Reviews tagging 'Murder'

New York Ghost by Ling Ma

47 reviews

minnxes's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Suicide, Violence, Blood, Gore, Murder, and Pregnancy

ohyeah_karyn's review against another edition

dark 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Drug use, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Pregnancy, Gun violence, Death of parent, and Pandemic/Epidemic

ladylothlorien's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

I find it nearly impossible to put down my thoughts on this book. There is something eerie about reading a pre-pandemic book about a pandemic and then to have so much of it ring true made it a difficult read. It was slow and depressing for a long time and then an event happened that added a sense of urgency to the narrative which carried through to the end. It meant the pacing was a little weird but honestly this book is a little weird: at times satirical and at others poetically reflective. Overall I would say I enjoyed it but I think it also brought up COVID feelings that I’m not sure I’m ready to deal with. And the themes surrounding the term “severance” will be rattling around in my head for a long time. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Violence, Grief, Death, Confinement, Gun violence, Pregnancy, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Drug use, Death of parent, and Suicide

neenishtart's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective tense fast-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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Death, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide

Minor: Death of parent and Murder

itsalina's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Chronic illness, Toxic friendship, and Murder

Minor: Suicide and Vomit

allisonbrooke's review against another edition

emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Grief, Pregnancy, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Body horror, Death of parent, Car accident, Confinement, and Death

tatjanasbooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Terminal illness, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Pregnancy, Suicide, Murder, and Confinement

Minor: Death of parent

josi1911's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

3.5

I normally never read dystopian (if this book can be called that after we all have experienced COVID), but since it was for a book club, I was rather excited. The Beginning until maybe the 17/18 chapter were strong, but then it turned into the typical dystopian story of someone trying to escape their group mixed with cult-esque leadership.
The ending was such a letdown and the themes the book tried to tackle weren't fleshed out enough. How did the Fever transmit? It can't only be fungal, or at least it seemed to have to do with routine, nostalgia and remembering. But I can only say those keywords, because the story lacked fulfillment/tying up the loose ends and like I already said delving deeper into the social criticism it started.

The Author has sometimes beautiful prose with a minimalist but hard hitting tendency and some of the scenes (especially the gruesome ones) felt all too real. So it's sad that that wasn't utilized more to really make strong points regarding the mentioned themes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Medical content, Gaslighting, Drug use, Gun violence, Gore, Violence, Pregnancy, and Death of parent

Moderate: Suicide and Vomit

booksbeyondthebinary's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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

4.5

The fact that this was published in 2018 just speaks to the way that, as a society, we experience things like mass pandemic and it’s easy to make the leap from that to something resembling a post-apocalyptic story.

This book follows our protagonist Candace, who was the child of two Chinese immigrants and later went to work in New York sourcing production companies for Bibles that her company made and distributed, all of which was done in China. The Shen Fever breaks out, spreads worldwide, and people become zombies of their former selves, doomed to repeat what they know.

It’s a portrait of so many aspects of the human experience and I read it in one day because I could not put it down.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pregnancy, Suicide, and Murder

onyxkat's review against another edition

dark fast-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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Pregnancy, Suicide, Death, Grief, and Violence