Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton

20 reviews

maryconney's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious slow-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

3.5


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bonneamie's review against another edition

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

4.5


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marleyreads's review against another edition

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4.25

I don’t know why this took me so long to read! Nearly a month for 500 pages is a long time... I guess Christmas came in the way (and bad sleep). Anyways, finally!! After reading Evelyn Hardcastle and absolutely loving that book to bits and sending everyone a message to read this book, I was really looking forward to him publishing something new! If you like some Agatha Christie merged with Sherlock Holmes kind of crime/detective cases fused with some delicious fantasy elements and sickly good characters, pick up a Turton book!

Going into this I was expecting a page turning, delicate detective story with some historical elements and a touch of ‘what-is-going-on’ moments, and Turton really delivered. The main story is on a ship in the 1620’s going between Indonesia and Amsterdam, a route known to be dangerous and long. The people on it, ranging from nobles and musketeers to commoners and ship-crew, all have one mission; to get to Amsterdam in one piece. But, low and behold, someone on the ship has another idea!

Going into this I was expecting a page turning, delicate detective story with some historical elements and a touch of ‘what-is-going-on’ moments, and Turton really delivered. The main story is on a ship in the 1620’s going between Indonesia and Amsterdam, a route known to be dangerous and long. The people on it, ranging from nobles and musketeers to commoners and ship-crew, all have one mission; to get to Amsterdam in one piece. But, low and behold, someone on the ship has another idea!

There are so many plot twists to this story, and it truly came to such a cool ending. I sort of realized it but sort of didn’t think that it was possible, but anyways, I love Turton’s way of writing a story. The way he gets those small elements and details we need to investigate, but also give us that big Poirot ending where everyone is gathered and we get to know who the killer is. I think my only issue was actually managing to keep track with the characters due to the constant changing of titles vs. names😅 This was a four star for me, but it’s only because Evelyn Hardcastle really got me along and I could not put it down, while I had some issues getting into this story.

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beth_writes's review against another edition

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mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I have been wrestling with why I didn’t like this book. I agree with other reviewers that it’s slow to get going, but I think what really troubles me is Sara’s character. She’s a very flat character. Somehow she lacks dimension to me - and I think that’s because we see a lot of “telling” rather than “showing” her strength. Her actions and descriptions do not match for me, making her seem like she’s acting out of character all the time. Lia has something of the same issue. I get that she’s “clever” but what else?? I live for vivid character description where you can feel the characters and see them as if they’re in a room with you - and I just didn’t connect to the women in this story. 

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thequeenofsheba3's review against another edition

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

4.0


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nicirvine19's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious 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? No

4.0


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olia_k21's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-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

4.75


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quetzel90's review against another edition

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

4.0

This was a good book.  It technically had all the pieces I was looking for, but it felt like it didn't quite have the emotional depth I was looking for.  Especially when it came to the ending.  
The ending felt rushed and like it was focusing on the wrong person.   Arent was the one who was betrayed and yet we were focusing on Sara's perspective.  It just felt a bit shallow emotionally.
 

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akizato's review against another edition

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adventurous 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

4.5

Slow to start but once I got into it I really enjoyed it. The characters were all really interesting, and I liked the ending. 

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esme_may's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This was so much better than I was expecting! I wouldn’t have picked this up if I hadn’t got a copy for free but I might read Turton’s other book now. I’d recommend reading this when you have a bit of time on your hands because of the slow pacing: I took it on holiday and it was great for that!

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