Reviews with content warning for Murder - The Ask and the Answer

It took me more than two years to read the second book of this trilogy. Sometimes things cannot be forced. And I am glad that I waited as this book is even more harrowing then the first one.

It is one masterful example of how no one really wins when there is a war and that no one can escape the ethical questions and who we want or believe to be and who we come out to be in situations of extreme pressure and need.

The book comes with all possible trigger warnings and if anyone feels like they have had enough, then let it be, stop reading and read something enjoyable.

Spoiler

The one question that I found raising whilst reading this book is, if it is really necessary to depict evil as it is on these pages in all its gruesomeness and all its destructive power, or if this is just another means for the evil itself to perpetuate itself and be kept alive.

The rendition of the narrator of the audiobook was fantastic and if anyone has issues with the grammar of the written book I would highly recommend to check out the audiobook as there any spelling issues drop away, even though, I think this is one of the few series that has as its main character someone who is illiterate.

Content Warnings

durrareadsstuff's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful mysterious reflective tense fast-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? Yes

3.5

"As to how you'll help me," he says. "Well, we have met the Answer, have we not?" He turns back to look at us, his eyes glinting. "It is time for them to meet the Ask."

A good enough sequel I think. This book is really fast-paced and action-packed it's like bam bam one after the other. I loved it that they included Viola's pov in this sequel. And you can see the difference between her and Todd's pov and Viola's a bit cleaner I must say, in terms of grammar and spelling and so on, but I like them both. It's consistent.

I guess I'm rating this lower than the first book because there are some parts which drive me crazy but actually I liked the ending better. I mean at first, it's just super annoying what Todd was doing, he keeps doing wrong things over and over again and what do you know another love interest is introduced hey heyyy. I can't even decide if I like Lee or not cause he was just come and go, but I kind hated him a little. He was getting in the way of things. And I loved Viola!! 😍 She knew she didn't feel that way toward Lee and she didn't prolong his suffering lol.

I also liked that we got to see how both main characters got their spotlight in this book, and we see their "true potential". Davy got his redemption arc and it turns out he's got some MAJOR daddy issues, poor thing. It's also cool that Todd got another "pet", a horse 🐎 and you can see that he treats Angharrad much better than he treated Manchee (at first) cause he's missed Manchee so much aaaa my heart 💓.

Moving on to the VILLAIN 😈 or should I say villainS? Mayor Prentiss is the classic evil, greedy, manipulative and powerful villain. I think he was a good villain (lol) and he's smart, and I like to see that.

Spoiler

Mistress Coyle, okay I thought she'd be nice cause this is after all a children's book. But it's not black and white in this story, and in fact you get even another enemy at the end of the book, so yay!

Overall, solid. I liked it.

Content Warnings

ellainbooktopia's review against another edition

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adventurous

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

4.0

Content Warnings

aquakerwitch's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense slow-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

Content Warnings

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