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bibliomania_express's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Today was the May long weekend here in Canada, and the weather has been warm and sunny. I went to a nearby park to read and enjoy the sunshine, and ended up reading my whole book.
Voyage of the Damned by Frances White is a sharp, quick-paced murder mystery that was everything I hoped it would be. Twelve Blesseds, each representing a province of the United Empire of Concordia, are on a voyage to the sacred mountain. Except Dee isn't Blessed - he's hiding his lack of power to protect his province. Then Dee has bigger things to worry about as one by one the Blesseds are murdered. Dee will have to figure out who the murderer is and what's going on before he ends up dead.
I had such a great time with this book. It has some great character work, a twisty mystery, an interesting magic system, and fantastic representation of different races, sexualities, body types, and disabilities. It also deals with classism, xenophobia, prejudice, religious bigotry, self-esteem, and the economics of control. Along with grief, love, family, found family, and corruption. Just a whole lot of stuff packed into an isolated, closed circle murder mystery on a boat.
Dee was a great protagonist and it was fun to follow him through his resentment and self-loathing at the lie foisted upon him to finding his true self and working his way through the clues. Dee is loud, proud of his big body, funny while using humour as deflection, and in many ways his idgaf nature is what saves the day. There's also a romance element in this book, which went some unexpected ways a few times.
I liked how the Blessings were tied into the plot, and how the story unravelled by revealing bits about each character and their pasts. It did get a bit confusing that characters had names but were also called their province's animal name.
I did guess some elements of the solution, but not all of it. I'm not sure if I would class this as a fair play mystery since some of the clues come rather late and deal a lot with the politics and secrets there wouldn't be a way of knowing.
I'd have more to say, but it would all be spoilers, so I'll leave it there.
Voyage of the Damned by Frances White is a sharp, quick-paced murder mystery that was everything I hoped it would be. Twelve Blesseds, each representing a province of the United Empire of Concordia, are on a voyage to the sacred mountain. Except Dee isn't Blessed - he's hiding his lack of power to protect his province. Then Dee has bigger things to worry about as one by one the Blesseds are murdered. Dee will have to figure out who the murderer is and what's going on before he ends up dead.
I had such a great time with this book. It has some great character work, a twisty mystery, an interesting magic system, and fantastic representation of different races, sexualities, body types, and disabilities. It also deals with classism, xenophobia, prejudice, religious bigotry, self-esteem, and the economics of control. Along with grief, love, family, found family, and corruption. Just a whole lot of stuff packed into an isolated, closed circle murder mystery on a boat.
Dee was a great protagonist and it was fun to follow him through his resentment and self-loathing at the lie foisted upon him to finding his true self and working his way through the clues. Dee is loud, proud of his big body, funny while using humour as deflection, and in many ways his idgaf nature is what saves the day. There's also a romance element in this book, which went some unexpected ways a few times.
I liked how the Blessings were tied into the plot, and how the story unravelled by revealing bits about each character and their pasts. It did get a bit confusing that characters had names but were also called their province's animal name.
I did guess some elements of the solution, but not all of it. I'm not sure if I would class this as a fair play mystery since some of the clues come rather late and deal a lot with the politics and secrets there wouldn't be a way of knowing.
I'd have more to say, but it would all be spoilers, so I'll leave it there.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Death, Classism, and Colonisation
Moderate: Grief, Blood, and Bullying
Minor: Child death, Fatphobia, Suicide, Ableism, and Terminal illness
filey's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
It's definitely not a bad book and if you're looking for YA-style Fantasy where the characters are allowed to swear, get a boner and think about death sometimes you'll probably like it. However, in terms of marketing I've mainly seen this labeled as adult fantasy, and if you go in expecting that, you'll likely be disappointed.
I bounced hard off the tone/writing in the early chapters because the protagonist's wittiness felt extremely forced. Very much got the impression the book couldn't decide whether it wanted to be adult or YA. The worldbuilding, writing and characterisation were definitely on the simpler side and while the author was clearly trying to delve into some deeper themes with some of the backstories—the mix just didn't work for me.
It was nice to see some LGBT rep but the main couple felt underwhelming, which made the overly simple finale fall extra flat for me as well.
I bounced hard off the tone/writing in the early chapters because the protagonist's wittiness felt extremely forced. Very much got the impression the book couldn't decide whether it wanted to be adult or YA. The worldbuilding, writing and characterisation were definitely on the simpler side and while the author was clearly trying to delve into some deeper themes with some of the backstories—the mix just didn't work for me.
It was nice to see some LGBT rep but the main couple felt underwhelming, which made the overly simple finale fall extra flat for me as well.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Fatphobia
bookishde's review against another edition
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Murder, and Fatphobia
inkysplodge's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
mysterious
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, Murder, Self harm, Death, Classism, and Cursing
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Suicide attempt, Blood, Terminal illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcohol
Minor: Death of parent, Fatphobia, Suicide, Vomit, Animal death, and Sexual content
mayas's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
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? Yes
4.5
I devoured this audiobook!!!! It was so fun. The tone, character, and comedy reminded me a bit of A Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue (which I also devoured!).
I loved the characters, especially Grasshopper :’) and i loved the (respective) commentaries on imperialism and connecting to others. I feel like Dee really grew over the course of the story, especially when it came to his relationship with himself and with others. I am proud of him.
I wasn’t sure how I felt about the twist re the romantic lead. It took me a while to process and to think of “Wyatt” as really Ravi (I missed “Wyatt”!). Especially because I spent most of the book having negative feelings toward Ravi and Dee had seemed to get over him! But I pretty much made peace with it at the end. Wonder what my experience would be on a reread/listen!!!
Highly recommend the audiobook for this!!! The performance was GREAT. Wasn’t a fan of the narrator’s voice for Wyatt but was very happy with everything else! Also, the Spider Blessed’s voice really reminds me of Rachel Skarsten’s English accent, which was so ?!?! (you’ll know what I mean if you’ve seen Reign or the Hallmark movie where she’s a spy undercover as a nanny for the English royal family lol over Christmas).
Definitely recommend!!!!!!!!!
I loved the characters, especially Grasshopper :’) and i loved the (respective) commentaries on imperialism and connecting to others. I feel like Dee really grew over the course of the story, especially when it came to his relationship with himself and with others. I am proud of him.
Highly recommend the audiobook for this!!! The performance was GREAT. Wasn’t a fan of the narrator’s voice for Wyatt but was very happy with everything else! Also, the Spider Blessed’s voice really reminds me of Rachel Skarsten’s English accent, which was so ?!?! (you’ll know what I mean if you’ve seen Reign or the Hallmark movie where she’s a spy undercover as a nanny for the English royal family lol over Christmas).
Definitely recommend!!!!!!!!!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Chronic illness, Grief, Death, Murder, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, and War
sarahna's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Murder, Bullying, Chronic illness, Classism, Ableism, Blood, Suicide attempt, Fatphobia, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Body shaming, Confinement, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Violence, and Vomit
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