Reviews with content warning for Murder - Before We Disappear

Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Before We Disappear by Shaun David Hutchinson

18 reviews

_lish_'s review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective tense 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

5.0

Content Warnings

garbutch's review against another edition

Go to review page

Content Warnings

redbeanm0chi's review against another edition

Go to review page

slow-paced

Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

A sweet as sugar love story between two magician’s assistants where one of them actually has magic, AND there’s a super evil villain.

“We do that a lot, don’t we? Show up and take what we want?”

“Perhaps one day we’ll learn better.”

“You have far more faith in people than I do.”

“Sometimes,” I said. “Faith is all that I have.”

“Is it enough?”

Despite being a lovely YA love story, it went surprisingly dark at times. It was thoroughly well done, with the world, the characters, and the plot working together in harmony. Slow paced at times, but not boring. It did get a little repetitive for me two thirds of the way through, but I had no difficulty with finishing it and the climax was satisfying and earned.

“I’d rather be trapped with you than free without you.”

“I’m a burning building Jack,” I said. “Only a fool would run into one.”

“Then I’m a fool on fire.”

Content Warnings

lilly_anne's review

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad 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

Content Warnings

gemstonejasper's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

4.5

Warning: Please look at the content warnings before reading this book. There are a lot and they are fairly graphic. Now on to my review.

Was this book well written? No. Did it have good worldbuilding? No. Did I feel like I was in the early 1900s? No. Was it 100 pages too long? Yes. Could I predict the entire plot? Yes. But could I put it down? No.

I read this in three days (and it's around 500 pages). That's saying something because I have dyslexia and am a really slow reader. The story follows the love story of Jack and Wilhelm, the assistants to two rival magicians performing at the same fair in 1909. I personally think that's all you should go in knowing.

If I were a critic and rating this book solely on technical aspects, I would give it a 2.5-3 star rating. The writing is nothing special. It seemed like the characters repeated the same thing too many times. Therefore it could have probably been 100 pages shorter. I got immensely frustrated with every major character. It didn't even come close to making me feel like it took place in 1909 Seattle. I could predict the entire plot from a mile away (except for how exactly they defeated the villian).

That being said, I'm not a critic. I'm a general reader who picked up this book to be entertained. So I chose to rate it based on my enjoyment level. 4.5 stars. I can't pinpoint exactly why, but I really did enjoy this book and would read it again. I literally couldn't rip myself away. Maybe it was the two adorable queer romances. Maybe it was the magical feel of the world. Maybe I was genuinely terrified of the villian. Maybe I even grew attached to the two main characters and wanted to see them succeed.

There is one reason I'm not giving this a 5 star and that is because of a conscious choice the author made. The story takes place in 1909, meaning no person of color would have been treated as mildly as Ruth was treated by the white characters. There is also no way that the two queer couples (one of which is interracial) could have been out in the open without severe consequences. The author's note at the back of the book explains his reasoning behind this. He wanted to write a happy queer story. While I respect the decision he made, I also would not have chosen that direction myself. Because of this, I had a hard time immersing myself in the story. I had to take half a star for that decision.

2nd Reading Edit

I think I was too harsh in my first review. I don't think I was quite fair. During my first read-through, I read the physical book. It felt long and sluggish and like it was repeating things over and over. This time around, I listened to the audiobook and I think that's the way to go. The audio felt so much smoother and worked much better for me. That being said, the guy who voiced Wilhelm's chapters didn't feel right. He just didn't seem to match his personality. He was a good voice actor, just not quite right for Wilhelm in my opinion. The guy who read Jack's chapters matched pretty well

Content Warnings

monniebiloney's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

Had a great beginning and a great climax, but was a little slow in the middle.
I loved the setting alot, and William and Jack were cute together. I loved how even though the "romance" was the main motivator for the main characters actions (it's because Jack liked William that he decided that he had to help William away from his' abusive "family", and it's because William was in love with Jack that he was willing to brave against his abusive "Father" ).

The best part of this book was definitely the climax,

the fact the MC told his "mother" about what happened and they all worked together to con Teddy so that Teddy would get arrested was great! I thought it was hilarious when the mom diches out with the gold. It's a slight plot hole that she decided to not tell Jack and just ditch out on him [it felt like that was done just so that Jack could be free, rather then something she would do]

Content Warnings