Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Time's Convert by Deborah Harkness

8 reviews

lamianoctalis's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

It isn't a must read but gives you an inside into Marcus past as well as more of Diana's and Matthew's dynamic with their family. I wasn't that interested in the Pheobe plotline.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: War, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Slavery

saroreen's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad 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? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, War, Terminal illness, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Violence, and Classism

Moderate: Mental illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Toxic relationship and Slavery

frenandjen's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

3.0

I Loved the first three books in the trilogy and very much enjoyed the revisiting the characters however, the editing was off on this book. And unfortunately, it repeatedly took me out of the magic of this story. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Addiction, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, and War

Minor: Mental illness

readerk8's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

3.0

It’s weird that the POV changes so often, and that most POVs are third person but one is first person. I liked learning about Marcus’s past, but some of the modern stuff was a slog.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, War, Death, Racism, and Murder

ka_ke's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful medium-paced

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

4.0

A good comfort read. If you have not read the All Souls trilogy, do not start here. Times Convert is a welcome look into the life of Marcus, Matthew’s son and the journey to becoming a vampire, in this universe’s version anyway. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Blood, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Colonisation, Terminal illness, War, Body horror, and Child abuse

Moderate: Classism, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Grief, Animal death, Misogyny, Gun violence, Gore, and Medical content

Minor: Sexual content, Xenophobia, and Slavery

keepcalmblogon's review against another edition

adventurous 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 know it’s meant to have been a spin-off, but Diana and Matthew really do not relinquish the spotlight all that easily. Time’s Convert brought to further attention the biggest flaw in the series: Diana’s stubbornness about magic. By book four, one would expect Diana to have grown into this aspect of her character after battling with it and then learning to harness and control it, but it’s as if she regresses in this book, and, honestly, after hundreds of pages of her hesitancy I was pretty over it. 

In the end, Marcus and Phoebe do get their chance at center stage and I loved learning about Marcus’ past and joining Phoebe on her baby-vampire journey! 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Gore, Murder, Sexual content, Gun violence, and Violence

sammie_snk's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

Enjoyable addition to the All Souls books to flesh out the characters and their stories a bit more. I enjoyed the chapters alternating between past & present but sometimes the transitions from a contemporary chapter to a memory chapter felt a bit forced. Great to have more time with Matthew & Diana along with getting to know Marcus & Phobe better. Definitely not the best book out of the bunch but enjoyable for fans of All Souls trilogy craving new content.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Violence, War, and Murder

Minor: Racism

melissaschultz's review against another edition

adventurous reflective slow-paced

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

2.0

Ooof. What a slog. I had to force myself to finish this one because I wanted to be caught up on Diana and Matthew for the next All Souls book.

This book had several problems. First, it reads like a placeholder book between the first three books and whatever comes next, meaning literally nothing happens in the way of conflict/rising action/resolution. Everyone just hangs out and thinks about Marcus’ past (where nothing much happens either).

The flashbacks to the past were written in such a predictable and amateurish way, I had a hard time believing Harkness actually wrote this book when compared to the previous three. And Marcus’ sections were boringgggg. Multiple scenes went like this:

*A mild conflict occurs and everyone else tries to solve the problem*
No one:
Marcus: *Picks up random artifact from mantle* this reminds me of the time in my past when…

And repeat throughout the book. One thing is for sure, Harkness doesn’t do write well when everything is going great for her characters.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and War

Moderate: Child abuse and Murder