Reviews with content warning for Child abuse - The Man Made of Smoke

Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Man Made of Smoke by Alex North

31 reviews

greatestheights's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Content Warnings

nightowlbooksociety's review against another edition

4.5

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

opplecopter's review against another edition

3.0

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Hard to rate this one. I’ve read two books previously by Alex North. The first was The Whisper Man and I absolutely loved it. The second was The Shadows and I was unimpressed. This one also felt rather unimpressive. I believe the issue is that the first book I read as a physical copy and the second and third one (this one) I listened to as audio. The narration was ok, but the narrator was British and I feel that his particular dialect didn’t mesh well with the story being told. It may have also been his performance too. It felt kind of flat. I think that’s the same thing that happened with the other one I listened to as well. The book has a great storyline but I think I may have enjoyed this one significantly more if I’d read a physical copy. The audio just didn’t do it justice. I would still recommend this one, but not as audio.

Content Warnings

knollelisa's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Thoroughly enjoyed it. Horrendously mad that I wasn't able to figure out the killer from the summary...it was RIGHT THERE

Content Warnings

juliannecridlin's review against another edition

3.0

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

magb1023's review against another edition

3.0

dark tense medium-paced

Content Warnings

smg67's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Alex North is a master of suspense wit twists and turns that you never see coming. This is a tale of the guilt and shame experienced by those who failed to help a little boy in the clutches of a monster on a sunny afternoon in a service station. North takes you on a journey that you cannot wait to finish just to know the truth. Alex North gets better and better!

Content Warnings

dblue236's review against another edition

3.0

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

My gut instinct was to rate this two stars, but that seemed a bit low considering I did like the concept. The execution, not so much. I feel like that's always the case with this author's books for me, so I can't say I was all that disappointed, but I do still struggle to grasp all the hype every time he releases a book. The general plot behind this was a great idea, but the story was so convoluted and the characters were so one-dimensional that I struggled to keep track of who they all were and how they related to the story. Overall this wasn't the worst thing I've ever read by any means, and it was probably the most impressed I've been with one of North's books so far, but I was still pretty underwhelmed.

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shawnachristine's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

was saying if this book wasn't good from BOTM I was going to be quitting it, but it really delivered. I liked the way that it went between the present, the near past and then the past-past, bringing together Dan's story, John's story and James' story. Telling us just what we needed to know but not giving it all away by telling us TOO much in the past bits, cutting off just as Dan was learning new things so that we were going through it with Dan. I will say this is the third book I've read this year where a father son relationship tries to bond over boxing/hitting a boxing bag. What's up with that? Is this a thing men really do with each other? It's weird.

Content Warnings

novellearts's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Following Dan Garvie, we see how his life was shaped by coming in contact with a serial killer as a kid. He has struggled with the guilt of feeling as though he didn't do enough which leads to him becoming a criminal profiler. He soon begins to investigate the mysterious death of his father which brings him back to his close-call as a child.

I loved how this book weighed the consequences of both action and inaction. How one simple choice can alter the course of not only your life, but others as well. For better and for worse. Dan, deeply battling his guilt, strives to make up for his inaction as a child. It really fuels him as a person and it was interesting to see how things could come full circle.

This book kept me guessing which kept me incredibly interested. This wasn't a book that I found easy to figure out. The characters were complex, which I liked. I don't want to spoil anything, but these characters had me feeling an array of conflicting emotions. This book also reiterated the importance of speaking up when you feel that something is wrong.

The mystery and the investigation kept me on my toes and I felt invested in this storyline.

This book was narrated by Shane Zaza and I adored his narration. I hope to listen to future books narrated by Shane. He spoke clearly and with inflection. His voice was also relaxing to listen to.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC. All opinions are my own.

Goodreads Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7459350978
Fable Review: https://fable.co/review/494bcc61-23d6-4175-9465-ce356fa305eb/share

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