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juliette_95's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Alcohol, Child death, Drug use, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Misogyny, and Addiction
urlocalsleepparalysisdemon's review against another edition
- 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
2.5
Here's the tea. I simply don't care enough about this series to leave a long rant about my issues with it so I'll just say this:
I'm just glad it's over so I can go on to read literally anything else.
Graphic: Body horror and Torture
Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
theespressoedition's review against another edition
- 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
Going into it, my mind was so open because I was looking forward to learning more about Matthew and Diana, now that they were back in the present day. So much had happened in Shadow of Night and knowing that this was the trilogy's finale, I figured it would begin to wrap things up relatively early on.
Instead, we were met with a ton of crazy twists, character additions, and new storylines right at the beginning, which totally threw me off.
I'm a quick reader. I know that about myself. It takes me an average of about three days to finish a book - even relatively long ones. However, The Book of Life took me well over a week to complete! When I reached the 30% mark, I looked at my progress and felt winded. So much had happened and yet there was still so much book to get through. Because of the slow pacing of these novels, I began to feel bored. I wanted more action, less description.
I messaged a friend of mine who just adores this series and began to talk with her about my feelings. It wound up being incredibly helpful, talking with her, because I was able to uncover the elements I really enjoyed - like the character development for Gallowglass, Marcus, Sarah, and Diana. Diana especially came into her own in this book, after learning so much about her magic in Shadow of Night. It was really neat to see that incredible growth in her, not only when it came to her skills, but even in the way she began to relate with Matthew.
Additionally, one of the things I learned is that these are the kind of books you need to set aside time to read. Instead of trying to squeeze them in, you need to really dwell on them and let yourself just be absorbed in the story. Allow it to take you to all of the places it's trying to go and you'll appreciate it much more. Don't attempt to rush through it like I originally did. After chatting with my friend, I found myself excited to get back into the world, and over the next couple of days, I really focused on my reading. It made the ending so much more satisfying than I could possibly express.
There are a lot of really gruesome moments in this particular installment in the trilogy. I've been sitting here, trying to figure out how to talk about them without giving away spoilers, because they include characters that simultaneously are and aren't a major focus in the other books. That sounds confusing, but once you begin reading, you'll understand what I mean. The vampire killer in London is a large part of this book. And their story is incredibly saddening and even a bit angering. It's also very bloody. In addition to that, you'll learn about another member of Matthew's family, who happens to be an incredibly graphic torturer and sexually abusive individual. This subject matter was really challenging for me to read, and I did skim parts of it because of the really gory nature. Please be aware of this going into the book. I do wish there had been content warnings for these things and unfortunately, there were not.
If I had to give the entire series a rating, I would probably say it receives 4 stars. It's a wonderfully-written trilogy with well-rounded characters and tons of world-building. If you ever wanted to feel like "creatures" were real, this book will accomplish that. The research that went into it made it feel so much more realistic than any other supernatural/paranormal series I've ever read. The ending was great but did leave me wanting to learn more about certain characters. I hope Deborah Harkness continues to write about them as the years go on.
Graphic: Blood, Death, Murder, Rape, Torture, Gore, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Pregnancy, Death of parent, and Grief
Minor: Sexual content
fridayoddity's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Rape
maddox22's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Stalking, Torture, Violence, and Sexual content
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death of parent, Drug use, Grief, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship
nyssbomb's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Torture, Violence, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Medical content, and Blood
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, War, Trafficking, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Sexism, Rape, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Chronic illness, Child death, and Child abuse
Minor: Racism and Miscarriage
booksofshannon's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Rape, Violence, Sexual content, and Death of parent