Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Dark Water Daughter by H.M. Long

7 reviews

madradstarchild's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Sexual assault, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting

Minor: Body horror, Slavery, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, and War

lizziaha's review

• Strong character development? It's complicated

3.75

Ultimately, I just disliked Samuel, one of the main POVs of this book. Because it’s the first book in a series, I’ll give Long the benefit of the doubt. This could be laying the foundations for an incredible villain arc. But it just didn’t hit in this book. I felt like the relationships between the characters were underdeveloped, and it was just missing some of the pirate charm that I expected. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Trafficking, Suicide attempt, and Murder

jenpen's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

I loved this book, even though I really did it a disservice by taking so long to finish it. Her writing is very descriptive, making it a slow read, but with such beautiful prose I am not complaining. I especially enjoyed all the foreshadowing and hinting at things to the reader without directly saying it, as this book is absolutely full of mysteries that gradually become unraveled. Even brief lines from the first few chapters hint at plot twists at the very end, making for such a satisfying read. 

Funny thing is, there really isn’t much of a plot - I struggled to figure out any character’s motivation for what they were doing. It was the weakest part of the book overall, but by far the strongest would be the world building. The magic and history of the world were extremely well thought out, and the snippets of lore between chapters help immerse you and explain details that would have been unnatural to fit into the main story itself. 

The characters were loveable (and I especially loved all the funny lines), but again, not much development going on there since not much happens plot-wise. I hated how Mary seemed to fall in love with every single male character she met, and even the main romance didn’t make sense. As such a heavily character-driven story, this actually makes me more excited to read the sequel to see what happens with the characters from here on, even though this reads as a satisfying standalone. Overall, I found the book immersive, creative, and very fun. Who doesn’t love a good pirate story!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Addiction

mirificmoxie's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping and Murder

Moderate: Confinement, Sexual assault, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Slavery, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

katievallin's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Moderate: Child abuse, Vomit, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Suicide, Torture, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

el393way's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.25

The combination of such a fun and unique world, the pirate plot, and believable character arcs made this such an enjoyable and engaging read/listen.

The pace of this book is relatively fast which fits a pirate motif. It keeps you going and does not have many, if any, drags. The handling of the dual POV is well-done. There is a pretty even split, both narrators do an excellent job, and you can feel identify the separate voices of the two characters.

What more can I say than who would love a pirate high seas adventure set in a really interesting world with storm singers, an other world, future-seers, magically charismatic villains, and ghost-like beings? And uniquely set in a wintery sea setting instead of the traditional tropics or Caribbean.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Slavery, Kidnapping, and Murder

Minor: Sexual assault

hmlong's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny inspiring mysterious 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? It's complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, and Blood

Moderate: Confinement, Gun violence, Slavery, Kidnapping, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and War