thebookkeepers's review
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.5
This was slow to start for me & I felt like it took a while to get to the murder and memory wipe of the community. I felt that a mixture of things were predictable but also surprising at the end. I enjoyed the narrator being the AI character, Abi, which added a level of distrust to the whole POV as to what was really happening. Things wrapped up at the end a little too cleanly and perfect for me though; I think that’s what resulted in my overall lower rating. This was an interesting read, but it wasn’t as riveting for me as his first book. I liked the post apocalyptic setting & the detective work of the main character, Emory, once the memory wipe took place. I wasn’t overly attached to any characters and was mostly engaged with the setting and uncovering the mystery of what had happened. The final whodunnit did surprise me, but also left me disappointed haha! Which is as much as I can say without spoilers.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Death
Moderate: Animal death
Minor: Suicide
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