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firefly's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- 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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder, and Racism
Moderate: Homophobia and Rape
Minor: Abortion, Child death, and Suicidal thoughts
rynn82's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I'm sure it's possible for someone to write a murder mystery that is more exactly suited to my tastes, but I'm not sure it's probable. I told myself "I'll finish reading this on my lunch break" and then took my life into my own hands by finishing it on my walk in to work instead. It's a bit of an emotional rollercoaster, with some cool twists.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide, Grief, Sexual assault, Sexism, Gaslighting, Rape, Homophobia, Abortion, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Ableism, Emotional abuse, Death, and Classism
Minor: Alcohol
mallorypen's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Uggggghhhhhh I just love KJ Charles. I love her.
The strength of this novel is twofold - the absolutely stunning character study of seven different people in a relatively mid-length novel, and the way you both believe than any one of the suspects could have killed Toby and you know in your heart of hearts who really did it all along.
It's not small feat to have seven voices in one novel and to have them all come across as unique without relying heavily on tropes or caricatures, and while there is a small element of that (Hugo as the holier-than-thou, upper crust House of Lords figure) none of the characterizations felt flat. Even where there wasn't as much page time to really get to know someone, like with Ella and Pru, it was in the context of Jem not knowing them as well as the others in the Seven Wonders. The whole friggin' mystery (including the build up of the friendship group, its breakdown with Toby in the middle, and the intervening ten years wherein no one was able to get away from the ripple effects of the murder) unfolded in such a believable way. Jem's desperation to finally close out the chapter of his life that ought to have been his triumph made perfect sense from the outset, but as we learned more - that he'd been in love with Nicky, that Nicky had been pining over Toby, and even that Nicky had fallen somewhat sideways into love with Toby only to be unspeakably cruel to him (no matter how noble his reasons had been) - his motivations made even more sense.
I also love KJC's ability to really deliver on a third act twist and this novel was no exception - we learned as Jem did about all the sordid details of the friend group, and it really did feel like everyone had a very good motive to want to kill Toby. But, even after it was revealed that Nicky had committed the murder half in self defense, and half in agonized betrayal, the twist of Hugo's crimes feeling almost more reprehensible than actual murder ... and JEM COMING IN WITH THE THREAT OF PINNING EVERYTHING ON HIM ... I could have cheered. UGH it was so well written!!
Also, has a setting ever felt more setting-y than the incredibly immersive descriptions of Oxford? I have the benefit of having been in the city and have poked around the university, but I felt like I could taste the fog and feel the stone beneath my fingertips with the gorgeous level of description. I loved the little details - like how Jem would slap his hand on the glass of a ground-floor window to get his friends' attention.
Also also - Jem. I adore how KJC writes about people with disabilities - it isn't ignored, but his disability isn't treated preciously or like it makes him somehow less in any way. It's just so beautifully human in how he's portrayed.
The only reason I'm not giving this five stars is because though it was magnificently plotted, there were a few spots that felt a little slow. And, even though it made sense in the context of Jem not knowing Pru and Ella as well, I would have liked a little more on Pru's part to round out her character. But overall, this is how you write a fucking murder mystery, people. This is it.
The strength of this novel is twofold - the absolutely stunning character study of seven different people in a relatively mid-length novel, and the way you both believe than any one of the suspects could have killed Toby and you know in your heart of hearts who really did it all along.
It's not small feat to have seven voices in one novel and to have them all come across as unique without relying heavily on tropes or caricatures, and while there is a small element of that (Hugo as the holier-than-thou, upper crust House of Lords figure) none of the characterizations felt flat. Even where there wasn't as much page time to really get to know someone, like with Ella and Pru, it was in the context of Jem not knowing them as well as the others in the Seven Wonders. The whole friggin' mystery (including the build up of the friendship group, its breakdown with Toby in the middle, and the intervening ten years wherein no one was able to get away from the ripple effects of the murder) unfolded in such a believable way. Jem's desperation to finally close out the chapter of his life that ought to have been his triumph made perfect sense from the outset, but as we learned more -
I also love KJC's ability to really deliver on a third act twist and this novel was no exception - we learned as Jem did about all the sordid details of the friend group, and it really did feel like everyone had a very good motive to want to kill Toby. But, even after
Also, has a setting ever felt more setting-y than the incredibly immersive descriptions of Oxford? I have the benefit of having been in the city and have poked around the university, but I felt like I could taste the fog and feel the stone beneath my fingertips with the gorgeous level of description. I loved the little details - like how Jem would slap his hand on the glass of a ground-floor window to get his friends' attention.
