Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey

42 reviews

mattiedancer's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

Writing: 2.75⭐️/5 

I read this after a Sanderson kick, so maybe I’m comparing apples to oranges, but if Sanderson is apples, these are tiny mouldy oranges left at the bottom of my lunch kit as a child. The first section of the novel, despite having the highest stakes possible, was hard to care about or believe in. From there, you’re met with a slog of exposition – telling and not showing, telling and not showing, and more telling and not showing – to the point that I felt exhausted. And, while I know one of the heights of sci-fi for some people revolve around its explanation of the science in the world, I couldn’t love the overexplanation of every little piece of technology. (Also, for a book in outer space, I really had to hear a lot about these two men’s balls. Please. Never again.) 

Characters: 2.75⭐️/5

I would love to give this a higher mark, but how do you have so many characters and so few female characters that stand out? They really felt like accessories to the men: ready to make them look good, ready to be set down when the moment wasn’t right for them, and ready to be picked back up to adorn them at the end. We also follow two men who, despite trying to do their best, are so concerned with playing hero that they felt a bit fake – and incredibly boring. 

Plot: 3⭐️/5 

Did I enjoy the parts of this plot dedicated to being sexist? Not particularly. Do I have to hand it to the authors for making a story I couldn’t quite predict? Maybe. I did enjoy parts of the plot and, at certain moments, I almost started to love it. Of course, it was usually in those moments that we resorted to sexist tropes, unnecessary exposition, and/or the defilement of a woman’s body. Is there something interesting happening in this novel? Most certainly. I’m just not certain I would recommend it based solely on that.

Who Should Read This Book? 

• Fans of sci-fi who aren’t balked by a little sexism/misogyny 

Content Warnings? 

• Body horror, death, gore, grief, war, genocide, suicidal thoughts, rape, sexual assault, misogyny, sexism, murder, blood, injury, injury detail,

Post-Reading Rating:  3⭐️/5

I wanted more from it, and also so much less. 

Final Rating: 2.75⭐️/5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Alcohol, Sexism, Suicide, Vomit, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Colonisation, Death, Deportation, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, and War

Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Kidnapping

saroreen's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Suicide, War, Body horror, and Violence

Moderate: Death, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Alcoholism, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

espea's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Blood, Body horror, War, Death, Murder, and Genocide

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cursing, Drug use, Grief, Violence, Classism, Pandemic/Epidemic, Alcohol, Vomit, and Suicidal thoughts

veronicadidato's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-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? No

4.0

Plot is intriguing and well-crafted. It never really feels like anything is unnecessary. The mystery and politics were well made, which only added to the interesting world building.

Some characters’ motivations for moving forward felt a little on the flimsy side but overall it was fine.

If you’ve watched the TV series: the first season is pretty accurate in terms of following the book content. You just get some more insight into the characters reasonings in the book. And the book doesn’t have any on-page sex - that was just added to the TV series. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness

Moderate: Genocide, Murder, Body horror, Death, and Violence

Minor: Rape, Police brutality, and Gun violence

nicastronaut's review

adventurous dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

I've not wanted to read the entirety of the rest of a series with this much enthusiasm since Harry Potter. I will not be reading anything else until I finish the Expanse at this point.
Just hands down fantastic.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Violence, War, Body horror, and Murder

kb33's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Gore, War, and Gun violence

Moderate: Genocide

Minor: Alcohol and Alcoholism

bookswithbethx's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• 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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Vomit, Murder, Violence, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Death, Xenophobia, War, Rape, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexual violence, Confinement, and Body horror

linneak's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Police brutality, Body horror, Death, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, War, Blood, Murder, Rape, and Violence

menomica's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

Everyone too busy trying to survive to spend any time creating something new.

I’m gonna be honest the only reason I read this book was for my writing class. If you’re into sci-fi and zombies, this book will probably be up your alley. But I’m more a realistic-fiction girlie so there were good stretches of this book where I was kind of bored.

I will admit, I was able to keep myself entertained throughout the middle and end of the book by just reading it as a character study. I mean, almost all the (male) characters were character types that I was not into, but I think it was a nice exercise to dissect why I was turned off by them.

Miller is such a fucking looser. Like he was just giving pathetic flop cringecore the whole book, especially towards the end with his obsession with Julie. Like, my guy you literally have never even met this woman and she’s god-knows how many years younger than you. I get that Julie (and her case) just represented his need for redemption to prove himself as a capable detective and whatnot but it was still very weird the way he was about her.

Holden and Naomi was the most comphet ass shit and I will stand ten-toes down in that. That being said, the scene after they had sex (I will not permit hetero copulation on my good Christian server) was kinda cute, idk. I like my men a little-love stupid. If they actually ever take the time to develop legitimate chemistry together beyond this-is-convenient-and-we-need-the-guy-to-get-his-girl type of situation, they could actually be, like, nice to look at. I really appreciated Naomi standing her ground and being like «if you want me, prove it.» Yes girl, respect yourself!

My writing prof said there was more stuff that gets developed in later books that actually seemed interesting to me (why tf is Amos like that, Naomi pov), but I did not care enough about this first book to feel motivated to keep going. Y’all have fun though.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Body horror, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Gun violence and War

Minor: Alcoholism, Vomit, Child death, and Police brutality

xta_07's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful 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? No

4.75

An epic space opera, with a mysterious big bad.
This is my second time reading, and I think I may have enjoyed it even more than the first time!

I love that even thought this book is about war, politics, and discussion on ethics - it takes it down to the human level. The novel is told from two perspectives, one a person who always trys to do the right thing no matter what the consequences might be. And, another who does what needs to be done no matter what that might make him in the end.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes detective noir stories, morally gray hero’s, or hero’s who always do the right thing, and people who enjoy political thrillers. If you’re a sci-fi fan, you’ll enjoy it even more!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Murder, and Body horror

Moderate: Xenophobia, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, and War

Minor: Rape