Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Malice by John Gwynne

10 reviews

xta_07's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This is John Gwynne’s incredibly ambitions debut novel, and Oh Boy, this story was a doozy. The first half of it did feel a bit disjointed as Gwynne sets up everyone on the board. Plus he doesn’t do any hand-holding of any kind. You are dropped into the middle of a world, and you need to pay attention and strap in. Because once he gets going he doesn’t stop!

Bandits and Mythical creatures have started to awaken and harass our characters that live in the Banished lands. Heralding the prophesied god war. Essentially this will be a battle of good vs evil, and the characters we follow are beginning to choose what side they will end up on.

I actually enjoyed most of the beginning chapters in this book, I found Corban’s chapters almost cozy in a weird way.  Plus no-one writes a battle scene quite like this author, once the action starts it doesn’t stop. I highly enjoyed this read, and I’m looking forward to continuing the series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Animal death, and Violence

Moderate: War, Murder, and Child abuse

Minor: Alcoholism

erikita's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Bullying, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Murder, and Death of parent

ripxw's review

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Animal death, Murder, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, and Blood

Moderate: Torture, Death, War, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcoholism

kat1105's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, Child abuse, Misogyny, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Emotional abuse, Ableism, Alcohol, Alcoholism, War, Torture, and Violence

ocean_the_reader's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

It took a while for me to actually get invested in this one. But when I did, I didn't want to put it down. I'm very intrigued to see what everyone's roles end up being.

And I definitely don't trust those Vin Thalun people. They're up to something that seems will benefit only them and will cause a lot of damage.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, Blood, Bullying, Death, Death of parent, Alcohol, Grief, and Murder

darkefyres's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Violence, War, Alcohol, Animal death, Death, Murder, and Gore

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Animal cruelty, and Child death

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Physical abuse, and Torture

jaedia's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, and Violence

Moderate: Murder, Toxic friendship, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Sexism, and War

Minor: Terminal illness, Child abuse, Confinement, Medical trauma, Alcoholism, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Self harm, and Torture

dogearedbooks's review

adventurous dark hopeful tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Bullying

kylieqrada's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

Beautifully Bookish Bethany described this on her channel as a good vs. evil story where both champions think they're fighting for good and it made me pick it up IMMEDIATELY. I am so so glad that I did. The multiple POVs are perfectly calibrated so that I'm always enjoying whatever perspective I'm in, while simultaneously dying to get back to where we left each plot thread. My personal fave character so far is definitely Corban, who reminds me of a way less annoying and problematic Kip from the Lightbringer series. I also love how John Gwynne is able to craft his travel and battle scenes so that I can actually picture it and not get totally lost and just skim read, which happens in epic fantasy more than I'd like to admit. Add in strong, dynamic female characters, epic world-building, and a body diverse cast, and I am LIVING. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, and Violence

seanml's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

 600-something pages of pure fantasy goodness. I'll spare you the details so you can experience them all yourself.

Highlights: Jumping back and forth between multiple narrators in differing and exciting situations means you keep reading until you just can't anymore. GIANTS!

Passes the Bechdel test?: Yes!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, Violence, Animal death, Death of parent, and Death

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Physical abuse, Gore, and Torture

Minor: Sexism, Misogyny, and Alcoholism