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purrson's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
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? No
5.0
Absolutely loved it. Fantastic main character—stubborn, brave, compassionate—and I appreciated the disability/chronic pain representation. I would have loved some spice to the second-chance romance subplot, but it’s truly a perfect book, and handles turn of the (20th) century queerness (in relationships, as seen by society, its potential weaponization) well. I’m not surprised Charles does murder mystery so well. Just a top-notch read. Kept me guessing and rereading. And it is dark, but not terribly so—there is a lot of love and compassion the main character feels for his friends that uplifts the plot.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Ableism, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
Minor: Child death, Homophobia, Racism, Rape, Blood, and Abortion
There is mention of sexual assault in the third quarter of the book, but it avoids details and is condemned thoroughlysamsamsam'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
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Blood