Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick

14 reviews

riverofhorton's review against another edition

challenging dark funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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? No

2.0

So much of this book was enjoyable to read, which allowed for such a degree of immersion that I managed to get through it much faster than I normally would a book of this length. That said, the ending was very disappointing. Not only did it seem rushed, like the author realised they had a deadline in a few days and so had to wrap everything up as quickly as possible, but the actual ending itself seemed half-baked and incomplete. For most of the book, I understood why it was so popular, then I got to the end and didn't get it anymore. There were so many good ideas within this book, and I will be looking further into the alternative history genre, but this overall isn't a book I would recommend. There were a few things I expected, like all the racism and especially anti-Semitism, some things I could overlook like the writing being disjointed and confusion at times, but when combined with the non-ending, it adds up to being too much for me to overlook.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation

jonwood's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-paced

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

2.5

I ultimately found this book to be dull and am not sure what the big fuss is about the book, other than maybe it was the first major publication to discuss this premise? First rarely means best, and I found the book to kind of meander around. Maybe that's because it's focus is on normal people and not powerful figureheads, but I was bored the whole time and was waiting for the book to end. I also found it hard to imagine the Japanese and Nazi's just sharing the planet, I felt like there would be more of an effort to wipe each other out, but maybe the point was just to be a similar cold war as in reality.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, and Murder

franklola's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Deportation

jstilts's review against another edition

dark hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

For a "what if Hitler won" sci-fi novel this completely confounded all my expectations of what the book would be about, where it would be set, who it would feature and what their attitudes would be. More a reflection on the nature of the ancient Chinese divination text the "I Ching" the World War 2, more an exploration of Japanese Inner Culture and Class than Fascism, more a road trip to the nature of reality than an struggle against oppression - this book spends serious time on jewellery and antiques and the search for honour and integrity.

Once you have read this book, I highly recommend you seek out an interview with the author "Vertex Interview with Philip K. Dick" which will give you further insights into the nature of this books relationship to the I Ching. Also, look up "Atlantropa" on Wikipedia, it's in relation to a minor and what seemed to be a somewhat fantastical note in the book, but was actually something genuinely planned by the Nazis.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Antisemitism, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, and War

misty_kb's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Antisemitism

Moderate: Murder

Minor: Genocide

butlerebecca's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense slow-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? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Genocide, Slavery, Toxic relationship, and War

callixte's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood and Murder

Minor: Sexual assault

polestick's review against another edition

adventurous challenging informative tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Murder, and War

dlrosebyh's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

1.25

It's 1962 in America. Slavery is once legal again. The few remaining Jews remain secretive and go by fictitious aliases. The I Ching is as prevalent as the Yellow Pages in San Francisco. All because the United States lost a war some 20 years prior, and is now occupied by Nazi Germany and Japan.

This novel exemplifies the phrase "great plot, terrible execution" well. The pace was so sluggish, and the manner the sentences were spoken was so monotonous. I had such high expectations for this book, and I am sorely let down.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Sexism, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Ableism, Homophobia, and Misogyny

baney's review against another edition

dark hopeful tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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: Genocide, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Murder