Reviews with content warning for Murder - Bride

Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Bride by Ali Hazelwood

113 reviews

prispris88's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-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? Yes

5.0

I’m a big fan of the fantasy genre so I just had to read a vampire + werewolf romantasy! Loved her other book, The Love Hypothesis 😍 so I just had to read this one next. Literally listened to 80% of the book in one day because I was obsessed with this storyline and well the 🌶️😏. I didn’t see some of those plot twists coming either! Note: I listened to the audiobook & the voice actors did a good job

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kreglow's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny hopeful lighthearted 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

4.0

It's pretty good. The main character is humorous, and the dynamic between her and the love interest is refreshing, with consent being a huge aspect of their burgeoning relationship. Tropey, but a fun read that doesn't take itself too seriously. A LOT of sex, so if that's not your thing, it might be better to skip it. Heads up: it's very heavy with Omegaverse tropes and is VERY graphic with the sexual aspects of the dynamic.

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joensign's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted tense fast-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

1.0

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labello's review against another edition

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emotional fast-paced

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

3.0

Ali's first mainly plot-driven book that is still plenty horny.

I still stand by Ali writing her best books when she decides to write Novellas like Under One Roof and Below Zero, though I think Under One Roof blows Below Zero out of the water, is called since she very clearly enjoys the writing of romantic dynamics the most. Well,,, one very specific romantic dynamic that she continues to use for every single one of her books from what I have seen.

That is to say, if you enjoy one Ali Hazelwood book, you probably enjoy them all because, in essence, they are all the same with slightly different set dressings.

This book, however, Is different from Ali's other books because in this one she does put the plot first and the romantic relationship second.
The romantic relationship still follows all the same beats

the man falls first and, Christ alive, does he fall hard
the woman is very inexperienced in one or both romantic relationships or sex (in this case both)
they hit it off in an Insanely short time frame
the woman is still hypercompetent in her chosen field but utterly inept when it comes to social cues and reading the emotions of anyone, but especially those of the male lead
while the man and the woman are both very much feminists and are very clear on their held beliefs that men and women are equals they still fill the traditional gender roles to a t. The man is physically imposing even if Ali has stopped describing all her female leads as teeny tiny women with BIG HUGE HUMONGOUS men the men are still bigger, broader and again physically imposing while the women are Soft and relish in giving up control and enjoy fulfilling a very traditional position in the relationship. which is fine. feminism that doesn't support women's choice to choose a traditional lifestyle is no feminism at all but I sure wish that Ali was capable of One Singular other dynamic.
their first sexual experience with one another is World Changing Insanely Good And The Best Sex Anyone Has Ever Had
both characters have tragic/sad background stories, god forbid anyone grows up in a loving home in an Ali Hazelwood book
etc etc

Now to get to the point that is different from Ali's other books: this one is plot-driven and displays Ali's ability to think of and write out an entire coherent, not shoved in at the last second, plot which makes it a way more rewarding read. I firmly stand by my opinion that frankly, Ali's books are way too long for what they are. I think that Ali's best book (from those I read) is Under One Roof which is a short novella, with very little set dressing and an actually somewhat longer and not All At Once build up to a relationship and developing feelings compared to Ali's usual pairings.
Meanwhile, this book still adheres to Ali's usual framework on relationships but flips the script when it comes to the actual story.

I enjoyed that Ali had what finally felt like a thought out, not too much of a come-up-with-on-the-fly, story she wanted to tell that was more than two people being incredibly horny for one another (though there was also plenty of that).
This book still struggles with all of Ali's characters bleeding into one another and not having enough of a unique voice to themselves to be distinct or interesting at all after you read more than one of Ali's books. Ali writes and publishes books at a very fast rate, like 3 books a year I think??, and I wish she would take a step back, and take more time for the editing And the writing process. Figure out what parts are important and who these characters are because they since currently between books they all just blend together.

After having read the infamous interview in which Ali admits to her books basically being a collection of tropes her manager suggests bundled up in a trenchcoat pretending to be a coherent plot, it's usually easy to tell which tropes were suggested and how Ali just kind of threw them together. This felt less the case in this one, it was still very transparent that she wanted to write something omega verse adjacent which included some very familiar tropes Ali enjoys and relies on, like dead parents, neglectful families and piss poor communication. But still, this book felt less like a collection of scenes and more like a somewhat thought-out plot where some effort was put into how to get from plot point A to plot point B. Ali does very often take the shortcuts provided by the miscommunication trope, the instant attraction, and the female lead not being told much at all to skip having to write things that aren't her strong suit which I think is fine and works well enough.

It's still heavy with the tropes, it very much still follows Ali's old reliable character dynamics, at times it drags on a little bit, but I do think that this is one of my favourite Ali books, which doesn't say too much because I don't really care for her usual books, simply because there is finally a plot that isn't pushed aside for 300 pages of being incredibly horny just to be resolved in like 10 pages tops. This book actually follows a clear climb to an earned climax of both the story and the relationship of the main characters. Hopefully, Ali will continue to experiment more with stories in which she actually lets the plot help build the characters' relationships instead of having their romantic relationships form out of pure sexual chemistry.

Also she literally put the main characters best friend into solitary confinement for MONTHS. and then she was like "she isn't like she used to be" and then she fucking DROPPED HER OFF AT A STRANGERS PLACE TO GET DICKED DOWN. They were each others fucking safe space All Their Fucking Life and then you DROP HER OFF SO YOU CAN FUCK??? AFTER SHE WAS IN SOLITARY CONFINEMENT FOR MONTHS??? also vampires are weak as fuck and it's just stupid how weak they are and how we are still supposed to be scared of them? when they are nothing? The way Alis vampires work is more of a metaphor for disabled people, having extremely limiting food restrictions and being extremely fatigued during the day, and getting burned by things as little as being in the sun for literal seconds. Vampires still being the evil guys in this feels Weird because they are super weak and when you realise they are basically disabled people but like with the weird mind thing it feels Weird that Ali made them into cartoonishly evil guys.

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ashleycmms's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny mysterious tense fast-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? Yes

3.5

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tguccione's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful 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

4.25

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arulow's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted 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? It's complicated

4.5

Very easy read, great chemistry between the FMC and the MMC, easy to follow plot, and tooth rotting giggle inducing smut. Decided to read on an 11 hour drive with my husband who almost crashed when I let out a laugh and kicked my feet. Definitely worth the read.

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poetsofsweetpea's review against another edition

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fast-paced

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

3.75

Bride was a character forward romance novel with the enemies to lovers, marriage of convenience, and a touch of fated mates tropes.

It was open door, too spicy for me vampire/werewolf m/f story.

The world building was inconsistent. There appears to be separate werewolves, vampires, and human territories, but it also seems to take place in the current world. It's not defined how those barriers are separated.

The politics are also inconsistent. Implying that there is no treaty being humans and werewolves in one chapter and then that they attend the same universities in the next.

The romance is fine, but there wasn't much if anything keeping them apart.

At the novels center is the mystery of what happened to the MC's best friend and who can be trusted in the pack. It drove the plot forward but in a way that detracted from rather than enhanced the romance.

The short one-liner chapters from Low's POV were too short. I would have liked more information from him.

It was pretty good.

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al4ssandra's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted 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

4.75

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crystal689's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted 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

4.75

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