Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Tell Me an Ending by Jo Harkin

7 reviews

clairebau's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious reflective 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

3.75

This was very conceptually similar to Silvera's More Happy Than Not, which I of course love. This was done just as well. Exploring the idea of a memory erasure procedure through the perspectives of many people feels obvious now. It did a lot to build out the world and the implications of something like this. I was equally invested in every perspective, which never happens.

Ending was a little disappointing. Just a little. The book felt like it was building to something larger than it did. Noor spent the duration of the story investigating a mystery with a payoff that was just... eh. Yeah, the point is that each character is morally gray and that multiple instances of so-called wrongdoing were enacted by different entities, but the reveals didn't pack the punch I wish they would have! I would also have loved more wrap-up to Finn and Mirande's story.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

mediatrikcxs's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny mysterious reflective 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

4.0

this book slapped. i absolutely love a speculative fiction book that's built out this thoroughly, with consistent rules that are explained in ways that compound the drama of the plot so that all exposition feels natural. A delight to read. I felt like the author could have gotten a little darker with it; a lot of the memory reveals ended up being much less scary than the characters had imagined. I guess that's partially the point, but I kind of thought there would be some way more traumatic memories revealed. I also didn't like "the point is the questions" as a theme– of course life contains tons of mysteries we can't find the answers to, and in some cases we can find the answer, but might choose not to. But the wording of "the point is the questions" implies that that uncertainty is always a good thing, when actually some characters in the book do find that getting the answer is the right choice for them. Also it just sounds a bit trite and childish. All in all a delightful read, and I would also have enjoyed a slightly more grown-up version.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

exhumedprince's review

Go to review page

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Eternal Sunshine is one of my favorite movies, so of course this book seemed like it would be right up my alley. There were a lot of things I liked about it, but some of Noor's actions and attitudes, especially towards the end, aggravated me so much, I can't look past it.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

eachz's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Really enjoyed this! I've been disappointed with other speculative fiction that gets way too hung up on the details of the science/tech setting and neglects the characters and the universal themes to be explored against that backdrop. Tell Me an Ending, to me, did what I always hope for, and made the novel mostly about the characters and how the phenomenon of memory deletion/restoration can play out in many different ways. 

While there was a lot of tragedy in this story I think it left me feeling hopeful and fond of humans in all our messiness.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

sha's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional tense slow-paced
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

1.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

deezy's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

nicoleisalwaysreading's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I could see this one being a fabulous HBO miniseries 👀

I really liked the slow development and revealing of facts like a mystery novel. The different characters and bits of the story we received in each of their sections immediately hooked me. For some reason, some of their memory reveals felt anti-climatic, but I think the theme that different people process memories/moments/events differently and they can have a catastrophic impact on individuals' lives and seem unimportant to others was nuanced and layered.

Character writing was complex and nuanced, and I especially liked seeing how Louise fully crystallized with different perspectives falling into place. I also liked the tiny overlaps as each of the characters encounter one another in different ways.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
More...