Also also - Jem. I adore how KJC writes about people with disabilities - it isn't ignored, but his disability isn't treated preciously or like it makes him somehow less in any way. It's just so beautifully human in how he's portrayed.
The only reason I'm not giving this five stars is because though it was magnificently plotted, there were a few spots that felt a little slow. And, even though it made sense in the context of Jem not knowing Pru and Ella as well, I would have liked a little more on Pru's part to round out her character. But overall, this is how you write a fucking murder mystery, people. This is it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia, Murder, and Racism
Minor: Rape and Abortion
greatestheights's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- 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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Ableism, Toxic friendship, Classism, and Sexism
Moderate: Child death, Murder, and Sexual assault
Minor: Abortion
rainbow_grace's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Abortion and Rape
jeansbooks's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape and Abortion
Off page rape and discussion of abortionsrm's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- 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
4.5
Given that Charles's Romance novels often have wonderfully constructed mystery plots, I had no doubts that she could pull of a straight Mystery, and I was right. I love the dual timeline between the present and 10 years earlier when Jem and all his friends were at Oxford and one of them committed murder. Fantastic characters and twists and just an all around delight.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Classism, Murder, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Alcohol, Child death, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Medical content, Racism, Grief, Homophobia, and Abortion
_isabel_'s review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
5.0
I've no words. "Death in the Spires" was freaking amazing. Absolutely, wholly, ridiculously good. I'm still not sure what I'm supposed to say in this review other than: KJ Charles, the writer you are.
Full desclaimer, this book is not a romance. It's a mystery, with a queer protagonist, but it's not a romance, although there IS love. Unrequited love, obsessive love, pining love, familial love, platonic love; it has all the spectrum of the emotions you can expect from a cast of seven brilliant, and brilliantly doomed, Oxford students who end inseperable friends thanks to the charisma of their leading man, the uniting force behind their group, one Toby Feynsham, who, like in all mysteries of the dark academia genre, ends murdered in dark, mysterious circumstances on a fateful night their final year at Oxford.
Ten years later, Jeremy Kite, OUR leading man, with his prospects and ambitions ruined, once again adrift because of the repercussions of that fateful night, finally embarks on a journey to discover what went down with Toby, and who's to blame for everything that went wrong after that.
"Death in the Spires" is a quitessential dark academia mystery, and with the added early 20th century setting, it instantly becomes an unforgettable work, maybe even a classic, of the genre: it's clever and brilliant, and KJ Charles writing, with her dry snark, her magical way with words, the sheer beauty of it, makes it even more so.
The Seven Wonders' story is unforgettable: I was literally sucked into their world, and I was so wholly immersed in what was going I managed to reach that end, that painful, bittersweet, yet hopeful (and immensely satisfying) end, without even realising it.
Seeing their life, slowly but surely, splinter and shatter around them from the brilliant first few years together, all of them kings and queens of their little kingdom, to that doomed last year, was like watching a trainwreck in slow motion: the build-up to the disaster, although told through flashbacks and brief timelines shifts, had me on the edge of my seat the whole damned time. Seeing how they went from being inseperable, loyal companions, this gang of seven ready to take on the whole world, to brutal murder and violence, backstabbing vileness and obsessive, possessive love turned sour, had me my heart it overdrive from start to finish.
I won't spoil anything else, but god. I don't think I've ever encountered a character quite like Toby: his character arc was literally the thing of dreams; the way KJ Charles built him, the way she showed the cracks inside him? You can feel the end of the Seven Wonders' golden age coming, yet you're powerless to stop anything; the only thing you can do is read with the same dread and the same bitter, powerless disillusionment Jem and the others go through. I think I mourned alongside them, Jem especially, and it left me feeling both hollowed out and absolutely in awe with what KJ Charles is capable of doing, of writing, in just under 300 pages.
I feel like I've lived through a whole lifetime with Jem.
Obviously, I adored our steadfast, righteous protagonist: quiet, stubborn, bitter, broken, but still wonderful and wonderfully relatable. I was rooting for him from the start, even when he took needlessly stupid risks, even when he was being so pig-headed I wanted to jump into the book and shake him (quitessential amateur sleth behaviour eh?). I kinda guessed where the mystery was leading to, but I think it added to the whole experience: I just sat there with my mounting dread and the slow realisation of what had really happended that fateful, horrible year. Some things still took me by surprise though. So, I sat there both in dread and in awe. I had the time of my life, okay?
