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liliya_klein's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Gore and Murder
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, and Child abuse
daisydays128's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Sexual assault, Fatphobia, Blood, Pedophilia, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Torture, Sexual harassment, Rape, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Child death, and Body horror
ladythana's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Sexual assault, Death, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Murder, Misogyny, Fatphobia, Body shaming, Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Stalking, Medical trauma, Rape, Grief, Sexual violence, Blood, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Chronic illness, Vomit, Alcohol, and Self harm
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Incest, Infidelity, Trafficking, and Eating disorder
lollybee'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
5.0
Graphic: Sexual assault and Violence
Moderate: Self harm, Mental illness, Drug abuse, Violence, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Drug use, Rape, and War
ladyvictoria's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Stalking
Moderate: Sexual assault
cottagefairynatalie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Sexual violence, Misogyny, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Murder, Sexual assault, Rape, and Physical abuse
tuesday_evening's review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: Sexual assault, Body horror, and Death
sleepy_yoshi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
The series has always applied a form of fuzzy logic in catching the criminal. Strike tends to work heavily off intuition, but I tend to overlook this to some extent because he's not actually in law enforcement even if that's his background. In this novel however you can't overlook it because that's all the case is. At one point he literally says that there's no logic in the suspects he's been investigating for months at that point. Instead he says that "he feels it in his gut" that one of them is guilty. It's incredibly circular. He believes it to be true because he believes it to be. Him not being objective is of course intentional, but I find it incredibly frustrating when mysteries rely on "intuition" rather than deduction.
Then you have the conveniences. These have always existed in some way in the previous books, but never to this extent. Read the synopsis, Strike knows 4 people are suspects, though he dismisses one immediately with fairly flimsy reasoning. So 3 people left, who all happen to be similar builds, all happen to have the same haircut, all have/had sons that they are estranged to, all happen to be in London though it's not where they hail from. How do we know the killers characteristics? Cause for the first time we get their perspective intermixed in the novel, but even though Strike doesn't know that he still picked out 3 people immediately just from the crime (no actual evidence etc), who fit the perspective given by the killer. And many, many more instances across the story that would involve spoilers.
The good? Strike and Robin's working relationship is still the highlight of the book. The way they feed off one another is fun to read and you really get the sense of how integral she has turned out to be when it comes to investigating. Too bad that so much of the book is dedicated to the melodrama that is her relationship with Matthew.
I'll still read #4 cause the first two were good enough to give Rowling the benefit of the doubt, but what a let down this was.
Moderate: Physical abuse, Misogyny, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Pedophilia and Sexual assault
maddiefight's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Torture, Stalking, Sexual assault, Rape, Pedophilia, Murder, Misogyny, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Blood, Mental illness, Drug use, and Ableism
Minor: Eating disorder
hdeherrera14's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Murder, and Violence