Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Natural Outlaws and Fractured Sovereignty by S.M. Pearce

3 reviews

roaming_enn's review

adventurous dark tense fast-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

4.25

"Was safety something anyone could promise, ever? Kalen wasn't sure anymore. Maybe it wasn't a destination. But could they find it by looking out for each other?"

Summary:
After a burglary in which two close friends are caught, they find that in order to save those they love, and to save themselves, they must work together, and with new friends, to partake in a competition to execute a heist at the competition location. Unbeknownst to the other, the two friends are each blaming themselves and believing that the other does not unconditionally appreciate them for who they are. This book has found family, close platonic friendships, wonderfully queer characters, life and death stakes, betrayal, etc.! 

Thoughts:
I got a review copy of this book. This is a fast-moving story told from the POV of the two characters, Kalen and Blythe. Kalen's two pronouns, he/them, are used in equal measure, and I thought it worked SO WELL! I honestly don't read a lot of heist books, so this was very refreshing for me! The relationship between the two of them was beautiful! I'm SO GLAD to have read this book! The ending was very satisfying and I don't feel the need for more, but I'd read another book with these characters if the author chooses to write more! 

Check the trigger warnings, because there are a lot of them! Some trigger warning highlights: the book begins with a suicide attempt:

Kalen is about to jump off a high location and Blythe saves them; this is how they meet.

  There are MANY scenes PTSD scenes:

Kalen has constant flashbacks of being drowned by someone as a kid.

And addiction:

Kalen feels the need to use a drug to calm those flashbacks.

And rape: one character will get raped by someone a little over halfway through the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Gun violence, Misogyny, Torture, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Kidnapping

raesreadingcorner's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Homophobia, Physical abuse, and Classism

Moderate: Violence and Grief

Minor: Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

tmdreads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-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

3.75

I received an ARC but review/opinions is my own. 

This book is a romp. It’s of of those stories you just go with (Don’t question the premise) and you’ll have a good time. It’s not light though, there is lots of trama here. Check the Content warning. 

It’s a Story of found family, which I love. Good character development, character driven story. I had complex feelings about the character that I’m still pondering. It was a bit rough trying to like them at certain points but they had good character arcs. 

Wold building was through the story, which I liked, it wasn’t an info-dump but developed through the story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Violence, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty, Sexism, and Vomit