Scan barcode
itslucyamber's review against another edition
5.0
It takes balls to kill off ⅔ of your characters. And it takes skill to do it well. This book has both.
And don't be fooled, this book is fantasy to its very core - all the world-building, lore, magic, powers, political drama, power plays and schemes - just wrapped up in a fantastic murder mystery.
And don't be fooled, this book is fantasy to its very core - all the world-building, lore, magic, powers, political drama, power plays and schemes - just wrapped up in a fantastic murder mystery.
carolynnagain's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
The only good thing about this book was the mystery itself. It's diverse, but in a hamfisted, cover-of-a-textbook kind of way. It doesn't feel natural but more like the author wanted to check a certain number of boxes. This leads to somehow even more awkward characterization than just everyone having VERY specific appearance descriptions.
The prose is also very weak and not at all edited to suit the setting. There's many modernisms and idioms that immediately pulled me out of the world in an irritating way.
If the mystery itself wasn't interesting with a pretty good twist, I wouldn't know what anyone got out of this book.
The prose is also very weak and not at all edited to suit the setting. There's many modernisms and idioms that immediately pulled me out of the world in an irritating way.
If the mystery itself wasn't interesting with a pretty good twist, I wouldn't know what anyone got out of this book.
chrisseyreads's review against another edition
adventurous
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
2.5
I nearly DNFd this at multiple points, it's a miracle I got to the end. I found the MC (and most of the other characters) incredibly annoying. The pacing of this book is way off, the first half dragged so slowly I just couldn't wait to be finished and have it out of my life, the second half was more fast paced, but almost confusingly so. Overall, I think this book lacks depth and the plot is overly convoluted, I couldn't bring myself to care about any character or plot. Only rated so highly because I found myself needing to finish it (rather than DNF).
trainlock's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
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? It's complicated
5.0
kimmyannschultz's review against another edition
1.0
I DNFed at page 54. The Writing style and main character’s personality is just not for me. It sucks because I have a beautiful illumicrate edition; but it will be someone else’s buried treasure because I’m donating it.
slinkmalink's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
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
4.0
Really fun mystery, big And Then There Were None vibes but fantasy and on a boat. I loved him gradually getting to know the other characters and finding out they were not what he thought (but still not necessarily liking eachother anyway). Honestly the first two deaths really took me by surprise but Ravi coming back also did tbh I was not anticipating that and honestly I didn't trust him right till the end after he did come back
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Violence
bibliomania_express's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Today was the May long weekend here in Canada, and the weather has been warm and sunny. I went to a nearby park to read and enjoy the sunshine, and ended up reading my whole book.
Voyage of the Damned by Frances White is a sharp, quick-paced murder mystery that was everything I hoped it would be. Twelve Blesseds, each representing a province of the United Empire of Concordia, are on a voyage to the sacred mountain. Except Dee isn't Blessed - he's hiding his lack of power to protect his province. Then Dee has bigger things to worry about as one by one the Blesseds are murdered. Dee will have to figure out who the murderer is and what's going on before he ends up dead.
I had such a great time with this book. It has some great character work, a twisty mystery, an interesting magic system, and fantastic representation of different races, sexualities, body types, and disabilities. It also deals with classism, xenophobia, prejudice, religious bigotry, self-esteem, and the economics of control. Along with grief, love, family, found family, and corruption. Just a whole lot of stuff packed into an isolated, closed circle murder mystery on a boat.
Dee was a great protagonist and it was fun to follow him through his resentment and self-loathing at the lie foisted upon him to finding his true self and working his way through the clues. Dee is loud, proud of his big body, funny while using humour as deflection, and in many ways his idgaf nature is what saves the day. There's also a romance element in this book, which went some unexpected ways a few times.
I liked how the Blessings were tied into the plot, and how the story unravelled by revealing bits about each character and their pasts. It did get a bit confusing that characters had names but were also called their province's animal name.
I did guess some elements of the solution, but not all of it. I'm not sure if I would class this as a fair play mystery since some of the clues come rather late and deal a lot with the politics and secrets there wouldn't be a way of knowing.
I'd have more to say, but it would all be spoilers, so I'll leave it there.
Voyage of the Damned by Frances White is a sharp, quick-paced murder mystery that was everything I hoped it would be. Twelve Blesseds, each representing a province of the United Empire of Concordia, are on a voyage to the sacred mountain. Except Dee isn't Blessed - he's hiding his lack of power to protect his province. Then Dee has bigger things to worry about as one by one the Blesseds are murdered. Dee will have to figure out who the murderer is and what's going on before he ends up dead.
