Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Stone Blind: A Novel by Natalie Haynes

148 reviews

_meganrose's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

Two words: female rage.

For this being a retelling of Medusa’s story.. with her face as the cover.. you would expect her to be the main character. On the contrary, she seemed to only have presence in less than half of the book. That annoys me a bit, but I did enjoy the novel overall and the writing style.

Content Warnings

goblinbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark informative sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I want to preface this by saying that I am a major Medusa fan (if you can say that), but I truly really loved this book.

The switching between many perspectives

(including her snakes and also some olive trees)

, made this ancient story still feel very fresh and interesting.

The author also took a holistic approach and investigated all the surrounding myths that all contributed to Medusa and Perceus. Haynes obviously deeply cares about the content of her stories and I can't wait to read more.

Content Warnings

jackiepreston's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional fast-paced

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

3.0

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rhibeetle17's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny informative sad medium-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? It's complicated

3.5

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caitlinjohnson's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative reflective slow-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? N/A

3.0

Natalie Haynes always finds a way to bring a new level of life and humanity to figures and characters that have been otherwise widely ignored or demonised. My favourite aspect of Stone Blind was that no female character was straight out demonised/evil but rather their complexities were explored with a nuance that was incredible to read.

Imo there should have been a bit more focus on Medusa herself because it felt more an ensemble rather than a deep dive into Medusa's character which would've been more intriguing. Still, the other characters that we got to meet and understand were great to read, especially because they seemed to be on opposite sides at times so it was certainly interesting to read.

Content Warnings

sammy357's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

One of the best books I've ever read! It's heartbreaking and so horribly sad. The audio book is amazing and I insist everyone listen to it

Content Warnings

awebofstories's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

hevlav's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny medium-paced

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

4.5

Listening to this as an audiobook enhanced the experience of this novel so much.

Haynes breaks gods down to petulant squabblers in the best of ways. She humanizes “monsters” and monster-izes humans.

While the book does linger a touch to long here or there on some points, I felt it was overall well paced and a great telling of the story of Medusa and the world around her.

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anachii's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

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javafenn's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

This was a great take on the story of Medusa and her sisters and how the various tales of the various Greek myths intertwined with her own, tragic story. I loved the authors interpretation and delicate care of Medusa’s story and she narrates the book herself! Though several parts are beyond tragic, she adds lightheartedness and levity to the situations.

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