Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Midnight Lie by Marie Rutkoski

19 reviews

hue's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

The backside text hardly does any justice to the story within. Marie Rutkoski has woven an intricate, fantastically drab world where injustice is hideously clear yet accepted. 

I adored the characters, the differences between High Kith and Half-Kith and Middlings, the writing was lucious and lurid, the telling captivatingly vivid. 

Nirrim was such a pleasure to follow as she wandered through her thoughts and actions, disassembling all that she had grown up believing, never realising how twisted and unfair it all had been. 

If you enjoyed this wonderful story, I recommend two other books that gave me the same feeling as this did.
1. The City of Woven Streets by Emmi Itäranta
2. Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Gaslighting

sapphic_in_the_stacks's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Though slow to start, once the book begins to pick up it grabs your attention and holds it until the end. Finale of the book leaves many things unresolved, leaving you wanting more. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Grief, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Murder, War, and Classism

Minor: Cannibalism

veerau's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I'll admit, I thought this was going in a totally different direction up until the last half of the book (and I'm so glad it did).

Thought Nirrim would end up as a "lost princess finds love in lost princess" kinda trope, glad it didn't, and then Sid went "actually...🤓" SMH

I have a soft spot for characters like Sid, although I enjoyed her more in the first part. Maybe it's the mystery aura, idk.
Big shoutout to the sisterhood between Nirrim, Annin and Morah! Love how their bond doesn't get forgotten in favor of romance :)

at least up until the weird final pact that went on, not sure what that's about? But I hope we get to know more about that in the second book

Also I really wanted to say, that cover is so beautiful!! I love it so much <3

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse

Moderate: Drug use and Homophobia

Minor: Child death, Death, and Blood

strawberrytheauthor's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad fast-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? No

3.0

The beginning wasn’t very interesting but then the middle got better. I was getting excited to read the second one until the very last line. That last line made me so very angry, however I still need to read the second book to see what happens with said last line. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation

Moderate: Body horror and Sexual content

Minor: Child abuse

nicnevin's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

So this is the first book I've read from this author and its... Alright? I found the ending quite... Abrupt and the worldbuilding is a little slapdash however I realise that this is already set in a world from other books she wrote. 

Sid and Nirrim are a cute couple but I don't know how it ends. I guess leaving the book on such an abrupt ending ticked me off because it felt like a lot of build up for not much pay off bit I suppose that's why is more than one book. 

the magic blood reveal was pretty obvious so it annoyed me it took everyone so long to figure it out. Also shouldnt diluted blood be a yellowy orange colour? Maybe magic blood hits different idk

Don't get me wrong, the book is okay but just didn't gel with me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

annaki_laila's review against another edition

fast-paced

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

3.0

The bulk of the important plot points only started happening past the halfway point. There were enough moments of miscommunication to get on my nerves, though it could've been worse. Overall lacking in the world-building department; the base concept was interesting but there just wasn't enough to get properly immersed in.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, and Lesbophobia

claudiamacpherson's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Blood, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Classism

Minor: Body horror, Death, Drug use, Homophobia, Sexual content, Violence, Police brutality, Lesbophobia, and Alcohol

orchidd's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.0

i had trouble with the beginning of the book because i am tired of reading narratives where the butch girl makes someone realize they like women, and i am also tired of reading narratives where the person is struggling with internalized homophobia as a plot point to pace the romance. i did really enjoy the middle with the descriptions of the magic and the parties and their blooming relationship, but the ending felt abrupt and incomplete. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Moderate: Drug use and Alcohol

imaginingly's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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

4.5

the TENSION this book had oh my GOSH
this was really good but— actually that’s all, it was a really good book and i enjoyed it from the very beginning! the ended definitely left me wanting more but it didnt have the “wow” factor to make it a 5 star

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gaslighting and Classism

Minor: Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Murder

angstifies's review

adventurous emotional mysterious tense

• 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

just everything about the setting was perfect, i can’t get over how much i loved the magical elements in this world. i think i’ve never been as invested in a fictional relationship as i was in this book, oh i LOVED IT.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Blood

Moderate: Death, Drug use, Homophobia, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Child death, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Abandonment