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A review by jce
Death In The Spires by KJ Charles
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Why yes, I do have my usual K.J. Charles book hangover. Thanks for asking. Switching to the mystery genre (and yes, there is still some romance) did nothing to lessen how enthralling I find this author's writing. I fell right into this book and quickly became attached to the characters, all of whom felt very real. It was no surprise to me that this was a cracking mystery, perfectly paced, because many of the romances I've read by this author have great mystery plot lines.
I was nervous for the first few chapters, because the tone was pretty bleak (giving me some Secret History flashbacks. Yes, I liked that book. Yes, I found it horribly depressing) and I worried it might continue on that way and amp up my anxiety and make me put off reading the book. But while there are some pretty depressing aspects of the story, the pace picks up, the focus is on the present rather than the bittersweet past, and I was soon so caught up in the characters that I just wanted to barrel along and read it all in one sitting.
I don't want to say much of anything about the story, other than that I found it hard to put the book down because it was so engaging, because it really is best to go into this one absolutely spoiler free, and even knowing a bit about the characters and their relationships or where the story heads might ruin that.
My advice is to skip reading the reviews and just dive into this book. I do think this is an important one to read content warnings as there are absolutely some heavy topics. But if you love a good mystery that's not overly cozy but also not mired in dread and gloom, this one is sure to hook you. I also found the bit of romance in the story extremely satisfying and emotionally wrought. All in all I had a fantastic time reading this and highly recommend it. Do beware the inevitable book hangover though!
*ARC provided by NetGalley
I was nervous for the first few chapters, because the tone was pretty bleak (giving me some Secret History flashbacks. Yes, I liked that book. Yes, I found it horribly depressing) and I worried it might continue on that way and amp up my anxiety and make me put off reading the book. But while there are some pretty depressing aspects of the story, the pace picks up, the focus is on the present rather than the bittersweet past, and I was soon so caught up in the characters that I just wanted to barrel along and read it all in one sitting.
I don't want to say much of anything about the story, other than that I found it hard to put the book down because it was so engaging, because it really is best to go into this one absolutely spoiler free, and even knowing a bit about the characters and their relationships or where the story heads might ruin that.
My advice is to skip reading the reviews and just dive into this book. I do think this is an important one to read content warnings as there are absolutely some heavy topics. But if you love a good mystery that's not overly cozy but also not mired in dread and gloom, this one is sure to hook you. I also found the bit of romance in the story extremely satisfying and emotionally wrought. All in all I had a fantastic time reading this and highly recommend it. Do beware the inevitable book hangover though!
*ARC provided by NetGalley
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Homophobia, and Rape