I had such a great time with this book. It has some great character work, a twisty mystery, an interesting magic system, and fantastic representation of different races, sexualities, body types, and disabilities. It also deals with classism, xenophobia, prejudice, religious bigotry, self-esteem, and the economics of control. Along with grief, love, family, found family, and corruption. Just a whole lot of stuff packed into an isolated, closed circle murder mystery on a boat.
Dee was a great protagonist and it was fun to follow him through his resentment and self-loathing at the lie foisted upon him to finding his true self and working his way through the clues. Dee is loud, proud of his big body, funny while using humour as deflection, and in many ways his idgaf nature is what saves the day. There's also a romance element in this book, which went some unexpected ways a few times.
I liked how the Blessings were tied into the plot, and how the story unravelled by revealing bits about each character and their pasts. It did get a bit confusing that characters had names but were also called their province's animal name.
I did guess some elements of the solution, but not all of it. I'm not sure if I would class this as a fair play mystery since some of the clues come rather late and deal a lot with the politics and secrets there wouldn't be a way of knowing.
I'd have more to say, but it would all be spoilers, so I'll leave it there.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Death, Classism, and Colonisation
Moderate: Grief, Blood, and Bullying
Minor: Child death, Fatphobia, Suicide, Ableism, and Terminal illness
ninarotcajg's review against another edition
4.25
En fait c'était particulièrement bien parce que c'était rien de ce que j'ai déjà lu
Enfin, c'est pas totalement vrai, évidement, on a des points communs.
Le concept de meurtres, "schemes" et tout ça, on connaît, sur un bateau, Agatha pourra nous le récrire...
Pourtant, le tout sonnait différemment
Peut être grâce à la mixité des personnages, à la sensibilité de ceux-ci ?
J'ai beaucoup beaucoup aimé Dee, ce qui n'est pas tjr évident pour un héros/anti-héros.
J'ai deviné mid bouquin qu'il avait un blessing
Et j'ai deviné pour Wyatt quatre ou cinq chapitres avant que ce soit révélé, bref j'étais quand même shook
Je me tortillais la tête pour savoir qui c'était
J'ai vraiment cru que c'était Grasshoper pendant 100ans. Mais en fait elle est vraiment juste trop mims
Dee bottom for women #preach
Bon Wyatt je l'aimais bien, mais j'ai trouvé que leur relation allait trop vite ducoup je m'en foutais un peu genre, pas assez de angst alors que y"avait le potentiel
4jours il se disait amoureux carrément
(It made sens quand on a découvert que c'était Ravi mais bon) mon cerveau était fucked up pcq je m'étais attachée à Wyatt pas Ravi!
J'aurais voulu plus en savoir encore sur le monde en dehors du bandage, sur le monde et tout, c'était vraiment chouette
Note : 17/20
Enfin, c'est pas totalement vrai, évidement, on a des points communs.
Le concept de meurtres, "schemes" et tout ça, on connaît, sur un bateau, Agatha pourra nous le récrire...
Pourtant, le tout sonnait différemment
Peut être grâce à la mixité des personnages, à la sensibilité de ceux-ci ?
J'ai beaucoup beaucoup aimé Dee, ce qui n'est pas tjr évident pour un héros/anti-héros.
J'ai deviné mid bouquin qu'il avait un blessing
Et j'ai deviné pour Wyatt quatre ou cinq chapitres avant que ce soit révélé, bref j'étais quand même shook
Je me tortillais la tête pour savoir qui c'était
J'ai vraiment cru que c'était Grasshoper pendant 100ans. Mais en fait elle est vraiment juste trop mims
Dee bottom for women #preach
Bon Wyatt je l'aimais bien, mais j'ai trouvé que leur relation allait trop vite ducoup je m'en foutais un peu genre, pas assez de angst alors que y"avait le potentiel
4jours il se disait amoureux carrément
(It made sens quand on a découvert que c'était Ravi mais bon) mon cerveau était fucked up pcq je m'étais attachée à Wyatt pas Ravi!
J'aurais voulu plus en savoir encore sur le monde en dehors du bandage, sur le monde et tout, c'était vraiment chouette
Note : 17/20
queenbee_of_hearts's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
halloitsalex's review
adventurous
funny
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
4.5