Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal

24 reviews

tyches_dice's review

adventurous emotional mysterious 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? No

4.0

It’s a hard sell to give me a book and go “this woman is in the 1% and is entirely prepared to throw her name and money around in a kinda entitled way” but nonetheless, I liked it. It’s a murder mystery In Space - it’s amazing that I read it at all given my deeply ingrained distrust of space and general lack of interest in mysteries but I’m glad I did. On page one Kowal got the difference between centripetal and centrifugal force correct, which I think is just there to let nerds like me know we’re safe 😂. 

Things I also like about the book:
1) The gender politics - people default to a gender neutral term until pronouns are revealed (do I wish more major characters used something other than he/him or she/her? Yes, but I do appreciate the attempt)
2) Tesla’s chronic pain/disability and the trauma she went through are treated seriously and compassionately - and we are supposed to hate characters who don’t treat it that way. I’d call the ableism in the book relatively minor in that regard. 
3) Tesla being gently called out when her 1% starts to come out, and her trying to keep her privilege in check. 
4) Fantine and Gimlet

A couple things I liked a little less:
1) I thought the mystery was pretty easy to solve - I had a suspicion almost immediately and was sure by halfway through the book. This is a YMMV situation though, I’m very good at deducing the culprit in a mystery, and don’t mind figuring it out if the narrative is compelling. 
2) The alcohol - a cocktail recipe every chapter? The drinking literally all the time? With Tesla’s history?! There are definitely people in my life I could never recommend this book to. 
3) Tesla IS a little annoying. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness and Alcohol

Minor: Ableism

eleanora's review against another edition

lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Chronic illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Sexual content, Medical trauma, and Police brutality

Minor: Drug abuse, Confinement, and Drug use

iono's review against another edition

mysterious fast-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Moderate: Blood, Confinement, Police brutality, Alcohol, Death, and Kidnapping

Minor: Medical content, Sexism, Ableism, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Sexual content

tanouska's review against another edition

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I had such a good time reading this 💜

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Violence, Murder, and Chronic illness

Minor: Kidnapping

rory_o_rama's review

adventurous funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Everything from the pacing, to the world building, variety of characters and multiple red herrings - it was all executed flawlessly! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Ableism and Death

Minor: Kidnapping

caitlin_bookchats's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Chronic illness, and Classism

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Misogyny, Ableism, Murder, Medical trauma, and Medical content

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Transphobia, Sexual content, and Blood

neens_m's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness

Moderate: Murder

briely's review against another edition

Not invested in the mystery, don’t care for the main character. Mostly very frustrating to read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Alcohol

librarybribery's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders and Chronic illness

Moderate: Murder, Police brutality, and Alcohol

Minor: Ableism and Sexism

There are murders that take place on the spaceship, but not in view and descriptions are mild. The main character suffers from panic attacks and chronic back pain due to

an explosion that killed her coworkers that she blames herself for

. I thought it was portrayed compassionately and shows the character's strength, but you do see things directly from her point of view during these moments, and they repeat throughout the book.

bibliomania_express's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal is a murder mystery set aboard a space cruise. When a woman is murdered and Tesla Crane's spouse Shal is arrested, she decides to figure out who the murderer is. This book had so many twists and turns and kept me guessing literally the whole time. The red herrings were well integrated and convincing, and the tangle of secrets perfect for this closed-circle mystery. 

I also loved the characters. Tesla is smart and determined, but also struggles with PTSD and chronic pain. There are characters of multiple different ethnicities, and this is a world where gender essentialism is frowned upon and presenting pronouns is common. 

Fantine, Tesla's lawyer, is my absolute favourite character. An absolute riot, and her colourful curses added the perfect touch of humour to offset the serious issues like murder, discrimination, ableism, and complete police incompetence. I also loved that Shal is a retired private detective, with some Sherlockian callbacks. 

The only reason this book isn't a five star for me is that there was a lot of worldbuilding that needed to happen to make the plot work, and some of that got a bit too tangled and complex for what I want in a cross-genre mystery. There were a couple too many minor characters with dodgy reactions that just aren't explained well

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Murder, Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Police brutality and Sexism

Minor: Kidnapping