Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton

62 reviews

kiwi_00's review against another edition

dark emotional funny tense

3.0

The build up of the book from beginning all the way to the middle was fantastic and if the book ended there i'd give it 5 stars but the ending..... What a let down, that felt like the equivalent of saying 'it was all a dream' at the ending of a creative writing task at school.

The fact that both all the supernatural stuff can be explained away is fine but both sammy and creetsjie manipulated arent and sara respectively? Really? After laying all that ground work and creating a vibrant world with such distinct characters, the ending feels terrible

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

rkpaulson96's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious relaxing 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

Stuart Turton did it again! His second novel is a fun, puzzle-within-several-puzzles mystery thriller. The characters are just as complex as the supernatural-tinted conundrum facing the passengers and crew of the ship, Saardam, on whose decks a demon allegedly prowls. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

theasi's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Racism, Sexism, Blood, and Grief

achubb's review against another edition

adventurous dark slow-paced

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

3.75

The combination of historical fiction along with mystery thriller was not one I'd expect to enjoy this much. Turton does a great job of keeping the reader hooked and asking questions throughout. It did take a bit of time to get going but the characters presented have a nice depth to them.
I especially enjoyed the grey area of morality throughout. Each person viewed the situations in a unique way that helped bring the story to life.

The ending was not as satisfying as I hoped. It's wrapped up a little too nicely in the last few pages.

Arent viewed Sammy as the only person he knew without corrupt morals. To discover his friend is just as bad as his Uncle was a great twist but then suddenly everyone's happy and in agreement? I would have preferred it to be left with a bit of mystery to muse over. I dont buy the sudden agreement of everyone. How do they forgive that easily and not question it further?
I enjoyed the questions I was left with. How many cases did Sammy fake the culprit of? Was he the true murderer for some of his cases considering his history? I wish this was explored/hinted at more

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Blood

Moderate: Animal death and Vomit

Minor: Rape

jerseynoonatic's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Gore, Infidelity, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

sandysmith's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-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

4.0

I'm gradually adding books I've read in 2021 to give a true reflection of the books I've read since keeping records.  This was the first book I read in 2021, and is what kick started my reading journey having put reading on the back burner whilst bringing up the children, previously being an avid reader.  Based in 1634 regarding a shops Voyage. A thriller of sorts, with devilish or supernatural symbols and a murder.  Arent Hayes is a body guard to a great detective Samuel Pepys kept under guard. It was a good read until the disappointing ending and it seemed to loose its way. It was a long book anyway but the ending seemed a completely different pace to the rest of the book. That said I really liked it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Rape, Violence, Blood, Excrement, and Vomit

Moderate: Animal death and War

aklovekorn's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Infidelity, Misogyny, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

rochelleisreading's review against another edition

informative mysterious medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, and War

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Drug use, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Physical abuse and Alcohol

disguisedposer's review against another edition

adventurous 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Rape

Minor: Rape

nuthatch428's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Colonisation

Moderate: Animal death, Infidelity, Rape, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, and Alcohol

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Mental illness, Sexual content, Torture, and Pregnancy