Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Small Angels by Lauren Owen

23 reviews

teganbeesebooks's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Dementia, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol

beebats's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Suicide, and Murder

cyndi1966's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship and Murder

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Animal death, Death, Grief, and Car accident

blueberrydahlia's review

tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

demi_sewell's review

dark mysterious sad slow-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? Yes

3.5

Slow to start and throughout, but a good book till the end. The chapters are long but the story does hold you. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Murder, and Toxic friendship

maeverose's review against another edition

I hoped I would like this but it was just too slow for me, and the only part I really cared about was Lucia and Kate’s romance. It wasn’t worth it for me to trudge through the rest just for that.

I felt like we got Harry’s backstory too early on. After that there wasn’t as much mystery and I didn’t find anything that was happening all that scary or interesting.

Especially given Lucia’s friendship with him.

Maybe if I’d read further there would’ve been more mystery (I didn’t get to the point where they explained what happened to Elphine, for example), but I just didn’t care enough.

I liked this quote though:

“He never would notice that a downpour brings extra life to Mockbeggar. After the rain the trees are dark, the green pools deep in the woods are brimming, and the nettles are dripping under the weight of water. Even after the sky has cleared, the woods have their own rain. Whenever the breeze shakes the branches tiny showers fall from the leaves.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcoholism

Probably more than that but that’s all I noticed as far as I read

silene's review

dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

A spooky, not scary ghost story, Small Angels is about the power of stories, for both good and bad. It explores the boundaries between justice and revenge and forgiveness. It presents multiple flawed, endearing characters, even if you might want to shake sense into a few of them. The ending fits well, and the magic of the story lingers.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, and Murder

starsnotshadows's review

dark tense slow-paced

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

2.0

Just not my cup of tea at all. I think the premise has potential, but should be a much shorter book to be impactful. Many of the characters were not people I cared to root for, they weren't bad, they just weren't compelling. 

The ending was not satisfying, and the "saviors" of the book felt like they came out of nowhere with little explanation

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Murder

slimepuppy's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

5.0

I could write thousands of words about how this book draws incredible parallels between the Gonnes' suffering and cycles of abuse, about the the engaging mystery and the sad, tragic stories we carry through our lives, how we become tethered to them.

We should all try to tell it different, and I think Small Angels does it beautifully. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Murder, and Toxic friendship

exlibrisabigaillee's review

emotional hopeful mysterious sad slow-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? It's complicated

3.5

The lesson didn't stick with me as well as I thought it would. The characters were likable enough, I just didn't resonate with them super well. The story was very fun though, and I enjoyed the world!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Violence, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Child death, Death, Blood, and Murder

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Lesbophobia

One of the main families, the Gones, is very strict and emotionally abusive throughout the novel. One of the daughters finds solace with a friend who is very controlling and possessive. The Gones are in leagues with a spirit, of sorts, who

was a child murdered on the property years ago. His death is described

. (See the previous spoiler for murder & child death/abuse tw.) He is

the possessive friend of the daughter

. There is a vague child/minor relationship in the sense that

the spirit, who takes the form of a boy the daughter's age, died as an adult and is not truly a child

.