Reviews with content warning for Fire/Fire injury - Avis de décès

Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

Avis de décès by Zhou Haohui, Hubert Tézenas

7 reviews

earl_grey_without_lemon's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-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

3.75

I really like this sort of detective cat and mouse chase thriller! The back of the book says it started as an online series, and it definitely reminds me of other East Asian media pertaining to death games. I think you do have to hand wave away Pei (one of the main characters) having “guy who’s just so observant” syndrome, and the book itself is translated, so I don’t know if it reads the same in Chinese. I think the translation was pretty good, but it definitely has translator voice, in my opinion. It is extremely fast paced and moves mostly linearly with multiple perspectives and occasional time jumps, and there are some really gruesome images in there. Overall an enjoyable book that I read in two sittings and a good thriller! I’m tempted to read the next book because the mystery isn’t completely unraveled in this book (it is part of a trilogy).

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renpuspita's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Selama ini untuk karya penulis dari Asia Timur, gue lebih banyak baca karya dari author Jepang atau Korea. Surat Kematian atau Death Notice bisa dibilang karya author dari Negeri Tirai Bambu pertama yang gue baca. Buku ini juga hadiah dari Mba Desty untuk event Secret Santa di bulan Desember 2021 dan kemungkinan besar bakal terus gue anggurin seandainya ga ikutan RC Babat Timbunan dengan tema khusus "Hadiah". Tapi gue bersyukur juga memilih Surat Kematian ini karena menurut gue ceritanya emang SERU, meski ada beberapa hal yang gue kurang sreg makanya ga full ngasih 5 bintang :-)

Premis Surat Kematian sebenarnya udah awam digunakan. Bahkan gue teringat manga Death Note saat membaca buku ini, minus entitas supranatural tentunya. Menggabungkan element cold case dan serial killer manhunt, Kepolisian Kota A (gue baru tau kalau aslinya kotanya di Chengdu) harus berpacu dengan waktu untuk menyelamatkan orang - orang yang diincar seorang algojo yang menamakan dirinya Eumenides. Masalahnya, orang yang diincar itu pelaku kejahatan yang lolos karena sistem hukum di China yang dianggap oleh Eumenides lemah. Tapi ya nyawa kan tetap nyawa dan apa yang dilakukan Eumenides tentu menjadi perdebatan. Sejauh apa orang bisa bersikap main hakim sendiri meski apa yang dia lakukan itu dia anggap sebagai kebenaran?

Cara penuturan Death Notice emang sangat telling rather than showing, yang menurut gue mungkin ciri khas author dari China dan Jepang kayak gitu. Berat di narasi dan deskripsi. Gue ga ngerti apa karena dari terjemahannya meski infonya buku ini diterjemahkan langsung dari Mandarin, tapi gue merasa gaya nulisnya Zhou Haohui meski ceritanya seru, tapi berasa amatir. Banyak bagian - bagian yang menurut gue bisa dipangkas dan gaya tulis sudut pandang ketiga serba tahu ini juga jadi kayak semacam kelemahan buku ini. Gue mengamini beberapa review kalau ada beberapa hal yang janggal dan meski Luo Fei, salah satu polisi di buku ini, dibilang jenius, rasanya kejeniusannya gue agak merasa janggal, lol. Baca Luo Fei ini emang gue jadi keinget tokoh L di Death Note sih, sementara Eumenides itu si Light Yagami akan Kira. Bedanya, sampai akhir identitas Eumenides masih tertutup rapi.

Lho? Jadi ceritanya belum selesai? Gue selalu merasa kok buku ini agak - agak tipis ya ga sampai 400 halaman meski ukuran bukunya juga cukup gede dan ngebatin kenapa buku yang no 2 tebel banget sampai 600 halaman. Ending Surat Kematian sendiri ternyata di luar prediksi BMKG dan buku ini emang seperti sebuah pendahuluan yang disiapkan Haohui sebagai pembuka panggung perseteruan antara Eumenides dengan pihak Kepolisian, utamanya Luo Fei dan kapten Han Hao. Gue ngasih rating cukup tinggi karena tiga bab terakhir emang luar biasa tensi dan pacenya. Haohui cukup lihai dalam menyimpan misteri untuk kemudian membukanya satu persatu bak kulit bawang dengan sangat rapi. Bahwa Eumenides dan Luo Fei itu terhubung dan kepolisian ternyata ga sebersih yang kita kira. Cara Eumenides mengelabui Han Hao dan Luo Fei di akhir emang gue akuin luar biasa.

