Reviews tagging 'Murder'

La sombra de la noche by Deborah Harkness

15 reviews

fkshg8465's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

I enjoyed this one just a little bit less than the previous, but that’s because I generally get annoyed even famous historical figures are reimagined in time travel tropes. My brain also tends to try to work out all the knots created with time travel that trickle back through the ages into the present storyline. So I tend to spend too much time overthinking something that has no need of my energy, given that it’s fiction. There were a few other things that bothered me, but to get into them would be giving away spoilers.

Excited to read the third installment as well as the prequel as soon as they come off hold at my library.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexism, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Outing, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

nerdy_reader_9571's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

3.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Blood, Antisemitism, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Child abuse and Rape

siglerbooknook's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative 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? No

4.5

This was a very engaging book full of important little details. Harkness does a great job of pulling all the pieces together so they are believable and entertaining.

This book does a great job building both our main characters and several of the side characters from the first book, as well as introducing new characters that feel like real people.
I must say, I enjoyed the side characters even more than Matthew and Diana.

I found Matthew's brooding a bit taxing as the story went along. It felt like growth between Diana and Matthew took a bit too long and it did get frustrating, however the side characters were loveable enough to make up for it.

I love Harkness's way of weaving useful information in with the desires and personalities we've already come to know of Matthew and Diana. They didn't feel like completely different people despite their circumstances.

She also does a wonderful job of making the story feel complete, letting the reader see little snippets of detail like the ripples a choice causes in time. I don't understand how this book could feel so beautifully finished and yet leave me so tense and ready for the third book. I can't wait to see how this trilogy will end in the next novel.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Miscarriage, and Abandonment

Moderate: Child death, Drug use, Torture, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Animal death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Self harm, Sexual content, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, and Pandemic/Epidemic

torturedreadersdept's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

gillian_aftanas's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Antisemitism, and Alcohol

joey_paige's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious tense slow-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Death, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Abandonment

micaelamariem's review against another edition

challenging mysterious slow-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? It's complicated

3.0

A bit disappointed with this one. Good points: it was well written and there must’ve been loads of research put into this which I respect. Not so good points: the books was unnecessarily long and many scenes could’ve been cut out, Matthew was insufferable in his secret-keeping, hypocrisy, and jealousy, and the elements of time travel didn’t make much sense as they thoroughly messed up the timeline!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Miscarriage, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Pregnancy

Minor: Addiction, Confinement, Drug use, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Classism

kyliereads341's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Miscarriage and Torture

Minor: Murder

baearles's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious 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? No

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Addiction, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Drug use, Miscarriage, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Antisemitism, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

maggies's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-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

5.0

Similar to the first book in the series, I found this one maybe a bit too long, but it was still totally enthralling. I loved the setting, watching Diana and Matthew learn more about each other and themselves. It was especially more realistic that this story took place over the course of a year rather than just several weeks, like the first book. The

time jumps back to the present

were also *chef's kiss* perfection.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Miscarriage, Sexism, Religious bigotry, and Pregnancy