Reviews with content warning for Suicide - Nine Lives

Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

Nine Lives by Peter Swanson

15 reviews

kadtide's review against another edition

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

2.0

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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reflectiverambling_nalana's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.25

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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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uhhlexiconic's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad fast-paced

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

3.5

Nine Lives' hook is also its anchor. Unlike the Christie novel it emulates, it keeps the characters largely separate and creates mundane scenes leading up to their deaths. The narrative ends some of the more promising stories early, and misses some of the juicier implications of the narrative. Absolutely readable but ultimately a case of wasted potential

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hmetwade's review against another edition

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dark 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

3.75

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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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augustinedreams's review against another edition

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dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.0

There are so many characters, and it's a typical pick them off one by one scheme. Abd the plot twist was so left field can we even call it a plot twist???

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