Meski begitu beberapa hal emang cukup janggal seperti misalnya

kasus Han Hao yang membuatnya diangkat jadi kepala Reserse Kriminal tapi temannya malah meninggal. Cara Haohui menjelaskan memang cukup aneh dan kurang bisa diterima dengan nalar. Lalu identitas asli Eumenides senior dan motivasinya menjadi Eumenides bikin gue merasa bimbang. Di sisi lain gue ngerti kenapa Eumenides senior ingin jadi vigilante demi membalaskan dendamnya tapi gue ga suka dengan cara dia mengorbankan orang, dalam hal ini kekasih Luo Fei, Meng Yun. Eumenides senior mau menghalalkan segala cara demi prinsipnya dan gue mikir "duh, ini orang kayaknya delusional". Selain itu cara Eumenides junior aka pelanjut Eumenides yang senior, itu juga gue masih bertanya - tanya. Sejenius apa Eumenides kedua? Kenapa dia bisa menebak dan mempermainkan polisi dan bahkan gimana caranya dia tahu strategi polisi? Apakah Eumenides kedua ini hacker handal yang bahkan lebih handal kemampuan programmernya ketimbang Zeng Rihua yang ahli IT di polisi? Terus terang masih banyak yang perlu dipertanyakan dari si Eumenides kedua ini

. Walau dengan beberapa kejanggalan itu dan mungkin premis yang udah sering dipakai, gue merasa Surat Kematian ini punya beberapa hal yang bisa dijadikan bahan diskusi. Seperti sistem keadilan di China yang ternyata toh ya sama aja dengan Indo, bisa dikorupsi dan orang yang harusnya diadili malah melenggang bebas. Membuat gue bertanya - tanya, simbol Lady Justice itu ditutup matanya mungkin bisa diinterpretasikan bahwa hukum itu tidak pandang bulu. Tapi gue juga merasa dengan mata yang ditutup, hukum pun seolah mengalihkan pandangan dari apa yang benar dan salah. Eumenides sendiri berkata kalau orang berbuat jahat karena terkadang mereka tidak punya pilihan? Tapi gue sendiri bisa berdebat tentang sistem main hakim sendirinya Eumenides ini apakah emang bisa diterima sesuai dengan hukum yang berlaku?

Cerita Surat Kematian berlanjut ke buku dua yang diberi judul Takdir. Bukunya juga sudah diterjemahkan dan memang lebih tebal, membuat gue jadi penasaran langkah apa lagi yang Eumenides punya untuk berkelit dari Luo Fei dan kepolisian Kota A yang memburunya. Memang Surat Kematian ini ada beberapa kelemahan, tapi kalau suka thriller suspense dengan misteri yang ditulis secara rapi dan beberapa twist yang ga terduga (atau bisa diduga kalau udah kebanyakan baca genre sejenis), buku ini cukup gue rekomendasikan.

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valkyriecain82's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.75

It's a decent murder mystery overall, but I have issue with some of the convoluted chinks in the criminal cases that progress the story.
Also, the author seems to pick and choose which technological developments are present in the story (set in 2002) regardless of whether they existed at the time or not in real life. Definitely pulled me out of the story.

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gilnean's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

Content Warnings

bellisk's review against another edition

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tense fast-paced

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

2.75

I picked this book up on impulse, interested in reading something set in contemporary China, and only realised after starting to read it that I've read too few crime thrillers about high-concept serial killers to judge whether this is a good one, never mind which aspects of it might be specific to the cultural setting.

To be honest, the first half dragged a bit for me, since most of the characters start off as stereotypical, unsympathetic or both. The introduction of the sole woman on the present-day task force to catch Eumenides, Mu Jianyun, is such an over-the-top example of #MenWritingWomen that it was hard even to be cross about it (but I managed, because I am a trooper). In she waltzes, late to the first meeting so that she can give each of the men present a potted psychoanalysis and make sure they all know that, though she knows she is a beautiful woman and they are all reacting to this, she won't sleep with any of them! Totally appropriate behaviour in a professional setting, A+++ would not immediately fire her. (She also talks a lot about how the IT specialist on the team must be so lonely and detached from humanity, living in his world of ones and zeroes; my dear, he's the leader of a whole, very efficient team, and I can promise you social interaction is needed for that.)

