Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Shadow Cabinet by Juno Dawson

25 reviews

livcashmere's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective tense 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Grief, Murder, and War

bella_finlayson's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Grief, and Gaslighting

fourhand13's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

Electing to not give this a rating for now as I don't fully know how I feel about it.

There were aspects of this book that i enjoyed and some bits that I really did not care about in the slightest. The tone is totally different to the first book which isn't necessarily a bad thing, I personally found this a more depressing read as we follow

Ciara's

POV for the most part. This definitely left me in a weird headspace.

ok more in depth thoughts:

I did enjoy the exploration of Ciara's thoughts and her past even if I found it a difficult read at times. The allegory of demonic possession as an addiction was pretty well done and it's very easy to see how she snowballed to that point after the treatment she'd received from people around her.

Near the end it felt like Ciara was having a Carrie-esque moment of going mad with power and the want to destroy everything before regaining clarity- and I was half expecting it to end the same way after she was shot through the chest. She's a much more interesting and compelling character than Niamh LOL.

Leonie's sidestory was unfortunately boring imo. I think if we were made to care about Hale's influence as a villain, then her tailing him may have had some stakes to it. Up until the infiltration of Aeaea he just kinda felt like a nebulous big bad.

Wish there was more Holly and Theo.

The very last pages are the most confusing thing and don't make sense, I will be reading the next installment bcs I wanna know how we ended up with Milo as Lucifer.

As with my HMRC review, there is more of the same irt TWs regarding mind reading and additionally, mentions of childhood emotional abuse are more prevalent so take care.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Child abuse and Emotional abuse

Mind reading/ invasion of thoughts

joliebean's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and War

chanlo1994's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I've been done got by the plot. That's all I'm going to say on that lol.

This book's theme focuses on the eternal struggle between men and women. There's a lot of reflection on both prospectives, irregardless if they are right or wrong, especially when discussing the dynamic within a modern day setting.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Genocide, Trafficking, and War

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Racism, and Self harm

jhbandcats's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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? Yes

3.5

I really liked this right up until the last two pages when it went off the rails. Like the book that preceded it, it was enjoyable and entertaining. The writing was smooth and drew me in rather than complex and dense. It seemed more like YA fare but with non-YA explicit sex scenes. 

We learn a lot more about the character Ciara who was only briefly noted in the first book, and we gradually learn her history. She’s presented as a sympathetic character here although she was distinctly unlikable when introduced. 

I found this book too manipulative and preachy. I agree with everything the author is saying but I prefer to figure things out on my own. That said, I did appreciate the clear references to our divided society, conservative and xenophobic nationalism versus liberal acceptance and globalism. It was still too heavy-handed, though. Ultimately somewhat disappointing, mostly due to the ending. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Infidelity, Misogyny, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

ashley_reya's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.5

Thoroughly enjoyed this continuation of my favorite coven. Just when I think Dawson is gonna zig, the story zags!

If you enjoy tales of complex friendships, magic, and fighting the patriarchy then you will love this series.

Looking forward to the next installment whenever it arrives! Cannot wait to see how this all goes with Theo, Niamh, & Ciara 👀✨

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Misogyny, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Infidelity, Slavery, Trafficking, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Miscarriage

dani_reis's review against another edition

A week from hell and I just can't care enough to keep going. The audio is SUPERB with Nicola and the plot is better than book 1, but there's so many POVs and not this week.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Violence, and Murder

minervacerridwen's review against another edition

dark lighthearted mysterious relaxing 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

3.5

Just like Her Majesty's Royal Coven, this was a fast-paced read with spy movie elements in a magical world. I did feel like it dragged a bit in the middle of the book, though the point-of-view changes helped to keep me intrigued about other things that were going on enough to keep reading. Overall the atmosphere was a little darker and less magical, with more focus on characters fucking each other over than on sisterhood (which makes sense, considering the new main character, but also made it a little less appealing to dive back in after a reading break). The pacing of the ending was a lot more satisfying to me than in the first book, and once again there were some interesting twists to make me very curious about the next part!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Infidelity, Misogyny, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Transphobia, Violence, Vomit, Grief, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Animal death, Bullying, Racism, Blood, Abandonment, and Alcohol

readwithria's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense 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

The Shadow Cabinet was an amazing continuation of the Her Majesty’s Royal Coven series! The plot thickened, the characters developed, and everything expanded while also weaving threads together.

I’m so sad that this book is over. It is an excellent exploration of redemption, self identity, gender politics, morality, addiction, and so much more! I love this series, and Juno Dawson has given us a world with high stakes where anything can happen and nothing is as simple as it seems.

I cannot wait for book 3! Five stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Cursing and Murder