Anyway, I won't forget this book anytime soon; I think I might end up re-reading it as soon as my heart settles and I can stop feeling so many feelings. I loved that ending: like I said, it's hopeful but also, immesely bittersweet. Satisfyingly bittersweet though; an end of a painful, horrible era, and the start of something new, something better, something true.
Go and read this book: PLEASE. I need someone to shout and scream at, because wow. Dark academia, a stubborn queer man as a lead, a gripping mystery, an unforgettable cast of characters that will stay with you for a long time: what more can you ask for?
Thank you Netgalley and the Publisher for the ARC. This is my honest review.
Full desclaimer, this book is not a romance. It's a mystery, with a queer protagonist, but it's not a romance, although there IS love. Unrequited love, obsessive love, pining love, familial love, platonic love; it has all the spectrum of the emotions you can expect from a cast of seven brilliant, and brilliantly doomed, Oxford students who end inseperable friends thanks to the charisma of their leading man, the uniting force behind their group, one Toby Feynsham, who, like in all mysteries of the dark academia genre, ends murdered in dark, mysterious circumstances on a fateful night their final year at Oxford.
Ten years later, Jeremy Kite, OUR leading man, with his prospects and ambitions ruined, once again adrift because of the repercussions of that fateful night, finally embarks on a journey to discover what went down with Toby, and who's to blame for everything that went wrong after that.
"Death in the Spires" is a quitessential dark academia mystery, and with the added early 20th century setting, it instantly becomes an unforgettable work, maybe even a classic, of the genre: it's clever and brilliant, and KJ Charles writing, with her dry snark, her magical way with words, the sheer beauty of it, makes it even more so.
The Seven Wonders' story is unforgettable: I was literally sucked into their world, and I was so wholly immersed in what was going I managed to reach that end, that painful, bittersweet, yet hopeful (and immensely satisfying) end, without even realising it.
Seeing their life, slowly but surely, splinter and shatter around them from the brilliant first few years together, all of them kings and queens of their little kingdom, to that doomed last year, was like watching a trainwreck in slow motion: the build-up to the disaster, although told through flashbacks and brief timelines shifts, had me on the edge of my seat the whole damned time. Seeing how they went from being inseperable, loyal companions, this gang of seven ready to take on the whole world, to brutal murder and violence, backstabbing vileness and obsessive, possessive love turned sour, had me my heart it overdrive from start to finish.
I won't spoil anything else, but god. I don't think I've ever encountered a character quite like Toby: his character arc was literally the thing of dreams; the way KJ Charles built him, the way she showed the cracks inside him? You can feel the end of the Seven Wonders' golden age coming, yet you're powerless to stop anything; the only thing you can do is read with the same dread and the same bitter, powerless disillusionment Jem and the others go through. I think I mourned alongside them, Jem especially, and it left me feeling both hollowed out and absolutely in awe with what KJ Charles is capable of doing, of writing, in just under 300 pages.
I feel like I've lived through a whole lifetime with Jem.
Obviously, I adored our steadfast, righteous protagonist: quiet, stubborn, bitter, broken, but still wonderful and wonderfully relatable. I was rooting for him from the start, even when he took needlessly stupid risks, even when he was being so pig-headed I wanted to jump into the book and shake him (quitessential amateur sleth behaviour eh?). I kinda guessed where the mystery was leading to, but I think it added to the whole experience: I just sat there with my mounting dread and the slow realisation of what had really happended that fateful, horrible year. Some things still took me by surprise though. So, I sat there both in dread and in awe. I had the time of my life, okay?
Anyway, I won't forget this book anytime soon; I think I might end up re-reading it as soon as my heart settles and I can stop feeling so many feelings. I loved that ending: like I said, it's hopeful but also, immesely bittersweet. Satisfyingly bittersweet though; an end of a painful, horrible era, and the start of something new, something better, something true.
Go and read this book: PLEASE. I need someone to shout and scream at, because wow. Dark academia, a stubborn queer man as a lead, a gripping mystery, an unforgettable cast of characters that will stay with you for a long time: what more can you ask for?
Thank you Netgalley and the Publisher for the ARC. This is my honest review.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Homophobia, Misogyny, Bullying, Rape, Racism, and Murder
Minor: Abortion and Suicidal thoughts
lizzietherebel's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Thank you to Storm Publishing for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
Death in the Spires swept me off my feet and broke my heart, then put it back together again.
