Reviews with content warning for Slavery - The Last Murder at the End of the World

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The Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuart Turton

15 reviews

kaneebli's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

WARNING TO PEOPLE TRIGGERED BY ANIMAL CRUELTY AND DEATH:

I don't know why more people put "animal death" in the "minor" category for trigger warnings, but that's straight up not true. there is animal death all throughout this book. MOST of the animal deaths are not super graphic, but dead animals are seen throughout the book from beginning to end.

also, there is one animal death that i consider VERY graphic, along with graphic animal cruelty:

one of the scientists grabs a vulture and smashes it on the ground multiple times, and then throws it off to the side, where it is described as "twitching" and "dying" so you know it's a painful slow death.

so yeah i genuinely do not know why more people haven't listed the animal death in this book as "graphic" because i think it was pretty graphic.

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tamara_joy's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

4.25

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earl_grey_without_lemon's review

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dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

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

3.0

Really interesting read! I read this in print, started it at the beach and wasn’t sure if I would like the book in the first few pages, but trucked through and found I really enjoyed it once the mystery kicked in. Stuart Turton’s prose is simple, and the book flies by and is easy to read and digest. I loved the setup, how there are little things in the text that give you pause at first but discard before the twist is revealed (specifically I remember trying to figure

out the difference in ages between familial generations but chalking it up to the rules of their society

). I also think the sci-fi dystopian setting is interesting and not altogether bleak at first glance, which makes it darker when delving into the world’s implications.
In terms of what I didn’t like, I’m still turning over my thoughts on what the book says about humanity. I know the thesis is rebuilding with a kinder and better humanity, and that

Niema ultimately succumbs to her own arrogance, but I can’t get over the really pessimistic way this book looks at humanity. I don’t agree with the idea that we have to stop everything and create a new race of humans in order to achieve better, and I think it’s honestly dangerous rhetoric to imply it. The fact that the villagers aren’t given any agency at all until just about the end of the book, and that Abi was always supposed to die until the villagers got to inherit the earth

felt like like bizarre pacing. This book would’ve been a 4 star read but I knocked it down because of these issues. In my opinion, the characters also fell a bit flat, feeling like archetypes rather than characters, but that’s a common pitfall for mystery books. Additionally, there were some small line edit issues, such as typos, and the wrong character names being used (like “Emory” instead of “Clara” when Emory was not in this scene).
I did really like the atmosphere in this book, though. It’s contemplative and melancholy and feels truly like I’m on an island surrounded by the end of the world. Also I think Abi is a cool concept, especially the

merging of the technical and the biological with her fungal networks

, but my god, what a terrifying concept to have a voice in your head that is essentially the government spying on you from birth. The horror is low in the book, but it is chilling nonetheless. I would recommend the book based on vibes though

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littlelibraryonsunset's review

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3.75

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amanda_doty's review

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adventurous hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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lmcclel's review

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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inirac's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

Better than the last Turton novel but a little disappointed in the world building? Idk something was missing.

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yvo_about_books's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

4.5

Finished reading: July 20th 2024

“The secrets on this island have teeth, and they don't like being dragged into the light.”

It kind of has become a tradition to buddy read Stuart Turton's books with Nicki, so of course we ended up doing the same with his newest title The Last Murder At The End Of The World. One of the things I love about his writing is just how completely different and unique each of his books is, and you never know what genre or story you are going to get. It's true that I don't exactly read a lot of dystopian stories, but I'm game for just about anything as long as Stuart Turton writes it. And I have to say that it turned out to be yet another very successful buddy read! The Last Murder At The End Of The World uses a multiple POV structure and there are a LOT of different characters to keep apart. A list of names is provided in the beginning, which definitely helped... But it still slowed down the pace a little in the beginning, especially since most are not the easiest names to remember. The dystopian world itself is intriguing, and I loved how you only slowly started to learn more about what was REALLY going on. This isn't just a murder mystery or a race against the clock, as it also shows you both sides of humanity and gives you plenty of puzzles to tackle along the way. The story started out slower than expected and this is not my favorite Stuart Turton, but especially the second half was brilliant. It was fun going back and forth with Nicki talking about and processing yet another shocking reveal... And of course there was also the obligatory baking involved. I'm keeping this review short as it's hard to properly talk about the plot without spoiling certain things... The Last Murder At The End Of The World is one of those books where it's best to go in blind. I can say that I never did guess the full truth about it all though! It's without doubt a very satisfying read, and I will already be looking forward to his next book (supposedly a more contemporary thriller; can't wait!).

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aseel_reads's review

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adventurous 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? Yes

3.75

this was super easy to read and i was hooked very quickly from the start. i pretty much had no real thoughts as to who could be the killer, we weren't given enough information to try and solve it ourselves. it was pretty obvious who it wasn't but the reason relatively well-developed and logical.

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jstilts's review

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Hugely compelling page-turner!

A murder mystery set in a small near-utopian agraian village of less than 200 people plus three scientists and an AI that speaks in their minds - the last remnants of our society.

Everyone's memory of the night of an unprecedented murder has been wiped, and the murder is causing the deadly fog to roll in - unless the murder is solved in a few short days the AI won't be able to put the barriers back up to save the island.

Luckily, one of the villagers has never found their place in their rural life due to an uncontrollable urge to ask awkward questions, and she will do anything to save her family and village - making her the perfect detective in a world that has always spurned her skills.

It's a brilliant setting for an enthralling book that keeps up the pace, but still has time to build characters with depth and feeling, places you can picture in your mind and a society worth saving - everything a reader needs to make them desperate to keep turning pages to see if this beautiful world and it's people will survive.

Honestly, despite some of the hardships and controls and secrets that keep this island from being a full Eden of leisure, it's a place I'd love to be. I'd happily read prequels of this book where nothing happens but experiencing their lives!

Touching, mysterious, packed with twists and exciting revelations, heartfelt relationships (and a few egoists) - and a whodunnit to boot complete with map! - I haven't enjoyed a book this much in a long time. Highly recommend!

One thing of note - as the AI can read everyone's thoughts, the book is basically narrated by the AI. That may sound a little kooky, but the book flows perfectly normally, it's just that occasionally the book refers to itself and talks directly to the reader - an endearing and perfectly charming touch!

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