Reviews with content warning for Pregnancy - Death in the Spires

Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

Death in the Spires by KJ Charles

5 reviews

wardenred's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional hopeful mysterious slow-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

4.75

So: all of us could have, none of us would have, one of us did. It resembles one of those immensely tiresome riddles.

I’ve always enjoyed mystery subplots in KJ Charles’s romance novels, so I was pretty excited to read her first foray into mystery genre—and I wasn’t disappointed one bit. This novel has everything I’ve always loved about this author’s books: complex, fully realized characters, an engaging plot, and a strong sense of well-researched historical setting. There’s still a bit of queer romance here, too, though it’s just a side plot this time, with a messy, tangled web of other types of relationships taking center stage. All those human connections absolutely made the book for me and made me feel super invested in figuring out the identity of the killer (it was exactly who I’d suspected the most, but I still gasped at the reveal).

The premise is this: a member of a notable student clique in Oxford was mysteriously murdered about a decade ago, and to this day Jem, the protagonist, is haunted by the murder. When a letter accusing him of this crime shows up at his workplace and costs him his job, he feels the need to search for the real killer, no matter what sorts of secrets and baggage he dredges up in the process. His circle of suspects is pretty narrow and consists only of all the other members of what used to be a close-knit friends group.

As he reconnects with those former friends of his and lets them know of his intentions, the story turns almost dual-timeline with copious flashbacks highlighting the good, bad, and ugly times back at Oxford. I expected to enjoy those flashbacks the most, because I’m a sucker for the dark academia vibe, but in truth I mostly remained caught up in the present-day plot and appreciated those trips into the past simply for the context they added. Jem was such a compelling protagonist to follow, with a mixture of determination and doubts in his head that felt oddly relatable. And then there were all the others—Nicky, Prue, Aaron, Ella, Hugo. I can’t even settle on a favorite character, I love them all and would happily read a book with each of them as the MC.

As I’ve come to expect from this author’s works, there’s a fair amount of attention drown to the prominent social issues of the time period—some of which bear a striking resemblance to the issues we still have to contend with today, over a century later. ~~Sometimes I despair of human race~~. This is something I for the most part greatly appreciated, though I admit the handling of the subplot focused on reproductive rights was a bit heavy-handed. I fully agree with the sentiments shared by the characters and I think this is a super important topic to discuss today, in fiction and otherwise. But every time it came up, I felt like the characters were lecturing/ranting at me, the reader, on the issue rather than organically discussing it among themselves. And hey, I 100% nodded along with the rants! But those were the only times when I also felt taken out of the story.

Content Warnings

tostita's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious 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

4.25

Content Warnings

rainbowbrarian's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

From goodreads: “1905. A decade after the grisly murder of Oxford student Toby Feynsham, the case remains hauntingly unsolved. For Jeremy Kite, the crime not only stole his best friend, it destroyed his whole life. When an anonymous letter lands on his desk, accusing him of having killed Toby, Jem becomes obsessed with finally uncovering the truth.”

But what if the truth Jem uncovers will destroy them all? Is it worth digging up the painful past if danger still lurks within it?

Favorite Parts - The atmosphere, KJ Charles is amazing at historical scene setting. I literally changed my mind about who I thought was the murdered so many times. I also changed who I wanted to have done the deed multiple times. I didn’t see it coming. The characters were all so well done and the story was complex. I was worried the ending would be terrible, but I was pleasantly surprised.

Read This If You - love murder mysteries, want more queer historical fiction, love a story about a group of college friends

Content Warnings

rynn82's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I'm sure it's possible for someone to write a murder mystery that is more exactly suited to my tastes, but I'm not sure it's probable. I told myself "I'll finish reading this on my lunch break" and then took my life into my own hands by finishing it on my walk in to work instead. It's a bit of an emotional rollercoaster, with some cool twists.

Content Warnings

marmaladereads's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

An absolutely thrilling "who done it" set in 19th century Oxford, I could not put this book down and found myself speculating on the murderer all throughout my work day as I was forced to pause between reading periods due to *blegh* adult responsibilities. Set in 1905 with frequent flashbacks to 10 years prior, the story follows a group of 7 close friends who had studied at Oxford together. They had been all drawn together, or "collected" by the charismatic Toby, golden boy and heir to a marquess who liked to surround himself with odd characters - a scholarship kid, two women scholars, one of the first Black men to study at Oxford, the son of a rich shipping magnate. Somehow, this odd group works and forms a close bond. However, their friendship and indeed many of their promising futures are ended abruptly when Toby is suddenly murdered in their final year.

Ten years later, Jem (the narrator) is suddenly dismissed from his post following an anonymous and scandalous letter bringing up this old murder. Having nothing else left to lose, he decides to solve Toby's murder once and for all, finding all of his remaining friends and digging up all of their old secrets from university. Each of the six remaining friends has a lot of secrets to hide, and the tale unraveling the knot is absolutely gripping. At any point I suspected each of the friends individually, and ultimately was wrong in most of my guesses, but this tale kept me hooked from beginning to end. A fast paced unraveling with plenty of social commentary and lots of the historical tidbits that KJ is known for.

It also features a fairly solid romantic subplot. The romance is certainly not a focus in this book and does not carry the same emotional weight as other KJ works, as well as being a closed door affair, but it underpins many of the motivations of the characters and the emotions are hinted at throughout. An incredibly satisfying read.

Content Warnings

More...