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Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'
The Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuart Turton
22 reviews
jstilts's review
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!
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!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death
beepbeep101's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
tense
fast-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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Classism
Minor: Animal death, Mental illness, Torture, Vomit, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, and Pandemic/Epidemic
aileron's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-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
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Animal death, Gore, Slavery, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Suicide, Blood, and Cannibalism
annamorgan27's review
mysterious
tense
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? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury
jazhandz's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-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
4.5
I enjoyed Evelyn Hardcastle a lot, and D&DW a fair amount, so I was really excited to dig into this. It was very twisty and complicated in the way Turton’s books always are, but I loved the process of entangling what the high concept was this time, and I blazed through reading it. A fascinating mystery and if you’ll excuse me I need to go reread Evelyn Hardcastle to chase this emotional high again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Gore, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Medical content and Stalking
Fantastical racismpewterwolf's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
4.0
I will be honest with you. I didn’t know what I was going to get with this. I just liked the cover and the blurb on the book, but I had such a good time with this.
It’s such a strange beast. It’s sci-if post-apocalyptic novel with a murder mystery at its heart. And I devoured this! I had such a blast with this, much more than I thought I would as the last few reads have been very middle of the road for me.
Because this is a mix of genres, you do have to give a tad more leeway over some of the far-fetched moments and elements, though there were several times that I did go “that seems like a stretch”. Plus, there are so many names thrown at the reader that you need a moment to go “are you important to the story?”
But this was unputdownable with the murder and the wider issues this book tackled (AI, generics, the environment, etc) and the audiobook is narrated by Adjoa Andoh makes this feel much richer. I really liked this as it was twisty, fun, unputdownable read, but I completely understand that this isn’t everyone’s cup of tea reading for a crime thriller. I must say I’m intrigued to try out this author’s previous works.
It’s such a strange beast. It’s sci-if post-apocalyptic novel with a murder mystery at its heart. And I devoured this! I had such a blast with this, much more than I thought I would as the last few reads have been very middle of the road for me.
Because this is a mix of genres, you do have to give a tad more leeway over some of the far-fetched moments and elements, though there were several times that I did go “that seems like a stretch”. Plus, there are so many names thrown at the reader that you need a moment to go “are you important to the story?”
But this was unputdownable with the murder and the wider issues this book tackled (AI, generics, the environment, etc) and the audiobook is narrated by Adjoa Andoh makes this feel much richer. I really liked this as it was twisty, fun, unputdownable read, but I completely understand that this isn’t everyone’s cup of tea reading for a crime thriller. I must say I’m intrigued to try out this author’s previous works.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, and Pandemic/Epidemic
philosopher_kj's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, and Xenophobia
oceanwriter's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Given the title, I don’t know why I was surprised by the fact that this book is just as much a dystopian novel as it is a mystery. I don’t know if my opinion of the story would have been different had I gone into it knowingly, but it definitely did take me by surprise.
I struggle to give a synopsis of this because I found it tricky to follow on audiobook. The delivery may be better suited for paper. The gist of the story is that a small island community is cut off from other parts of the world due to a dense fog that surrounds them. They live in relative peace, that is until one of their important scientists is found murdered, jeopardizing their security system.
A common problem I find in several of the dystopian books I’ve read is that the universes are presented as though the reader already knows every intricacy. I felt lost from start to finish, feeling only slightly enlightened as the book went on. Again, this might have been less of a problem if I’d been reading it with my eyes. Even still, it felt like as a whole there were a number of gaps in regards to both plot and character. By the end, I felt nothing had resonated.
Trouble following aside, I enjoyed the narrator, James Cameron Stewart’s performance on the audiobook.
Thanks to NetGalley and Tantor Audio for providing me with a free audio ARC of the book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Confinement, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Suicide, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
parsnipsnap's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
Minor: Fire/Fire injury
chezler24's review
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, Confinement, Death, Suicide, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail