Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal

18 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

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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

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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

alisonvh's review against another edition

adventurous challenging funny mysterious tense fast-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? No

5.0

This book was so much fun! What could be better than a murder mystery set on a space cruise ship? This was my first Mary Robinette Kowal book, but it won’t be my last!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Suicide, Drug use, Blood, Death, Alcohol, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Police brutality

Minor: Ableism

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

ijustreallyliketrees's review against another edition

mysterious medium-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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Violence and Medical trauma

Minor: Ableism, Police brutality, and Kidnapping

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

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

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Content Warnings

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

jwells's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

Enjoyable murder mystery set on a space cruise ship. I don't know why other reviewers have characterized this book as fun beach-read fluff, when so much page space is given to graphic description of chronic pain. I appreciated that aspect, actually. Nice to have a depiction of a protagonist with a disability that severely impacts her day to day life, and yet doesn't prevent her from investigating a mystery (much to her attorney's dismay, lol). 

Also has the following:

• Adorable doggo, seriously
• Nonbinary representation
• same sex relationship representation (minor characters)
• cocktail recipes, alcoholic and not, at the start of chapters

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Police brutality and Violence

Protagonist has flashbacks to an accident, panic attacks, and chronic pain. Her partner is physically attacked, "off screen," while in the custody of security personnel.

schnaucl's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.5

I really enjoyed this book.  I believe it's a standalone, but I would absolutely read more novels with these compelling characters. 

Nearly all the characters introduce themselves with their preferred pronouns, and those that don't are considered exceptionally rude.  It's both a little jarring and exactly how you hope it will be in the future.  It also makes me wonder if readers in the future will find all the books where people don't do that equally jarring.   Insults that are gendered are called out in  way I don't typically see, or think about.

The books also deals with socioeconomic class and people who are comfortable who grew up with wealth and people who didn't that reminded me of that line Mad Men's Betty Draper says about Don not understanding money.

I'm not a drinker, but I liked the drink recipes that start each chapter, and Gimlet, is of course, a delight.

Definitely read all of the author's notes at the end. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Classism, Death, Police brutality, and Murder