Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Němý viník by Zuzana Bičíková, Maureen Johnson

20 reviews

babsi_222's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Kidnapping, Alcoholism, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Blood, Child death, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, and Police brutality

rylin_marie's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my goshhhhhhhhhhhh i’m speechless

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Gun violence, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Chronic illness, Cursing, Drug use, Medical content, Mental illness, Addiction, Child death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, and Murder

books4em's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

This book made me remember why I love thrillers - but not just any thriller, those thriller series where you are left without the one last answer to the mystery. You have so many of the pieces fitting together, but then there's that one question that leaves you hanging. Add in a new cliffhanger, and you've got those specially amazing thrillers. That was The Vanishing Stair. I am about to immediately pick up the third book in the Truly Devious series because this was so good. Johnson really knows how to write a story that keeps you captivated. Reading the two timelines at the same time is a key aspect of this series and one I enjoy greatly. Combined with the fantastic descriptions of the setting of Burlington, Ellingham, and Vermont in general, it is truly amazing (pun intended). The whole subplot with Edward King I'm not a fan of, but I see its purpose. Same with the Dr. Fenton and Hunter subplot - not sure where that's going. As with Truly Devious, I appreciated the queer rep with the side characters (one of whom uses they/them pronouns and it's seamless) along with the mental health rep. I liked how these points continued from the first book. I also liked how this book focused more on solving the Ellingham case, not just the one in the current timeline. And by far, the best moment in this book is on page 348 where Stevie is talking through the murders with those involved in the cupola and the ghost of Dottie looks at George Marsh's ghost and turns to Stevie and nods and Stevie nods back. Yes!!! That moment of understanding and thanks from Dottie is insurmountable! But still, where is Alice and what's the secret surrounding her?! I need answers, so on to book 3!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Confinement

Moderate: Death and Murder

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Grief, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Kidnapping

amaya_jam's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

I'm not a big audiobook person but for some reason, this series just works in this format 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Grief, and Death

Moderate: Vomit and Alcoholism

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, and Confinement

thebookpaiges's review against another edition

emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Violence, and Grief

widgetknits's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Death, Child death, Grief, Kidnapping, and Murder

rissaandherbooks's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

An incredible continuation of my favorite series!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Murder, Medical content, Violence, Gore, and Grief

Minor: Alcoholism, Blood, Alcohol, Cursing, Drug use, Sexual content, and Sexism

aylin05's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Before i begin my review of this book i’d like to warn anybody who might care that the book ends on a MASSIVE cliffhanger so be prepared to immediately want to read the next book. 
anyway, the book was wonderful as you’d expect from the first one. similarly to the last one, there’s a lot of just open and random details that were difficult for me to get through. BUT when things started to pick up at certain points i was absolutely ENTRANCED. 
one of the perpetual problems i have with this series, though, is that there are A LOT of characters. There’s a whole number of characters that are from the past (from alberts time) and then even more from the present (from stevie’s time) so it’s a bit confusing when a random name pops up and you have to figure out if it’s stevie’s classmate in bio or her friends friends friend that she met at a party. fr tho i counted and there’s 28 characters that i can name off the top of my head.
anyway, overall, the book was the perfect sequel to the first book. so if you liked the first book you’ll love this one too. its the perfect captivating murder mystery and i’d highly recommend. 
now i’m going to read the next one :)

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Murder, and Kidnapping

Minor: Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Grief, and Blood

dylpickles's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship

Moderate: Alcoholism, Classism, Grief, Kidnapping, Confinement, Death, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders

bookishlysophie's review against another edition

mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

I can’t not love this series. It’s so well crafted that it has become one of my favourite stories to reread. I’d highly recommend.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Kidnapping and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Grief, Blood, and Murder