Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Witness for the Dead by Katherine Addison

28 reviews

the_bees_books's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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

4.0

An amazing mash-up of high fantasy and crime thriller, this book will keep you on the edge of your seat, all the way to the climactic end! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Death, and Misogyny

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Gore, Suicide, Classism, Pregnancy, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Blood

thewitchwhoisabook's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective medium-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? No

4.75

I loved this book. The only way one could really improve it would be to make it longer, develop things more, and give the audience more insight into the lore of the world. Which is to say I wanted more. I haven't read the Goblin Emperor yet, but now I feel I must. The language might slow down some readers at the beginning - lots and lots of unfamiliar words and naming conventions thrown at the reader with no explanation at the outset, and you have to be patient to figure out what's going on. But this ends up making the world feel more fleshed out. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Blood, Murder, Violence, Suicide, Grief, Death, and Domestic abuse

briely's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, Murder, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

taffy's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

5.0

This is a good book. To get the full experience of this book you need to read the Goblin Emperor beforehand.

I found it a little strange that Thara Celehar's traumatic past is never directly restated in this book and is only hinted at. The ending, as a mirror to his past, would only make sense if you had pieces together what had happened to him or you had read the Goblin Emperor.

Someone give Celehar a hug.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death and Suicide

noodletheriddle's review

challenging dark medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Death, Body horror, Blood, Murder, Suicide, and Gore

totallyshelfaware's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

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

4.25

Someone better give Thara Celehar a hug soon, or I will climb into this book and do it myself. 😤

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Suicide

mmarques's review against another edition

mysterious reflective medium-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

3.75

Although this book follows The Goblin Emperor, you can read it as a standalone book. The Witness for the Dead is a detective of sorts. He is a secondary character in The Goblin Emperor.  

This is a fantasy world populated with goblins and elves. Although characters are introduced and described as one of the two races, I often forgot which race they belonged to. Is that the point or a flaw? I’m not sure. 

The first scenes were a little slow, setting the scene. But then the action got started, and I was soon drawn into the various mysteries and intrigues. The drama with the opera cast was fun. 

I like that we can have a homosexual character without his sexuality being a main theme of the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

griffinthief's review against another edition

mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Suicide, and Death

Minor: Homophobia, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Vomit, Violence, Rape, and Pregnancy

kittalia's review against another edition

challenging mysterious reflective relaxing medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Murder and Grief

Minor: Addiction, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, and Racism

aardwyrm's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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? No

4.5

I loved the Goblin Emperor, but it had the limitation of any court fantasy of really being only about very rich people, no matter what twists it took. This book takes us deeper into the world, which feels real enough to walk into, and the characters that inhabit it are deft and subtle and ultimately oddly sweet, even if they're occasionally jerks. The pacing is a bit halting and odd, with less of an intricate tapestry of a mystery emerging and more of a tangled web, but that suits the mood.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Suicide, Vomit, Violence, Pregnancy, Medical content, Gaslighting, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Domestic abuse, and Blood

Minor: Rape