Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Cousins by Karen M. McManus

91 reviews

anna_hepworth's review

slow-paced

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

4.0

This book started slow, and even the shifting between the viewpoints of the three cousins didn't really help with that. It did do good things for filling in a range of background, as well as setting up a number of details that didn't become relevant until much later. 

It wasn't until the first major twist, at something like a quarter or a third through, where I started getting invested. I have some spoilery thoughts about the twists and turns of this story, so I've put that below. 

For all that I found this slow paced, according to the reading app it too me an hour (across multiple commutes) to finish, which seems much shorter than I would have assumed. 

Spoiler

I loved that most of the twists  had to do with identity. And that the various people all had such interesting ways of interlacing their two selves. There are definitely some parallels that can be drawn between being a Story (or pretending not to be) and pretending to be a Story. 

I was frustrated by the inevitable confrontation followed by risk to life and limb, but eh, I accept that that is a trope of the genre. It is just one of the things that make me not love the murder mystery genre.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Miscarriage, Addiction, Blood, Murder, Alcohol, Pregnancy, Alcoholism, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, and Dementia

soddaku's review

mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pregnancy

Minor: Miscarriage and Murder

bubblepricks's review against another edition

adventurous dark lighthearted mysterious sad tense 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? It's complicated

3.75

A bit corny but a good, fast read. A tad predictable, but has some pretty satisfying twists as well. 

Spoiler

Anybody names Anders is automatically a bad dude- I don’t make the rules 🤷🏻‍♀️ 
<spoiler/>

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Alcohol, Drug use, Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Incest

tanvi45'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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Murder, Death, and Miscarriage

Minor: Death of parent

marenm's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.25

i really liked this! i enjoyed all the characters and their dynamics and it was a pretty fast read with a few plot twists. 4.25/5 stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Murder, Gaslighting, Death, Miscarriage, Emotional abuse, Dementia, Addiction, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Car accident, Blood, Death of parent, Cursing, and Vomit

yuidf's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infidelity, Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Dementia, Dysphoria, Car accident, and Infidelity

cyndi1966's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcoholism, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Terminal illness, Death, Gun violence, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Murder

avaree's review

adventurous challenging mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.5

I think the beginning was super slow but the ending was good. I don’t think I would recommend this though or read it again. It was honestly quite boring and I normally really like books by Karen McManus. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Death of parent, Child death, Miscarriage, Murder, and Dementia

emmajh91's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Cursing, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Dementia, Death of parent, Addiction, Gaslighting, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Dysphoria, and Blood

evavstheworld's review against another edition

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy