Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Alizeh. De duistere profetie by Tahereh Mafi

23 reviews

gingerbooknerd3's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious sad tense slow-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? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Physical abuse, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death, and Stalking

wrensreadingroom's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Police brutality, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Bullying, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Hate crime, Medical content, Misogyny, War, Blood, Confinement, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Body shaming, Violence, Gore, Genocide, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, and Physical abuse

hannahbailey's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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

2.5

Stylistically, I thought this was written really well and the concept was very interesting. But my god, was this long-winded. I kept reading because I thought that at any moment we'd get to the point...we didn't get there until the final pages -- more fool me 😭

There was so much potential here but we spend too long in the main characters' heads, rather than in their world. I don't mind internal dialogue but both MCs' thoughts were repetitive and confusing in the sense that their decision-making skills seemed to be lacking. The prince was so whiny and passive whilst the FMC lacked personality, I wanted to root for them but lost interest by the end of the book. It definitely felt like a huge setup for the next book which seems to be in a completely different setting with more characters introduced. Obviously, a setup is needed to make you pick up the next instalment, but it's always a shame when the first novel itself can't be treated as a standalone in its own right. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Death, Gore, Grief, Violence, Suicide attempt, Xenophobia, and Murder

katievallin's review against another edition

emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Racism, Grief, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Violence, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Stalking, Blood, and Medical content

Minor: Child death and Sexual content

rdmoreland0801's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious slow-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

4.0

The story for this book was great, although I don’t think it played out as well as it could have.  The first half of the book was really slow and not a lot happened.  It just wasn’t memorable overall, as I had to really think about what previously happened when I picked it up the next day.

The narration was good, but I wish they would’ve cast a male voice actor for Kamran.  I just couldn’t get the full effect with the deep, slow voice of a woman.

I love second-half Alizeh who isn’t afraid to speak her mind.  When she finally loses her temper, we get a glimpse of who this character was meant to be.

Kamran is a little whiny, but falls head-over-heels for Alizeh in the silliest way.  He just can’t seem to keep his eyes off of her, which I think is adorable.

Overall, a solid 4⭐️ book.  I’ll will definitely be continuing with the series.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Classism, Child abuse, Death of parent, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Racism, Suicide attempt, and War

Minor: Genocide

emolr's review against another edition

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Self harm, Child abuse, Classism, Racism, Violence, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Suicide attempt, Death, Death of parent, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Genocide

loveat1stwrite's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

2.5

 **A copy of this book was provided to me by HarperCollins in exchange for an honest review.**

This Woven Kingdom contains beautiful prose and descriptions, but unfortunately very little plot. It comes with the territory of an almost 500-page book that spans about 3 days of in-book time. 60% of This Woven Kingdom is the main characters’ inner monologue, 20% is setting/food/clothing description, 10% is verbal dialogue, and the last 10% is where the actual occurring events happen. I prefer to be shown actions to back up character motivations and thoughts, but this book heavily relies upon the reader being told what to think. The whole experience made it hard to connect with, or even like, either of the two main protagonists.

I was hoping for a lush Persian mythology read, but This Woven Kingdom is essentially a Cinderella retelling with cosmetic Middle Eastern inspirations regarding food and clothing. A dual-POV read, we alternate between Alizeh a long-lost princess of the Jinn who is currently hiding as a lowly servant, and Kamran the heir to the human empire of Ardunia. Their lots in life place them at odds, for Alizeh was prophesized to end the reign of the current king of Ardunia, Kamran’s grandfather. Of course, Alizeh and Kamran happen to cross paths on the street and become an insta-love forbidden romance. As I mentioned, this book is about 10% plot. Over the course of about 3 days, Kamran and Alizeh think about the other non-stop and their inner thoughts take up the majority of the writing of this book. All of this builds up to a ball, (Yay, an event is finally occurring!) so you have that to look forward to in the last 100 pages or so.

If you come into this with the right mindset, I think it can certainly be an enjoyable read, but it was very different than how it was marketed and you have to be ready for it to be a slow-paced read, very trope-heavy and descriptor-heavy. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death, Fire/Fire injury, and Death of parent

joni_smits's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Slavery, Suicide attempt, Violence, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Child death, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Cannibalism and War

robyn_vennard's review against another edition

adventurous 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Death, Classism, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Grief, Physical abuse, War, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Fatphobia, Body shaming, and Emotional abuse

danibatista's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense slow-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? It's complicated

3.5

When I started reading this book I thought I would like it much more than I actually did…
For the first half of the book I was really struggling to actually reading it… I was bored and quite confused, I didn’t connect with the characters and I just wanted to DNF or to go through with it the fastest I could…
The writing itself is amazing! I just think the first half of the book could be cut in half 😅
For the second half of the book… that really saved it entirely! The last 100 pages were the most interesting! Some twists and full of plot in the end… sadly I think the beginning was so slow and the ending so rushed…
There is dual POV - we get to know Alizeh, a Jinn and a lost queen, and we get to know Kamran, the prince of Ardunia. About Alizeh - she is a badass but I was hoping to know more about her powers…
Kamran I liked from the beginning! He is so intelligent and we can see his character development very well. And the way he talks to Alizeh is just wow. 
When Kamran says “You have consumed my thoughts since the moment I met you (…) I feel now, in your presence, entirely strange. I think I might fetch you the moon if only to spare your tears again” I can definitely ignore the fact that I don’t like instant love trope. 
There is a brief knife to the throat scene - always a good add to a book 👌🏼
And what about that ending? A major cliffhanger! Now all I want is that second book please!

Overall, due to the fact that a bit more than 50% of the book I was quite bored, I give it 3,5⭐️

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Murder, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, and Blood