Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

Death in the Spires by KJ Charles

13 reviews

bear_ridge_tarot's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional slow-paced

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

3.5

 It’s 1905. A decade after the unsolved murder of Oxford student Toby Feynsham. The newspapers called the friends the Seven Wonders, but for Jermey Kite it was more than just the lost of his best friend. It was the end of his whole life. So when a mysterious anonymous letter lands on his boss’s desk, Jem sets out to discover what actually happened that night. The pursuit might be more than he can handle when Toby’s killer escalated their attempts to silence Jem. Is it worth it, or is this a secret better kept buried?

As Jem digs into the murder mystery, it becomes clear that only one of the Seven Wonders had any opportunity to commit the crime. Each of them are broken and changed, longing for things that they’ll never have now. And yet, only one was so filled with jealous rage that they killed their friend. The story is told in a series of interlocking flashbacks and present day events that lend the overall story a feel of nostalgia. It’s not quite a dark academia, since the school is just part of the setting, but it is a good read for anyone who likes the genre.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Ableism, Homophobia, and Rape

Minor: Child death, Suicidal thoughts, and Abortion

f18's review against another edition

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Racism, Violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Racial slurs, Rape, and Suicidal thoughts

xandry's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Abortion, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Child death and Rape

ktjames1908's review against another edition

mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

I really enjoyed this book. A good mystery with interesting characters and excellent writing, as I've come to expect from KJ Charles.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Murder

Minor: Ableism, Homophobia, Mental illness, and Misogyny

blewballoon's review

dark mysterious reflective 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

 I knew I was in good hands with KJ Charles. It took me a while to warm up to the cast of characters, but I was pretty invested in the mystery by about 30% of the way in, and by the end the characters had grown on me to the point I was reluctant to part with them. I guessed some revelations and was surprised by others, which makes for a good mystery reading experience in my opinion. I would be happy to see more in this genre by KJ Charles for sure. The audiobook narrator was pretty good, some of the voices were more distinct than others. I listened on 1.4 speed. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, Violence, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Child death, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Abortion

tuhkasirius's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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: Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, and Sexual assault

Minor: Self harm and Suicidal thoughts

ajb24's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

5.0

On reread, I still have nothing coherent to say except that I need MOREEEE 
More Jem/Nicky, more of them all becoming friends again, more of their college days, Nicky pov (PLSSS) 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Abortion, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Ableism, Homophobia, Racism, Rape, and Outing

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

firefly's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, and Murder

Moderate: Homophobia and Rape

Minor: Child death, Suicidal thoughts, and Abortion

samsamsam's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective 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

(listened to audiobook,  5 stars for tom lawrence on this one)

overall, a really solid and well executed murder mystery.

while primarily i might have been turning the page (‘let’s just listen to one more chapter…’) to find out what happened, there’s some fantastic characterisation, and the romance is delicately but purposefully woven into the wider plot and character development (which, as is often the case in a good murder mystery, are in many ways one in the same)

the ending was what i always want from a mystery: foreshadowed but not already guessed, without much in the way of late-and-unexpected reveals to the reader. charles goes the extra mile to make sure it is satisfying emotionally as well as logically

one element that did feel a bit lacking was the ongoing motivation for our main character, Jem. he sets out for the truth with clear cause, but  his actions (people he talks to, questions he asks) sometimes appear a bit aimless or overly-convenient

related to this - because it would aid the motivation - i would have loved some more affecting, personal inspection of being on the wholly underprivileged side of a social dynamic, or that quite atavistic discomfort of finding yourself not in the in-group, especially for Jem. this is a fairly central theme, and otherwise considerately explored across class, race, sexuality and gender

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Blood

srm's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

4.5

Given that Charles's Romance novels often have wonderfully constructed mystery plots, I had no doubts that she could pull of a straight Mystery, and I was right. I love the dual timeline between the present and 10 years earlier when Jem and all his friends were at Oxford and one of them committed murder. Fantastic characters and twists and just an all around delight. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Toxic friendship, and Classism

Minor: Child death, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Abortion, and Alcohol