Reviews with content warning for Gun violence - Nine Lives

It's trying to be And Then There Were None, pretty explicitly, and I think it does an okay job of that. But I didn't really like it. The twist makes sense (although the epilogue didn't and that annoyed me). It was hard to care about any of the characters because they didn't have a ton of depth, and it felt like a lot of the book was just not having the information to know what was going on.

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katieklysmic's review against another edition

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mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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julienicole1106's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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sarahna's review against another edition

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dark medium-paced

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

2.5

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avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

When nine people get a list of names in the mail, and one of them ends up dead, they're all at risk. But why are they on the list?
I saw the twist at the very end of the book coming, but not who the killer was or exactly why he was killing people.
The killer's life's not fair, woe is me, I'm a rich cis het white guy routine was annoying and I didn't feel bad for him. I mean people die and sometimes it's someone's fault and sometimes it's not, but retribution on the people isn't what we need.

Narrator Rating: 4.5 stars
For this big of an author, I think they should have gotten different narrators for each person, even if it's told in the 3rd person.

Extra ratings: Fluff -NA Heartfelt- 4/5 Helpful -NA Horror -NA Inspiration -NA Love aka Romance- 1/5 Mystery -3/5 Predictability -2.5/5 Spice-0.5/5 Suspense -5/5 Tear- 2/5 Thrill - 4/5 Humor-0/5

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martine3's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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kirstenpod_'s review against another edition

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dark mysterious fast-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

3.5

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kmsander4's review against another edition

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dark mysterious fast-paced

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

2.75

I'll be honest, I was really tempted to give this one 2 stars. But the reality is it was fine. There was a solid mystery that I didn't fully figure out until the reveal was made. And the premise is exactly what you get, I just feel like it could have been more.

The short glimpses into everyone's lives didn't give me enough to actually *really* care whether they lived or died, and the lack of solid investigating made it difficult to actually feel like I was with them trying to unravel the mystery. I just sort of felt like I was along for the ride.

The tipping point - and the thing that almost caused the 2 star rating - was the final chapter. I think it was a cheap way out to have Jessica still be alive. In fact, when I finished the section where she "died", all I could comment on was how her hubris had led to her death. I didn't think she deserved to die - obviously - but I did think her cockiness and reliance on "I'm a cop, nothing can hurt me" leading to her downfall may have been fitting.

I also think this story would have majorly benefitted from actually hearing from the parents! Or at least having a true investigation being done into their lives. Leaving this untouched really resulted in me feeling detached, which is never a great feeling!

It could have been worse, but with the premise, I was hoping for better.

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