Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Black Water Sister by Zen Cho

64 reviews

gellyreads's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

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

2.25

This book feels so tough to review. I feel like I should have loved it and I just didn't. It felt so slow and it felt like a struggle to get through. I was telling my friend what was going on in the book about halfway and how it felt like nothing was happening, and she said it sounded like a lot was happening, and I was like yeah, okay, I guess it is. I just couldn't bring myself to care.

(In case you are wondering where I was, I was telling her how her grandmother had possesed her and she had just been drugged by her uncle. Which, upon reflection, having someone drug you is a pretty big plot point, so I did concede. Stuff is happening in this book.)

I wasn't invested in these characters at all. I will say that I didn't see everything coming, but I appreciated the thematic resolution, although I hated how the book ended - literally the last page of it.

Like, I can't believe I didn't realize that the Uncle was Ng Chee's son, even though I probably should have? I did like that Black Water Sister was subdued by like justice and peace/love. That felt nice. BUT LITERALLY IT TOOK THE ENTIRE BOOK FOR HER TO COME OUT?! ONLY FOR US TO NOT SEE HOW HER PARENTS REACT?! That felt like a GIANT "fuck you" to the reader!

I think I will try Cho's other books, but after a decent break from them.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, and Violence

Minor: Homophobia

leannanecdote's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Murder, Gore, Violence, Racism, Grief, Xenophobia, Blood, Body horror, and Religious bigotry

kurumipanda's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense 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

4.0

Jess is already dealing with the stress of meeting her family’s expectations, hiding her secret girlfriend, and job hunting, when she realizes she’s also being haunted by her dead grandmother. Solid story with grounded characters and relationships, a tense supernatural plot, and a good balance of humorous and heartfelt moments. Some dialog felt slow, some themes felt thinly incorporated, and a couple plot points seemed to trail off, but these seem to fit with the realism of the setting and resolution. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Sexual assault, and Violence

Moderate: Homophobia, Murder, Kidnapping, Cancer, Domestic abuse, and Drug abuse

Minor: Car accident, Classism, and Racism

imaginingly's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Rape, Gore, and Murder

Moderate: Classism, Cancer, Toxic relationship, Torture, Stalking, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Outing, Kidnapping, Death, and Cursing

anna220310's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Blood, and Violence

Moderate: Racism, Cancer, Homophobia, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Abortion, Death of parent, and Car accident

honuzbubbles's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Abandonment, Lesbophobia, Cancer, Grief, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, and Sexism

rosemarygrace1211's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Death, Grief, Murder, and Sexual violence

avisreadsandreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, and Blood

Moderate: Infidelity, Pregnancy, Rape, and Homophobia

bearbookshelf's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

It isn't often a pick up a contemporary fantasy, and it's even less often I find one so truly enjoyable. Cho's prose has a natural unassuming quality that delivered like a blow to the gut- what a delicately executed tale of generational trauma. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Blood, Murder, Homophobia, Terminal illness, and Xenophobia

anaccbram's review against another edition

emotional mysterious tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Outing, Gaslighting, Blood, Sexual harassment, Murder, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Violence, Rape, Medical trauma, and Homophobia