Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

The Last Heir to Blackwood Library by Hester Fox

13 reviews

kalebd_2125's review

funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I read this for a sci-fi and fantasy book club. The concept is intriguing and plot done well enough, but the fantasy elements weren't very strong. It felt more like magical realism than full fantasy. I also figured out the plot twist of

Arthur plotting to steal the books very early on. He was the only outsider that seemed really interested in the library so it felt like a dead giveaway. I also figured out the stable boy would be the lover around the same time

I didn't hate it, but won't be one I'd recommend or spend much time thinking about after the book club meeting. The narrator on the audiobook also spoke very slow, I had to turn it up to x1.5 for it to be tolerable.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Forced institutionalization and War

alessandradle's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Gaslighting

Minor: Gun violence

amberinpieces's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Vomit, Dementia, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and War

kaitie_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

This was an interesting read. I really loved the premise of the story, but it felt chaotic, and like a lot of the plot was smashed together half-heartedly. 

What I loved: 
- The Abbey... what lady doesn't dream of inheriting basically a castle with a gigantic library? My inner Belle could sing. 
- The library itself and the mystery surrounding it 
- The historic setting
- The suspense and creepiness in the first half of the book 

What I didn't love:
- The *love story* feels forced 
- The blank spots don't make a ton of sense to me 
- There were plot points that I felt were a far stretch or never concluded 
- The attitude of some of the characters shifted too quickly. It would go from a character being dead set on something, and then somebody says one thing to them, and their outlook does a 180. 
- I feel like the reaction to some of the more gruesome or interesting parts of the story were too soft or easily brushed away 
- Ivy is dumb, I understand she's meant to be confused, but she's very irritating a lot of the time 
- What happens to Susan?! 
Also, where are the authorities? Why is no one ever suspicious of anything ever? 

I know it's magical realism, and obviously some of the ideas are quite fantastical but I just felt like with the real world setting, things could've been more realistic. A lot of entire plot points felt like an afterthought. "Well, I'll just throw this in here, and it explains it all!". 

I did keep reading because I wanted to know what was going on, it's well enough written and had me engaged but I feel like with the premise more could've been done and the author could've gone a lot deeper. She didn't set up the love story very well either, and then it became the whole focus of the story, which was odd when there was so much more going on. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Murder

Moderate: Gun violence

gracescanlon's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Gaslighting, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Dementia, and Alcohol

pebbletown's review against another edition

emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Had a really, really strong start but kind of floundered in the third act, with some too on-the-nose villainous speeches and an anti-climactic big reveal. (I wanted more of the nun, considering she’s the opener to the book!!) But still a really cool and atmospheric read; enjoyed the unreliable narrator (though did not understand 90% of her choices)— also fun and spooky to read a book from the perspective of someone being actively attic-wifed.

I gotta say I did not see the appeal of Arthur at any point of the book—which makes you kind of lose touch with Ivy who falls for him so hook, line, and sinker. Yes for sure let’s get married, charismatic near stranger of local aristocracy who has a mysterious family and a weird fascination with my big haunted library!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Blood, Kidnapping, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Ableism, Gun violence, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: War

ofgreengables's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Blood, and War

Minor: Sexism and Grief

yruss972's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Bullying, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

daralexandria's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Gun violence, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury

the_crooked_neighbor's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.5

This book stressed me out. I wish the description more accurately portrayed what the book would be about and I wish it had trigger warnings. I take part of the blame for not checking more thoroughly beforehand. If you like mysteries with psych horror elements you might like this. If you saw this and thought, "I love books about books," take a strong pass.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Dementia, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Body horror, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Drug use, Gun violence, Sexual content, Torture, Medical content, and Medical trauma

A heavy focus of this book is

memory loss. As we see the story through the eyes of the person with memory loss, it builds a tense sense of anxiety as we see her struggling to confront the fact that she is slowly losing her mind. Proceed with caution if loss of autonomy and sense of self will trigger you.