Reviews tagging 'Rape'

The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton

64 reviews

chloe_s's review

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-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

4.5

A really solid mystery that stumbles a little on the dismount.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape

lucybbookstuff's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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

2.75

Sigh. I was so disappointed with the ending of Turton's first novel, but his wild ideas and fast-paced writing made me want to give him another try.

But he seems to want to write the same thing again and again. Too many characters to keep track of and a thousand useless hints dropped, all leading to an unceremonious Big Reveal that had nothing to do with any of the mystery preceding it. Again, I say: SIGH.

I liked some of these characters a bit more and the mystery made *slightly* more sense, so it gets a slightly higher rating than Evelyn Hardcastle.

And you know, I still would read his next book. I generally like his writing style and I'd like to see if he can deliver me a mystery that actually pays off.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, and Sexism

Moderate: Rape

Minor: Sexual violence and Torture

laurataylor's review

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Rape, Violence, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Blood, and Death

mrslsmith's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative mysterious tense medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Blood, Rape, Colonisation, Excrement, Religious bigotry, Vomit, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Domestic abuse, Torture, and Gore

diana_raquel's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

"Cleverness is a type of strength, and they won't accept a woman who's stronger than they are. Their pride won't allow it, and their pride is the thing they hold dearest."

 Mystery thrillers are not my cup of tea. My reading tastes tend to be directed toward classics, fantasy, and contemporary. However, I loved the previous book of Turton.

After The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, I had an idea of what I would find in this book: a murder mystery full of details that wouldn't make sense until the final chapter, with an influence of speculative fiction.  Well, I didn't get my speculative fiction influence. And that's okay. What I got was so much better. What I got was a murder mystery (somewhat) historical full of details that only made sense in the final chapters. 

This was a really good book, with a solid structure. The characters were well developed and you never really know what they're thinking and what they might do next, which only made the narrative more compelling. And, as usual, my theories were all wrong, but then only made the narrative more interesting. 

I think that the only thing that I wasn't a fan of was the pacing in the early chapters. They seem to be dragging and dragging. I understand the need to set the scene and the characters in a murder mystery but I think that this part could be done in fewer stages/pages.

Overall, I liked it and recommend it to murder mysteries lovers!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Violence, Animal death, Death, Gore, and Blood

Moderate: Racism, Religious bigotry, Domestic abuse, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Rape, Slavery, and Infidelity

tamara_joy's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Death of parent

Minor: Pregnancy, Rape, Colonisation, Excrement, Animal death, Genocide, Alcoholism, Grief, Misogyny, and Infidelity

kaylaclark200's review

adventurous challenging mysterious tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Sexism, Violence, and Death

Moderate: Rape

kattyenn's review

adventurous mysterious 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? N/A

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Murder, Violence, Body horror, and Child abuse

Moderate: Rape

emvalentine's review

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape

arce's review against another edition

adventurous dark inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

Very good book, at every point of the story I kept wondering what would most likely happen next, sometimes I was right, and it still managed to surprise me.
The explanation is not farfetched and seems reasonable, but I am not completely satisfied with the ending.

Sammy/Hugo doesn't seem to feel anything? Gives me strong psychopath vibes...
Also, what happenes with the other passengers on the island? Do they sail to Amsterdam afterwards?
And I'm definitely not a fan of Sara's solution. I liked neither of the options, but don't have any better on my mind. Vigilante justice is not the right way. Creesjie and Sammy/Hugo shouldn't go without punishment.

I would be interested in the more horror endings Stuart Turton mentioned in the interview at the end of the audiobook.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Excrement, Misogyny, Murder, and Sexism

Moderate: Blood, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Colonisation, Gaslighting, Genocide, and Alcohol

Minor: Sexual content, Rape, War, and Pregnancy