Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Sword Dance by A.J. Demas

6 reviews

crystalisreading's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful tense

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Homophobia, Classism, Transphobia, Violence, and Slavery

Minor: Rape, Murder, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Sexism, Torture, and Trafficking

purrson's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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? Yes

5.0

Disabled, bisexual main character meets genderqueer/non-binary main character, fights fascists and finds romance. I gave this a try after giving up on Song of Achilles—I wanted something more enjoyably queer—and this was perfect. Really engaging, the romance is so good— I can’t wait for the rest of the series. Slavery exists in the Greco/Roman type, class rather than race-based. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery and Xenophobia

Moderate: Murder and Sexual content

cait's review

dark funny mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Cultural appropriation, Death, Dysphoria, Bullying, Child abuse, Death of parent, Ableism, Biphobia, War, Racism, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Grief, Homophobia, Hate crime, Mental illness, Murder, Emotional abuse, Body shaming, Cursing, Sexism, Classism, Confinement, Gore, Religious bigotry, Violence, Physical abuse, and Xenophobia

cathepsut's review

adventurous emotional funny inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing 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? Yes

3.75

Interesting world. Names sound Greek, the architecture sounds a little more Roman. And the far away land of Zash reminds me a bit of Persia, maybe the hanging gardens of Babylon made an indirect appearance?

Damiskos, the main character, is a likeable fellow. Former soldier, not a terribly exciting job, gets sent to the countryside to make a deal about buying fish sauce for the troops. Fishy things start to happen, not just sauce-related. 

“Terza’s head, what a lot of ghastly people Nione seemed to have gathered around herself. Did he really have to stay out the week?“

Apparently he did. If Agatha Christie had ever written Fantasy, this is probably what it would have looked like. The requisite body might or might not have turned up. Damiskos gets support from unexpected quarters and has to pretend to be romantically inclined to towards the sword-dancing eunuch. Things do not go as planned. Do they ever?

Thrown in were some rather odd philosophers, some violence, a little not too graphic sex and various shenanigans. I liked the underhanded humour. Oh yes, and there were some serious topics woven into the narrative, about gender identity, equal rights, racism, power over and perception of others—nicely done.

This is not quick, the pace is rather sedate. Damiskos and the story take their time. It is well plotted though.

The world has potential for some more sweeping stories and there are two more books in this series. Recommended, if you are looking for a relaxed mystery with some action, light humour and a little m/m romance.

„… a dizzying week of intrigue, assassinations, and a fake love affair that—maybe—turned real.“

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Murder and Torture

buttermellow's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted mysterious relaxing fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual violence, Murder, Slavery, Confinement, Homophobia, Torture, Xenophobia, and Violence

Minor: Misogyny

toobendy's review against another edition

emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Very, very cool. The romance was great and so was the action (not the sexy kind but that now that I'm on it yes that was great too)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Torture, Slavery, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexism, and Murder