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taymariereads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Genocide, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, and Vomit
oliverlang's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Grief, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Vomit
v171's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
I shouldn't be surprised that this was my first 2021 5 star read, but I'm just so blown away! I say it all the time, but I'm not big on murder mysteries, but this one really had everything, I don't know where to begin. The setting was so vivid and well developed. The atmosphere and culture of the world and setting was conveyed very naturally without blocks of exposition. The characters we were supposed to like were charming, and the characters we were supposed to hate were loathsome, but neither in a heavy handed way. I did find some of the dialogue to be a bit rushed and unnatural, but it was easy to look beyond. There were a few underlying themes around sexism and class disparity that were touched on in interesting ways. The author did a great job of painting a more... gritty? realistic?... picture of sailors than the oft romanticized versions we see today. This added to the danger and suspense for the female characters of the book, without using needless violence towards women as a tool for character development.
It goes without saying, but if you liked Evelyn Hardcastle, or if you like Agatha Christie-esque murder mysteries, you'll love this. I can't recommend it enough.
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Death, Murder, Sexism, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and Slavery
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Excrement, Gore, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, and Rape
breezer's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Blood, Confinement, Violence, and Torture
Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Excrement
Minor: Genocide
lilifane's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, and Violence
Moderate: Confinement
Minor: Animal death
jersy's review against another edition
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
The biggest influence on this only earning 3 stars were the characters. Some of them were interesting and I would have liked to spend more time reading about Creesjie and Lia, for example, but what we got from everyone wasn't enough to make them unique or compelling. Arent was fine as a main character, but Sara is your typical too modern woman in historical fiction, which is not only cliché and jarring but I wish there was just more to her.
Speaking of historical, this book does not attempt to be an accurate representation of it's time period, but I think it uses it's set pieces well to tell a fun story. However, it does feel like a lot of other historical adventurous mysteries and was a lot more conventional than Turton's previous book. This will probably make it more accessible to a lot of readers, but for me this meant a lot less original ideas and memorable details.
Something I really enjoyed, on the other hand, was the writing style. It's succinct and has a lot of charm, creating a tone that fit the characters well. There was some repetition, caused by many characters working on the case, having to share new information with everyone, but aside from that there wasn't anything distracting.
This isn't a book I rate 3 stars because it's disappointing, but because it just isn't that special in the ways that matter to me. It's really fun, though, so if you don't expect it to be as mindblowing as The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle and just want a mystery novel with an interesting setting, go ahead and pick it up.
Moderate: Animal death
Minor: Blood, Emotional abuse, Death, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse