Reviews with content warning for Murder - A Marvellous Light

Reviews tagging 'Murder'

A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske

154 reviews

booksthatburn's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Content Warnings

thalassa_reading's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad 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? Yes

3.75

Very well written and crafted, the plot and pacing are perfect, the characters 3-dimensional, the dialogue and interiority authentic. I just found the bullying and nastiness Edwin is continually subjected to too much to truly enjoy the read. It was less painful upon re-reading at least, I could relax into the softer scenes. Also, Edwin is a difficult character to like because he's had to develop quite a bit of armour. Luckily Robin is such a sunshine boy.
I'm really hopeful for the sequels, I want to see how the way some women have been doing magic will shake things up, and I hope the sequels are more lighthearted .

Content Warnings

blacksphinx's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous mysterious medium-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

4.0

Content Warnings

anna_hepworth's review against another edition

Go to review page

fast-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? No

3.5

What I thought I was getting was fantasy adventure (magic in England in the ~1910s) with a romance subplot. What I got was the type of romance plot that doesn't appeal, with a varnish of fantasy adventure sub-subplot, and quite a lot of sex scenes. Maybe if I'd had the right expectations, I'd have appreciated this story more.

As it was, there are lots of interesting details, and there were some fabulous paragraphs. But I finished it somewhat out of spite, and because I have book two out of the library, waiting for me to read it. I did want to know what happened, but I didn't really want to have to deal with the romantic couple and their emotional miscommunications.

I can see that there are some interesting overarching plot threads, with three items to be found, and three books to find them in, so I have hopes that book two won't slump.

Overall summary: world building fantastic, plot a bit rough, characterisation a little off and occasionally veering towards farce, writing shows promise, particularly as this is a debut novel.

Content Warnings

reinynights's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

Content Warnings

ashleykhoffman's review against another edition

Go to review page

mysterious slow-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

2.5

I really wanted to like this, and I probably would have if 50-75 had been further edited out. It dragged so badly. It would have been an entertaining read, but the slow drag of conversations and the bits between the action was so drawn out that I was so super bored. I liked the main characters, but I didn't care about what was happening half of the time. The plot was not dramatic or intense enough to allow for the slow pace.

Content Warnings