Reviews

The Bell Chime by Mona Kabbani

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zenzi2read's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

I like the story and this was an excellent first published work. I like the majority of the stories structure, including the time jumps. My biggest issue is that of the narrator that provides introductions and additional information between each act of this Novela. It felt like an unnecessary device.. This was part thriller part, fever, dream, part horror. The first chapter was truly chilling, and there were some solid unnerving moments throughout. The language was descriptive in the characters well-developed, considering the brevity of the book.

Content Warnings

kyschlatter's review against another edition

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3.0

It’s an okay book, was a bit confused but it’s a quick read

othersociologist's review against another edition

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mysterious 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

3.0

Content Warnings

rokujo's review against another edition

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4.0

For once, booktok didn't fail me! This was a twisty novella and, in the end, I was left satisfied which can be difficult to accomplish in such a limited time frame. Strongly recommend.

babychreez's review against another edition

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2.0

I’m so sorry to sound harsh, but this was a hard no from me. It is very obvious that this is a debut. Everything about this was off, from the pacing and timeline to the prose. I found this one so incredibly difficult to want to follow along with. I was ready to DNF this pretty early on, but hung in there because it is a short piece. Unfortunately, for a novella, this seemed to drag on and on. I honestly couldn’t even pay attention well enough to retell the plot line, so I’m not even sure how to rate this one. 1.5 stars, rounded up for an interesting premise…?