I enjoyed the second half of the book considerably more. In the present day, Eumenides' actions get wilder and more daring, and the significance of various events of the past becomes clear in surprising ways.

When we find out exactly what Meng, one of the two police academy students who died in the 1984 explosion, did in her final moments, it was a satisfying resolution for a character who could easily have been a cipher of a martyred lover.

Mu doesn't exactly get better but she does blend in somewhat with the exaggerated characters of the rest of her team, and they treat her with a fair amount more patience than I would in their positions. Besides, my second-favourite character, Brother Hua, appears. I do love a villain's hypercompetent right-hand-man, loyal enough to die for him if necessary even though this is patently not proportionate behaviour! As for the final moral dilemma:

good grief, please talk to one another or at the very least debrief police investigators who've just had a one-on-one interview with the mystery serial killer? That feels like it should be standard operating procedure. I predict a 34% reduction in morbidity due to artificial trolley-problem scenarios year on year.

Was this a good thriller? No idea. Did it give a sense of contemporary (ish: 2002) China? I would say so. I've not yet been to Chengdu and can't compare directly, but the city in the book felt distinct and locally specific. At the same time, I've got used to the experience of reading translated Chinese webnovels, where there's a thinner veil between the English translation and the original text, as well as, usually, plenty of footnotes for extra context. It threw me a little not to know the hanzi or tones for people's names! ~~Where were all the literally-translated chengyu with explanatory text and links to the classical poetry that inspired them?~~ There were also a few scenes that I felt I'd read before in supernatural danmei webnovels, only done better, with more eldritch tentacles, and requiring somewhat less suspension of disbelief.

I'll read the next book in this series if I stumble upon it, but I don't think I'll go out of my way to find it.

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prlprl's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

For a crime novel, I have to give it 5 stars. From the pacing to the structure, the book is executed excellently. Zhou’s creative use of narrative and perspective keeps the core cast of characters compelling and mysterious, and skilfully chooses to draw focus to the peripheries of desperate situations. The patchwork creature of this narrative is stitched together like pieces of evidence along a red yarn, with a sublime balance of suggestion, subversion, enigma, and desolating reveal. A redefining of “classic” investigative procedural, Zhou’s novel is well translated by Haluza, with intriguing use of borrowed language, idiolects, and direct translation contributing to a compelling read.

The theme of justice in the novel is deliciously explored - the figure of Eumenides immediately grabbed my attention, and reading the text in translation only fed my burning intrigue in this intersection between classical punishment in the form of divine judgement, and contemporary Chinese criminal investigation. The tone and characterisation of the shadowy Eumenides is reminiscent of an even more egregious Anonymous, and the interwoven commentary on the very fabric of democracy and justice makes this novel a wonderful read for those new to the genre, with or without a background knowledge of Aeschylus’ mastery of chorus, stage, and social mores.

The ending is at once unthinkably and wholly satisfying; the kind of twists that makes you skeptical the author can pull off a solution, only to reveal - of course - that’s how it’s possible. I can’t wait to see how the trilogy unfolds.

Perhaps for someone seeking a strong protagonist or character-driven plot, you won’t find this novel the triumph it is in regards to deconstructing the crime genre and human error. For me, the plot was enticing enough that the characterisations of the cast were sufficiently streamlined for the narrative. The introduction of the core cast was expertly handled, without any fumbling or bombardment with names. The opening was fantastic.

Captain Hao’s corruption and the reveal that Huang is Yuan Zhibang

was for me the unthinkable yet utterly logical twist that made me give this book five stars. I only wish that some more vignettes characterising Pei Tao’s relationship

with his best friend

were peppered in, as with

Xiong and Liu

, as it would have made later events even more compelling. This however would have perhaps created too much foreshadowing. The true main character in the story is meant to be the justice system, itself standing trial through its agents, and that, the novel does flawlessly.

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littletiramisu's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

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