Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton

27 reviews

bc288's review

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challenging dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.5


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lostpaperbacks's review against another edition

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mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Wow. Fast-paced, suspenseful and captivating. I knew I'd enjoy this one right from the first line. The first few chapters might be hard to follow with so many characters being introduced but as the story progresses, that won't be a problem. The writing really brought the ship alive, I can vividly imagine myself being on the ship amongst them. 

The ending might be a little underwhelming and not that shocking but that didn't matter. I enjoyed the journey so much. The murders and sightings are so suspenseful I remember one time I got shivers for what's about to come. That's how immersed I was with this.

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claresbookshelf's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark informative mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

5 out of 5 stars.

This was genuinely such a fun book to get through. 

I knew going into it that it was going to be slightly different than Turton's first novel (The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle), but his writing style was so unique in that book that I knew that it would slip through to this novel as well. And I was right. Despite it not following the perspectives of as many characters, the narrative flowed in such a natural way that it kept the pace of the story consistent throughout.

There wasn't a single moment in this book where I felt like things were dragging or taking too long. And most importantly, I couldn't figure out the mystery. I had my suspicions on certain characters, but not clear motive or means. So when everything was explained at the end, it was a surprise and yet it all made sense.

Also, I loved the little nod to Evelyn during the explanation. Very cute touch. 

To be fair, I know Turton has stated that he likes writing stand-alone novels with new characters but if he really wanted to he could use that to create a pretty cool little connected universe.

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shinsoukoku's review

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slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot

2.25


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asleepyreader's review

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adventurous mysterious slow-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? It's complicated

3.0


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maddiebusick's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Not bad, lots of twists and turns but I felt it dragged on a little bit which took away from the thrill and suspense of a murder mystery

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thefloppypaperback's review

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5


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massivepizzacrust's review

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • 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

4.0

Stuart Turton is a capital-letter Plot Twist writer, which you'll know if you've read The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle. And as with that one, I found the plot twist 100% unpredictable but still a little flat. The atmosphere in the first 2/3 of the book was so terrifying I had to read something else at the same time and I guess I would have preferred a more predictable but more satisfying ending in line with that atmosphere. But it still made more sense than Evelyn Hardcastle so I guess I'm curious to see what Turton does next? 

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calliereece's review

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adventurous dark funny mysterious medium-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

4.5

Yes. Read it. Now.

If you haven't read The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, I also highly recommend that novel but it may be slightly more confusing than this one. 

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aimsro's review against another edition

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

5.0


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