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forestfloor's review against another edition
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
I am honestly confused about how much I enjoyed reading this in comparison to how much there was to put me off through the course of the story.
A murder of crows is a cozy and easy read. I really loved the ecological elements. There's a clear love for nature in the description and the way the ecological details tie in with the murder mystery plot points is really cool.
However, the approach to class, race and the police through the text are very poorly handled, in my opinion.Nell is very aware of her privilege and very uncomfortable about it... and yet she consistently falls back on the advantages of her inherited wealth, her political views are conveniently absent from the text and she is constantly painting herself as a victim of her circumstance. I'm all for a book including a look into the way oppressive systems also harm oppressors, but in the absence of the necessary inclusion of the way that the oppressed are the victims of that system, you end up with a take on class that's flat, and ridiculously lacking in nuance to the point it's dishonest. I was hoping every time she expressed her discomfort with her wealth that it was going to lead to some kind of positive character development, but instead her takeaway at the end seems to be "No, I should lean into my wealth more." It makes very little sense to me. The only character to express outwardly leftist views does so in a way that disrespects a murder victim, and it's painted as part of her annoying, immature, and rude personality.
The police are also painted very positively throughout, despite some of the more questionable elements like them sidestepping proper procedure. It was somewhat copaganda-ey. I think the key complaint I have is how baffled I am that James somehow remains a love interest after using Nell being the victim of revenge porn against her in his line of questioning. I cannot at all understand why she would retain any interest in someone who did something that unethical to her.
I didn't feel that the identities of the characters of colour were approached all that well either - their race boils down to description of their features alone with the exception of Rav, who I liked as a character for the most part, but I really think it was the wrong thing to draw the parallel between Nell and Rav's names as a similarity, rather than to highlight the contrast. The environmental sector is the second least diverse (after agriculture) in terms of race in the UK, and Rav's decision to by Adam come's from a very different place to Eleanor's decision to go by Nell. I feel that it's a shame that the reality of that was completely diminished. Speaking of Rav, I don't really understand why none of the characters had an issue with him flirting with Jess and leading her on outside of the romance plot. He is her superior at work? She's freshly graduated and he's anywhere between 5 and 15 years older than her? Additionally, I did not find the love triangle to be appealing, some elements of the various romances were amusing to me, but there was also miscommunication that didn't make sense at all.
A murder of crows is a cozy and easy read. I really loved the ecological elements. There's a clear love for nature in the description and the way the ecological details tie in with the murder mystery plot points is really cool.
However, the approach to class, race and the police through the text are very poorly handled, in my opinion.
The police are also painted very positively throughout, despite some of the more questionable elements like them sidestepping proper procedure. It was somewhat copaganda-ey. I think the key complaint I have is how baffled I am that James somehow remains a love interest after using Nell being the victim of revenge porn against her in his line of questioning. I cannot at all understand why she would retain any interest in someone who did something that unethical to her.
I didn't feel that the identities of the characters of colour were approached all that well either - their race boils down to description of their features alone with the exception of Rav, who I liked as a character for the most part, but I really think it was the wrong thing to draw the parallel between Nell and Rav's names as a similarity, rather than to highlight the contrast. The environmental sector is the second least diverse (after agriculture) in terms of race in the UK, and Rav's decision to by Adam come's from a very different place to Eleanor's decision to go by Nell. I feel that it's a shame that the reality of that was completely diminished. Speaking of Rav, I don't really understand why none of the characters had an issue with him flirting with Jess and leading her on outside of the romance plot. He is her superior at work? She's freshly graduated and he's anywhere between 5 and 15 years older than her?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Sexual violence
Moderate: Toxic relationship
Minor: Emotional abuse
epfolinsky's review against another edition
medium-paced
- 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
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexual harassment, and Murder
lizzyspooks's review
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Fire/Fire injury
aseel_reads's review against another edition
mysterious
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? It's complicated
2.0
This was a fine mystery novel but nothing spectacular and at times, it was pretty boring and slow.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic relationship, Classism, Medical content, Murder, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
jhbandcats's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
informative
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I really enjoyed this mystery where an ecologist focused on bats is the main suspect as well as the person who solves the crime. I think bats are pretty nifty so I loved learning so much about them. The characters were interesting and conflicted, the setting of the woods and bat and badger and dormouse environments was fascinating, and despite the violence and blood, I was left with a warm feeling for the main character and her good intentions.
A good start to what I hope will be a rewarding and informative - and fun - mystery series.
A good start to what I hope will be a rewarding and informative - and fun - mystery series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Murder, Classism, Death, Gore, and Blood
thequiltyreader's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
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
4.0
A who done it with a nice use of science (ecological) to solve the crime. I found it eas written well in that I hadn't managed to correctly guess the murderer and flip flopped between a number of characters. It would have been nice to have developed some of the other suspects a little further though.
This was a nice set up of Dr Nell becoming the main character in crime series.
Easy read though did feel at times the main story was a little over shadowed by the love triangle and that could have been paired back a bit with no impact on the book.
This was a nice set up of Dr Nell becoming the main character in crime series.
Easy read though did feel at times the main story was a little over shadowed by the love triangle and that could have been paired back a bit with no impact on the book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Blood, Bullying, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death, Gun violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Gore
xapoptosisx's review against another edition
adventurous
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
4.5
I really enjoyed this and I'm excited to read the next book. I loved the characters and the whole plot, it combines my 2 favourite parts of science and I'm just in love. Also the author is so cool omg I inspire to be her honestly.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Death
Moderate: Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Car accident, and Animal cruelty
Minor: Alcohol
veereadstoomuch's review against another edition
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder and Sexual content
thumbeleia's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
informative
mysterious
tense
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Medical content, Sexual harassment, Death, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Infidelity, Terminal illness, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, Body horror, Chronic illness, Medical trauma, Car accident, and Violence
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