Reviews with content warning for Murder - Huonetoveri

Really enjoyed this - the dual timelines, the academic setting, the twists. Narration was fantastic. The real let down was just the length of this - it really didn’t need to go on for so long.

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maikelenz's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

1.5

I saw a lot of potential here regarding the setting, the split between the present and past, and Hannah's memory loss. However, I was very disappointed. The pacing was incredibly slow, April was so nasty in the flashbacks that it took a lot of suspension of disbelief that she even had a friendship group - let alone a best friend - and the protagonist was so stupid that it was at times painful to get through the book (the sentence "She has been so, so stupid" also appears multiple times in the book).

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bbbeth's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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tltorrez's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad 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

4.0

The twists and turns were good. Never quite sure who did it or how or why though all the clues were there. Hannah’s character development was also good. But overall the book felt too long and the beginning started pretty slow. It picked up midway though. Overall solid but not my favorite Ware book.

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miarae's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious tense fast-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

4.5

Really enjoyed this book. It's split into "before" and "after", alternating between before and after the murder of Hannah's best friend and roommate. I enjoyed the writing style and the plot. Interesting note is that this is the second book I've read from this author where motherhood plays a big part.

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emma6544's review against another edition

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I enjoyed One by One so I have started to go through Ruth Wares previous books. This book interested me the least but after reading The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley which I really enjoyed and had similar themes (group of friends at Oxford who grow apart after graduating Oxford and one person is at the centre of the group).

However, the book felt bland and I didn’t like the constant switching between past and present timelines. I thought the main character Hannah was bland and her relationship with April was meant to be best friends but I felt that Hannah was more fond of April than Hannah. I ended up googling the killer once I decided to DNF and it wasn’t a huge shock to me.

After reading about the strip picker and seeing how humiliated Hugh was by April, it made sense that this could build into further resentment.

If you like the idea of exploring a friendship group and their dynamics from Oxford, I would highly recommend The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley. You follow multiple characters POVs (whose characters are explored in much more depth) and the past timelines you get are sparse but they play a significant role in the story.

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tiamaria3's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

4.75

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