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Reviews tagging 'Murder'
Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett
11 reviews
basil_touche's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
slow-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
2.25
I think this is a rare case of the adaptation being better than the original book. I had seen the TV series before reading this and I'm honestly surprised at how much the show made up considering how long this book is. My biggest issue with this book is that the entire middle part was tedious, mainly focusing on the Them, Anathema, Newt and Shadwell for 120 pages, yet for all these characters it felt like nothing of note was really happening. I was bored and just wanting the narrative to switch back to Crowley and Aziraphale (the latter stuck reading a book for those 120 pages, doing nothing else, just reading and having the narration describing it)
I could forgive it slightly if it was actually funny, but I found myself barely smiling at any jokes. Like this is well written in terms of sentence structure and I would occassionaly, absentmindly go "Oh that's kinda clever", but after a while it became tortuous to read through so much unhumorous descriptions with way, way too many characters. Many of whom are only there for a page or two and take away from the main cast. Even most of the main cast I didn't care for (I can see why the show focused more on Aziraphale and Crowley as they are the best characters who really work well off each other). The show added way more things that were actually interesting to the themes (Heaven and Hell having way more of a presence, Aziraphale and Crowley being shown through the ages - it's honestly shocking how little time they interact in the book compared to everyone else) that the book just feels so hollow in comparison.
Another thing that caught me off guard was the amount of racism, misogyny, ableism, fatphobia and homophobia (I was aware of the infamous scene where Aziraphale is called the f slur by a child but not everything else) that is scattered throughout. The parts where it pops up made an already tedious reading experience into an aggravating one. It's strange, I've read a bunch of Pratchett's work and I don't recall coming across anything this bad (I don't know about Gaiman's work and frankly with what's been happening reccently I don't want to buy his books to check).
This is the closest I've ever DNF a book and it came close several times. I've rated this slightly higher due to the ending, which stops trying to crack as many unfunny jokes to actually talk about the themes & characters in a way that makes you reflect. Where was that the rest of the book??
Again, you're better off watching the show and save yourself the trouble.
I could forgive it slightly if it was actually funny, but I found myself barely smiling at any jokes. Like this is well written in terms of sentence structure and I would occassionaly, absentmindly go "Oh that's kinda clever", but after a while it became tortuous to read through so much unhumorous descriptions with way, way too many characters. Many of whom are only there for a page or two and take away from the main cast. Even most of the main cast I didn't care for (I can see why the show focused more on Aziraphale and Crowley as they are the best characters who really work well off each other). The show added way more things that were actually interesting to the themes (Heaven and Hell having way more of a presence, Aziraphale and Crowley being shown through the ages - it's honestly shocking how little time they interact in the book compared to everyone else) that the book just feels so hollow in comparison.
Another thing that caught me off guard was the amount of racism, misogyny, ableism, fatphobia and homophobia (I was aware of the infamous scene where Aziraphale is called the f slur by a child but not everything else) that is scattered throughout. The parts where it pops up made an already tedious reading experience into an aggravating one. It's strange, I've read a bunch of Pratchett's work and I don't recall coming across anything this bad (I don't know about Gaiman's work and frankly with what's been happening reccently I don't want to buy his books to check).
This is the closest I've ever DNF a book and it came close several times. I've rated this slightly higher due to the ending, which stops trying to crack as many unfunny jokes to actually talk about the themes & characters in a way that makes you reflect. Where was that the rest of the book??
Again, you're better off watching the show and save yourself the trouble.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Pregnancy, and War
Moderate: Ableism, Body horror, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Cultural appropriation
Minor: Body shaming, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Car accident, and Alcohol
overduck's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I made the mistake of watching the show before reading the book, and it turns out the tv show is a very faithful retelling of the book...which made the book boring. It's written incredibly well, and the writing style is very funny. I appreciated the occasional witty footnote. Ultimately, though, I didn't love this book for the same reason I prefer season 2 of the show: I pretty much only care about Aziraphale and Crowley, and so much time was dedicated to other characters that I felt like I was left wanting a lot more.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Car accident and War
Minor: Cursing, Homophobia, and Murder
a_random_fangirl's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Cursing, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and War
julesadventurezone's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
The most delightful thing about this book are Aziraphale and Crowley, who have a lovely relationship and are also both just fun in their own ways.
