Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal

13 reviews

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

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

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

jupitermond's review against another edition

funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, Alcohol, and Murder

Moderate: Police brutality and Medical content

Minor: Kidnapping

lbelow's review against another edition

adventurous emotional lighthearted mysterious 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

One of the best books I have ever read! 

Phenomenal disability rep for a character with agency? Check. 

An adorable service dog? Check. 

A swoon-worthy love interest? Check. 

Interesting world building and futuristic technology that seems grounded in reality? Check. 

World building that centers gender-neutral language (joyfriend, spouse) and assumptions (Mx., they) until informed otherwise as part of a naturalized pronoun introduction? Check. 

A murder mystery with twists that kept me guessing and turning the pages? Check. 

Honestly, this book has it all! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Alcohol, Blood, Violence, Death, Murder, Mental illness, and Kidnapping

Minor: Physical abuse, Ableism, and Sexism

The graphic kidnapping is actually

dog-napping

(there isn't a tag for that) but there is also mention of kidnapping. PTSD, including panic attacks and flashbacks, is a prominent part of the book.

astropova's review

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? It's complicated

4.5

Loved it! The setting was so cool and the mystery/investigation had so many twists and turns.

Though I was starting to get a little annoyed with Tesla constantly bulldozing over people - like I get that you don't trust the security officers, but you should at least listen to your own retired detective spouse, since knowing how this all works is his literal job. There were so many moments when "very smart" Tesla was missing something important while she was ranting at people. And then she gets self-conscious about not acting "too privileged" - you either do or don't care how you appear, you can't have it both ways. It felt a little disingenuous and annoying, since otherwise she was such a cool character.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Murder, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, and Blood

Minor: Police brutality, Sexual content, Ableism, and Kidnapping

sheepeeh's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, and Sexual content

Minor: Kidnapping

never_enough_bookmarks's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Ableism, Chronic illness, Alcohol, Kidnapping, Suicide, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Gore, and Drug abuse