Reviews tagging 'Murder'

All die ungesagten Dinge: Roman | »Schmerzvoll und voller Schönheit.« Julia Phillips by Tracey Lien

29 reviews

morethanmylupus's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

I've seen this book billed as a mystery but I wouldn't say that it, not really. While there's a mystery underlying the story, it's not really the point. What you actually get is a story about the resilience and failures of family, insight into the impact heroin can have on a community, and a look into what it's like to be Vietnamese in Australia. Beautiful but heartbreaking.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Racism, and Murder

any_bethany's review against another edition

dark funny informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Drug use

ceedy's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Racism, Murder, and War

martachbc's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse and Murder

internationalreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

karabeavis's review against another edition

mysterious sad 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? Yes

5.0

Wow. Possibly the best book I’ve read this year. I’m a bit undone by it. It’s sad. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Violence, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse and Toxic relationship

katarinabee's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Really great exploration of 1990s Cabramatta, the impacts of intergenerational trauma, and the toxicity of perfectionism. I liked how each chapter was from a different character's perspective - you really developed so much empathy for each person's situation, and how their own world view / personality etc motivated their behaviour.  Having previously worked in the Cabramatta/ Fairfield area myself for a number of years, it was personally really interesting to understand more about what Cabramatta was like 20 years ago (and that some of the struggles of that time are still likely impacting people today).

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Violence, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, and Colonisation

jayisreading's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

4.0

It’s so nice to read stories that focus on the diaspora outside of the United States. In this case, All That’s Left Unsaid focuses on the Vietnamese diaspora in Cabramatta, a suburb outside of Sydney. This is a heartbreaking story in many ways, drawing attention to the difficulties that shaped the Vietnamese community of this suburb, as well as the life of the protagonist, Ky. While this seems to be marketed as a mystery (which it technically is, since Ky is trying to find out who murdered her brother), this didn’t really read to me as a mystery book. To me, it was more a contemplation on the struggles of this Vietnamese community dealing with unchecked racism, immigration, drug abuse and addiction, the traumas of war which, inevitably, leads to generational trauma. In other words, if you’re hoping for a standard murder mystery, this book won’t meet that expectation.

All things considered, I thought Lien addressed these topics quite well, in the sense that none of them read as superficial or an afterthought. That being said, I think the pacing and execution of the story itself was a bit rough. It took some time to get used to the jumping back and forth between the past and present, which I felt disrupted the overall flow of the book. As a result, this affected the pacing. I didn’t feel engaged during some parts of the book, while other moments were gripping.

Ultimately, though, I think it is worth picking up this book, especially if you’re interested in reading diasporic literature that doesn’t center USians.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Racism, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse and Drug use

Minor: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, and War

kellyung's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Racial slurs, Racism, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Blood, and Abandonment

inyourwords's review against another edition

emotional slow-paced

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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, and Murder