Reviews with content warning for Gun violence - The Butcher and the Wren

Let me start with, I do love the podcast, and I love Alaina BUT this was bit too fast for me. It’s a really good first book. I feel if the characters had been given room to grow, the plot had time to marinate a little more, it would have been really great. Not a bad start at all!! Both are compelling characters that left me wanting to know more, and I feel like she has nowhere to go but up from here! I think some are being a little too harsh because she’s part of the true crime community and also an avid reader, but try reading some of your favorites’ first books. Most of them aren’t Pulitzer winning I’ll tell you hwhat!

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uncorkedthriller's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

This book has been on my list for awhile as I listen to true crime podcasts. When my #thrilledobsessedbuddyread picked it for this for this month’s book, I knew it was the perfect time to read it.

Let me say it sucked me in from the beginning. It is a relatively short book at 242 pages, so I sped through it. It was also recommended to me to listen to the audio, which didn’t disappoint. The audio made it for me. They both took on their prospective parts and really enhanced the book, in my opinion.

I’m usually pretty good at picking out the “twists” before they come, but this one still threw me. I was close, just not on point. So I was surprised to say the least. I love when authors can throw me off and surprise me!

I did remove a star for two reasons, one being that it just abruptly ends. I’m not sure if this is setting it up for a second book, but I didn’t expect it to just end. The other reason, is strictly my opinion. The reason I was thrown was based on timelines. To not spoil anything for anyone, I won’t go into details, but when you read it you may understand.

All in all, I enjoyed this book. It had the thriller aspect i enjoy and it had an added mix with Wren’s approach as the ME.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 5 ⭐️

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kazofbooks's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

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jessw17's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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so_casually_cruel's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious 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

5.0

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symabee's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

4.0

As a long time listener of the podcast Morbid, I was so excited to finally get my hands on this one. Alaina's knowledge as both an autopsy technician and true crime podcaster shine through in her writing to give us a thriller that feels frighteningly real.

This book also features two of my favorite things as a reader: short chapters and alternating pov. The Butcher and the Wren was a quick but gruesome read that definitely left me wanting more 💀

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cassidyzang's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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ashnicter's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.25

I was excited about this book as a listener of Morbid Podcast.

Plot: 5 stars. It felt like an exciting episode of Criminal Minds. It seemed to have some grounding in reality given the author’s background as an autopsy tech. There were some really engrossing moments and fun twists. I finished it in one sitting.

Characters: 2.5 stars. It’s okay. I would have loved to understand more about the characters. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of diversity with the main characters. As for the secondary characters, it’s unclear. There seems to be one LGBTQIA+ character. Given the setting, having more built out characters that don’t leave the readers wondering about their backgrounds would have helped with character development. It’s especially distracting given the rich diversity of New Orleans.

Writing: 2 stars. The dialogue is choppy and the writing could use some polish.

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