oksmithie 's review for:

The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness

4.0

adventurous funny mysterious reflective 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: Complicated

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This was a final book of a trilogy that did not disappoint. There were some things that seemed over the top and unnecessary, but all-in-all, I was not mad at where the story/characters ended up (as is often the case for me with trilogies). This will be a trilogy that I will re-read… all 1500+ pages. The audiobook is also well done (for all three installments). I used a combo of paper and audiobook to read this trilogy. It was the only way I could get through it and still have a life! Well worth the commitment! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail

There is one scene of kidnapping of a male character and his torture in particular that includes most of the graphic content.

It did not feel unnecessary or manipulative by the author (it was manipulative by the story’s villain).