I am a huge KJ Charles fan but I wasn't completely sure about this novel prior to reading as it's a departure from Charles' tried and true historical queer romances. Turns out, I needn't have worried for a second; Death in the Spires may be one of my favorite novels by Charles ever. Truth be told, this isn't all that different than anything else Charles has written in the past, except that the mystery is the primary focus rather than the romance (though there is still a healthy dose of what I would certainly call romance.) This romance, however, is much more nuanced than the arc of a typical genre romance, and therefore offers us very complex and deliciously aching relationships where the reader is just as much in the dark about what the truth is as the characters involved. One of Charles' greatest strengths has always been her characterization, and that certainly holds true for Death in the Spires. She is able to create such masterful connections between the characters as well as between the audience and the narrator that I think I would be moved by anything she wrote at all. That being said, to say I was "moved" would be an understatement for this novel. Death in the Spires basically destroyed me.
It perfectly captures the strange and unparalleled purgatory that is life as a college student: completely naive, full of so many hopes and fears, and the intense and intoxicating process of making friends and trying to find your people while on your own for the first time. I also especially applaud the way that this novel engages in really thoughtful and intentional critique of 20th century abortion laws/stigma and the resulting risks and .fatalities.
Everything about Charles' story-telling is always so organic that it should come as no surprise that I was immediately enthralled by the narrator and his quest to discover the answer to a decade-old murder mystery that implicated him and all of his dearest friends when they were 21, and that continues to haunt him as an adult. The mystery is so masterfully crafted that I did not lose interest for a moment, but instead found myself completely immersed in the flashbacks that follow the group of friends as they first become established and their subsequent rise to glory before their ultimate tragic demise. I knew every character in the friend group and was completely transported into their world and thus into Jem's search for justice. I desperately wanted him to find answers and a happy ending, and yet till the very end, I was on the edge of my seat with questions and completely unsure as to how Charles could wrap up everything up without breaking our hearts for good. But as readers, we are always in very good hands with KJ Charles. Death in the Spires did not disappoint; rather, it far exceeded my expectations and left me with a bit of a hangover that only comes from finishing the very best books, and extremely hopeful that Charles will continue to give us more mysteries in the future. She certainly has a talent for it.
Death in the Spires swept me off my feet and broke my heart, then put it back together again.
I am a huge KJ Charles fan but I wasn't completely sure about this novel prior to reading as it's a departure from Charles' tried and true historical queer romances. Turns out, I needn't have worried for a second; Death in the Spires may be one of my favorite novels by Charles ever. Truth be told, this isn't all that different than anything else Charles has written in the past, except that the mystery is the primary focus rather than the romance (though there is still a healthy dose of what I would certainly call romance.) This romance, however, is much more nuanced than the arc of a typical genre romance, and therefore offers us very complex and deliciously aching relationships where the reader is just as much in the dark about what the truth is as the characters involved. One of Charles' greatest strengths has always been her characterization, and that certainly holds true for Death in the Spires. She is able to create such masterful connections between the characters as well as between the audience and the narrator that I think I would be moved by anything she wrote at all. That being said, to say I was "moved" would be an understatement for this novel. Death in the Spires basically destroyed me.
It perfectly captures the strange and unparalleled purgatory that is life as a college student: completely naive, full of so many hopes and fears, and the intense and intoxicating process of making friends and trying to find your people while on your own for the first time. I also especially applaud the way that this novel engages in really thoughtful and intentional critique of 20th century abortion laws/stigma and the resulting risks and .fatalities.
Everything about Charles' story-telling is always so organic that it should come as no surprise that I was immediately enthralled by the narrator and his quest to discover the answer to a decade-old murder mystery that implicated him and all of his dearest friends when they were 21, and that continues to haunt him as an adult. The mystery is so masterfully crafted that I did not lose interest for a moment, but instead found myself completely immersed in the flashbacks that follow the group of friends as they first become established and their subsequent rise to glory before their ultimate tragic demise. I knew every character in the friend group and was completely transported into their world and thus into Jem's search for justice. I desperately wanted him to find answers and a happy ending, and yet till the very end, I was on the edge of my seat with questions and completely unsure as to how Charles could wrap up everything up without breaking our hearts for good. But as readers, we are always in very good hands with KJ Charles. Death in the Spires did not disappoint; rather, it far exceeded my expectations and left me with a bit of a hangover that only comes from finishing the very best books, and extremely hopeful that Charles will continue to give us more mysteries in the future. She certainly has a talent for it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Toxic friendship, Ableism, Classism, Homophobia, Murder, and Violence
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Abortion, and Rape
All of the heavy content in this book is extremely tastefully handled and in no way graphic or gratuitous at any point.
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