Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Toutes les nuances de la nuit by Chris Whitaker

116 reviews

taranottahra's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 20%

It was moving so so so slow. It was dark, which is fine, but there’s a lot of darkness currently happening in the real world around me (LA fires, Trump presidency) and it was not the escapism I needed. The writing was fine, but going back to it felt like a work-out regime instead of something I was looking forward to. 

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dark emotional 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

I thought this was beautifully written and had some banger one-liners. It was a mystery/thriller, but then at many times, so much more than that and really about a beautiful friendship. 

My only critiques are that I thought there were parts that could have been cut out or shortened and then other areas where I wish we had gotten more details. I also thought charlotte’s dialogue was way too mature for her age, and it took me out a few times. 

I LOVE NORMA AND SAINT. I cried at anything pertaining to their relationship 

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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: Complicated

A thriller/ mystery that isn’t formulaic! A unique story with lots of detail and heart. 

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This book hooked me at the beginning, I was very invested in the characters throughout the story. However, the pacing lost me a bit in the middle. I think this book could have been shorter and I would have enjoyed it more. It just felt like the same thing was repeating for a while, which made it more difficult to get through. I think Chris Whitaker’s writing is great, and I’m willing to check out more of his work. He did a great job with creating complex characters and including themes of friendship, found family, and recovery from trauma. He also does a great job of putting multiple twists throughout to keep the reader invested, this is what made me push through the slow middle part. Overall, I would still recommend, especially if you’re someone who’s into true crime/mysteries. Also check trigger warnings as there are some heavy topics discussed.

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring 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

All I can say is, I wish Goodreads had a vocal option to talk about a book. I absolutely loved this book. I don’t really have words to describe how much this book meant to me. There was love, action, killing, the most importantly, the power of friendship and hope This book has not received the hypo that deserves. I think that this book went onto so many levels that people need to explore you’re gonna laugh they’re gonna cry. They’re gonna do everything and I certainly hope that this gets added to everyone’s 2025 Book books to read. I am so excited to share this book with my friends because I think that everyone will learn to love this book so much. This is a great book for people that maybe don’t literary fiction but love murder mystery true crime, coming of age everything in so I just think it’s a great book. This is why you need voice reviews! I can’t say enough good things about this. I would say this is probably in my top 10 favorite books of all times at this moment.

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Saint is determined to save Patch. Patch is determined to save her. 

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challenging reflective sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Split rating, rounded up:
Formatting & Storyline Execution: ⭐️
Characterization & development: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Writing style & theme elements: ⭐️⭐️

I have a lot of thoughts about this book. The storyline could have been decent had the execution been delivered accordingly. This did not need to be over 200 mini chapters with varying povs and no sense of a timeline. I was annoyed from the get-go. I feel like this book took me so much longer than it should have just to get through. Honestly could have been summed up in under 80 chapters. 

Besides getting to know the characters very well, there's a lot of alluding and plot holes that never get explained-I'm assuming all for the sake of characters being mysterious. Serious plot points are only mentioned incredibly briefly, so if you're not paying attention amongst the monotony, you end up having to go back a lot. 

I'm honestly happy that in the end, Patch did not get caught and put back in jail. I was confused for a bit of the book about who and why exactly he was back in jail for because they had alluded to him murdering a zookeeper and I was so confused. And I at least cannot remember a conversation between Patch and Saint about the relationship between Saint and her veterinarian ex-husband, the abusive POS. I was also surprised that Saint took on "raising" Charlotte in Patch's absence. I would have liked to hear more about the relationship between Patch and the correctional officer. It's also quite curious that both Patch and the Doctor ended up at the same jail. And at least for the audiobook, I had a difficult time remembering minor characters and how they were involved in the storyline. At first I didn't even recognize Grace's father's name and how he was connected to the murders and with the doctor. And it goes against the storyline having his conclusion so far away from the storyline conclusion because by the end of it I didn't even remember what had happened to him- was he murdered? Did he go to jail? I don't know , I assume so. But that would have been a good placement near the end chapter for a reminder of what had happened in his case.

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

"Saint wanted to ask what it was like, to lose the thing that defined you. But perhaps she knew: it left you someone else. A stranger you had no choice but to tolerate, and see each day and feel and fear."

As is to be expected of Chris Whitaker, this was masterfully written. Tragic and traumatic and beautiful and raw. So deeply complex. This story is engaging on so many levels. A serial killer mystery layered over complicated small-town relationships that span decades that will have you devouring chapters. While the mystery is the driving force of the novel, and will have you as completely obsessed with solving it as the main characters, the artfully crafted, intricately connected stories around the mystery are what truly bring this novel to life.  Be prepared to cycle through a broad range of emotions.

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