I was deeply fascinated by how many different ways they found to call Aziraphale gay. Personal favourites include him collecting Oscar Wilde first editions, getting called three different anti-gay slurs, and frequenting discreet Victorian gentleman's clubs.
The book contains some killer quotes and I quite liked the ending.
Unfortunately there's rather a lot of scenes you have to soldier through that are about character that didn't interest me despite their best efforts.
Also, as much as both Anathema and Madam Tracy are boring, they still deserve better boyfriends than the ones they end up with. Those dudes Suck.
The scenes that I hated the most were the ones apparently written mostly by just-Neil or just-Terry, which are the long passages of War and Famine that aged incredibly poorly, and children talking at each other for ages.
There's also a lot of racism in this book, which is either supposed to be satire or just reflecting the way that white British people in 1990 thought about the rest of the world. Doesn't change the fact that it's racist, though.
I was deeply fascinated by how many different ways they found to call Aziraphale gay. Personal favourites include him collecting Oscar Wilde first editions, getting called three different anti-gay slurs, and frequenting discreet Victorian gentleman's clubs.
The book contains some killer quotes and I quite liked the ending.
Unfortunately there's rather a lot of scenes you have to soldier through that are about character that didn't interest me despite their best efforts.
Also, as much as both Anathema and Madam Tracy are boring, they still deserve better boyfriends than the ones they end up with. Those dudes Suck.
The scenes that I hated the most were the ones apparently written mostly by just-Neil or just-Terry, which are the long passages of War and Famine that aged incredibly poorly, and children talking at each other for ages.
There's also a lot of racism in this book, which is either supposed to be satire or just reflecting the way that white British people in 1990 thought about the rest of the world. Doesn't change the fact that it's racist, though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Violence, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and War
Moderate: Cursing, Gun violence, Racism, Xenophobia, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Ableism, Confinement, and Car accident
lambclown's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
relaxing
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, and War
Moderate: Body horror, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Murder, and Alcohol
eddiesourboy's review
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and War
Minor: Homophobia and Racism
meganpbennett's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
A while after watching the short TV series, I finally read Good Omens, which everyone has been telling me to read for years. It was funny, though a lot of things happened at once. The first half of the book really felt as though I was missing part of the series, like when you accidentally pick up book two in a series, and while it does stand on its own, you miss some important details about the characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Body shaming, Death, Eating disorder, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and War
mobymaize's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Death, Misogyny, Violence, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and War
Moderate: Animal death, Eating disorder, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Car accident, Cultural appropriation, and Alcohol
Minor: Homophobia, Racism, and Slavery
bi_n_large's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
tense
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? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, and War
Minor: Bullying, Death, Xenophobia, and Murder
skudiklier's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-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? It's complicated
3.75
Hmm. I liked this book more by the last third or so, but still, it took me a while to get into it. There were a lot of dark violent things that deeply bothered me, even though they were usually taken back or didn't happen or whatever. I think I might like the show more. I did like the last few bits a lot though.
Edit/update: I do like the show more, and that's made me want to bump my review of the book up to 4 stars?? But I'm not going to because that seems silly. But I'd maybe recommend watching the show and then reading the book. A fair amount is different, and maybe it'll make the show harder to understand (?), but I think doing things in that order would have made me enjoy the book more. I like the show and am excited for the second season, but I also don't like it enough to want to reread the book haha.
Edit/update: I do like the show more, and that's made me want to bump my review of the book up to 4 stars?? But I'm not going to because that seems silly. But I'd maybe recommend watching the show and then reading the book. A fair amount is different, and maybe it'll make the show harder to understand (?), but I think doing things in that order would have made me enjoy the book more. I like the show and am excited for the second season, but I also don't like it enough to want to reread the book haha.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Eating disorder, Violence, Car accident, and Murder
Moderate: Ableism, Body horror, Cursing, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Blood, and War
Minor: Genocide, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Torture