Reviews with content warning for Domestic abuse - Il diavolo e l'acqua scura

Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Il diavolo e l'acqua scura by Stuart Turton

86 reviews

maryconney's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

bonneamie's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

kuronekostea's review against another edition

Alas, after sitting on this book for months, I am finally DNF. I tried to come back to this book several times, but found the beginning so slow paced, wordy, and uninteresting that it made this book feel like a chore. There are several characters and several side plots I simply didn't take interest in. I also found I disliked several of the characters or just wasn't vibing with them.

Content Warnings

jess_tries2read's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I would have liked this better if I hadn't read The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle first, which was 5 ⭐.

This is a mystery set on a merchant tallship in the 1630s. The setting is really cool, the mystery is really engaging, and I enjoy the characters. The atmosphere veers towards horror, but in my opinion it doesn't veer hard enough, which didn't leave me scared but left me feeling a bit bleak. I loved the characters and I'd be interested in trading another, but I don't know Turton to write sequels.

Content Warnings

dxmazy's review against another edition

3.5

mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I was disappointed in the reveal of the book; although, I do think it is good in that it answers all the questions you have in the book.

Content Warnings

not_another_ana's review against another edition

2.5

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

"That's the problem with summoning demons, you see. Sooner or later somebody else raises them against you"

Batavia, 1634. Samuel Pipps, the greatest detective in the world, is on his way to his execution in Amsterdam. His crime? Unknown, even to him and his closest friend and companion Arent Hayes. As if that weren't enough, while boarding the ship the passengers and crew receive a warning from a leper and witness a horrifying death. Soon, while sailing on the Saardam, strange voices plague the ship and shocking events confuse and scare everyone on board. Could this be the work of a demon just like they were warned on shore? Or is something more human afoot? With Sammy Pipps out of comission, and trapped in a dark cell, only Arent might be able to save the ship, but is he up to the task or will the dark waters take them all?

This was such a ride. I started this book filled with optimism as I love a good mystery and this had all the initial makings of one. A closed room, well ship, murder with a may or may not be supernatural twist. Add to that an interesting subversion on the classic detective story, by taking out the genius investigator out of the equation, and I was sold. Good writing (if a bit too descriptive), short exciting chapters, well constructed characters, lot of questions, this was shaping up to be a 4 stars. Until the crime was solved in the most ludicrous, senseless way. After everything that I read the solution to the mystery was something out of an episode of Scooby-Doo

I am genuinely so disappointed and upset by this book, I feel quite cheated. When reading a crime novel I enjoy trying to solve the puzzle. I take notes, check the evidence, come up with theories, etc. This is why if I get to the end of a book and find out that there was no way to solve it because the author was lying or pulling stuff out of nowhere I feel quite tricked and deceived. The road might have been enjoyable but if the destination is a sham? That will make me flip my opinion immediately. And this book didn't even have the guts to just go for it, the conclusion committed the crime of not only being impossible to reach as a reader, but also being lame.

Rant incoming:

You want to know the big secret that made it all work? Money. That was it. Thanks to a diamond the crew behind "Old Tom" was able to [checks notes] bribe an entire crew of a Company ship into veering off course into a secret island and building a whole clearing of respectable shacks and offload provisions there. Said crew also kept their mouths shut for weeks and agreed to keep participating in this increasingly convoluted charade and were super loyal all because uh money. With that money they also got a carpenter and a bunch of other sailors to turn the Saardam into a giant Saw trap (in a matter of weeks), and they also kept their mouths shut until they were disposed of. Oh, and they bribed the ship's captain too. The thing is that this doesn't explain everything. How did the other ship know went to turn on the red light? Even if you plan it perfectly, things change and maybe the conditions aren't right. How were they communicating then? Timing wise, a lot of events made no sense, like Jan Haan's meeting with Sammy, they couldn't have known when he was going to show up to the cabin. And don't even get me started on the crew never even thinking of opening the viscountess' room 🙃

And who were the masterminds behind this? Well, Sammy and Creesjie, obviously 🙄 I think that making Sammy the criminal would have been so different and interesting, but you have to make it work. Their plans relayed too much on chance and very clearly went wrong. This solution left me with too many questions and the answers 1) don't exist or 2) are unconvincing. Plus the way this was revealed was all tell and zero show. Just pages and pages of dull and senseless explanations.

Oh and the reactions from the other characters!! Sara and Arent were both very upstanding and moral characters, even to the point of going against the expected beliefs of the time period. The murders on the ship and all the violence inflicted on the people really affected them and pushed them to find the guilty party. And yet they're cool with their besties being liars and murderers. Sammy and Creesjie's attitude to the whole debacle is dismissive and that it was ok because they just killed bad people, never mind everyone caught in the crossfire. Arent has been haunted the whole book by a mistake he made that almost sent an innocent man to his death only for Sammy to reveal that no, Arent was actually right all along. If that were my so called best friend who I defended with my life I would throw his lying ass out of that ship SO FAST. But it's fine cause they're all going to make it right somehow and be good? We'll never know cause this isn't a series 🤷🏼‍♀️

BOO TOMATO TOMATO 🍅🍅

Content Warnings

readingtotravel's review against another edition

4.75

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Wow. A must read. Super fun and entertaining, keeps you on your toes.

Content Warnings

elodiethefangirl's review against another edition

4.75

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

rkpaulson96's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious relaxing 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

Stuart Turton did it again! His second novel is a fun, puzzle-within-several-puzzles mystery thriller. The characters are just as complex as the supernatural-tinted conundrum facing the passengers and crew of the ship, Saardam, on whose decks a demon allegedly prowls.

Content Warnings

wild_rabbits's review against another edition

4.75

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Content Warnings

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