Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal

9 reviews

silentrequiem's review

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, and Alcohol

Moderate: Murder, Medical content, Police brutality, Death, and Confinement

Minor: Sexism, Classism, and 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

---

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

---

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

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

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Police brutality and Sexism

Minor: Kidnapping

maryellen's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Chronic illness, Death, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Confinement, Blood, Police brutality, Alcohol, Gun violence, and Medical content

crownoflaurel's review

mysterious tense slow-paced

3.0

Everything I loved about this book wasn't necessarily the actual plot and writing....

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism

Moderate: Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, and Confinement

Minor: Torture, Sexism, Deadnaming, and Police brutality

nostoat's review

fast-paced

5.0

Disability rep! Service dog! Murder! Space! All the elements of a very good story. I enjoyed this book a lot and read it so fast I barely realized I was 60% through when I stopped to do something. Definitely some content warnings for this one, besides y'know, the murder. At times the situations on page hit so hard I was physically tense while reading them. The ending is perfect in the murder mystery "everyone gets their due" way, both good and bad. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement and Ableism

Someone is said to have overdosed on opiods and alcohol, but was really poisoned. Detailed and highly accurate representation of PTSD after a space accident.

kiaras's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Alcohol, Car accident, Confinement, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Chronic illness, Violence, and Ableism

Minor: Suicide and Classism

uranaishi's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful 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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Alcohol, Confinement, Police brutality, Sexual content, Violence, Ableism, Medical content, Blood, Bullying, Classism, Outing, Death, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Stalking, Vomit, Child death, Death of parent, Self harm, and Misogyny