Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Light Pirate by Lily Brooks-Dalton

15 reviews

jessismoore's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Murder, Dementia, Gun violence, Violence, Death of parent, and Car accident

Minor: Animal death

Natural disasters

kelseylee123's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Dementia, Gun violence, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Bullying, Child death, Death, Violence, Animal death, and Body horror

hmatt's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad slow-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

4.25

It's a rarity, at least in the range of speculative fiction that I usually read, to encounter a book that so thoroughly looks at the "in-between times". So often, we're plopped into a near-future where things have mostly transitioned to a "new" way of being post-climate disaster/pandemic/whatever. The Light Pirate doesn't do this: It takes the reader through the before, mid, and after in heart-wrenching detail, and is a much better story for it.

That said, this book is definitely a slower burn. Very, very dramatic things happen but they almost feel muted because of how they're described. I didn't hate this, it's just something to note. We're taken through the entire life of the main character (who is "The Light Pirate") from multiple perspectives.

There are maybe supernatural elements to this story, but I thought the author did a great job of keeping that mostly vague, as though they could also be explained through science.

I've tagged the book as hopeful because it is - despite experiencing incredible loss throughout her life, the main character persists.

I've started and not finished one of the author's other novels multiple times, and my enjoyment of this one may just be the push I need to actually push through it this year

Loved the little romance at the end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia, Gun violence, Murder, Violence, Death, Bullying, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Death of parent

Minor: Animal death

cyndi1966's review

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Dementia, Gun violence, Murder, and Violence

foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Ableism, Gun violence, Death of parent, Abandonment, Pregnancy, Death, Murder, and Bullying

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

kanderson246's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Murder, Death of parent, and Medical trauma

Minor: Dementia

theverycraftyvegan's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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? Yes

5.0

I can’t praise this book enough. 

The stories of Frida, Kirby, Lucas, Flip, Wanda, Phylis, and Bird Dog will fill you with love and hope then rip your heart apart; both beautifully and tragically. 

I openly wept while listening to this audiobook not only because of the story and the characters, but also because of its not-so-fictional plot and not-so-distant-future setting. This book is about how a select few struggled to survive its rapid changes while so many others couldn’t. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, Bullying, Child death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Chronic illness, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, and Dementia

Minor: Cursing and Vomit

zosiablue's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.5

Help, this was so gut-wrenching and emotional and scary! Not, like, white label scary, but scary nonetheless. A slow burn, climate change, literary fiction, dystopian heartache of a book. There were several deaths in this book that will be up there on the list of saddest book deaths for me. It encapsulated my #1 most painful feeling - the feeling of wanting to go home, but home has moved on. Bye, gotta go cry. 😭

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Gun violence

Minor: Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Dementia

samanthabryan34's review against another edition

adventurous reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

I thought this book was okay. The first half was really interesting and fast paced and then it kind of fizzled out for me. It’s similar to where the crawdads sing in that a major theme is a girl’s connection with nature, but I thought it lacked some character depth.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Death, Bullying, Death of parent, and Gun violence

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

loveinpanels's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Pregnancy, Murder, and Death