Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Drowning Woman by Robyn Harding

21 reviews

saraellenme's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Panic attacks/disorders, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Car accident, Death, and Alcohol

Minor: Forced institutionalization

avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

3.75

   When an unhoused woman saves a rich housewife's life, their lives become intertwined in a murder plot. How will they get out alive? 
   I'm torn on rating this book, I enjoyed that it delved into deeper topics, but I also found it a bit predictable at times. I'd say I predicted at least half the twists.
    I enjoyed the happy ending, but I felt it wrapped up too quickly for how drawn out other elements were.
 
 Narrator Rating: 4.5 stars
    Both narrators were amazing! 

Extra ratings: Fluff - 0/5   Heartfelt- 4.5/5   Helpful -NA    Horror -NA    Inspiration -NA    Love aka Romance- 1/5    Mystery -3/5   Predictability -3.75/5    Spice-1/5    Suspense - 3.5/5    Tear- 4/5   Thrill - 4/5    Humor-0/5 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Toxic friendship, Violence, Cursing, Grief, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Murder, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Body shaming, Mental illness, Dementia, Classism, Death of parent, and Stalking

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic

asteinke's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Slavery, Violence, Sexual violence, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Stalking

Moderate: Dementia, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Classism, Suicidal thoughts, Death, and Violence

Minor: Death of parent, Blood, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, and Sexual assault

annaofjesup's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Blood, Confinement, and Infidelity

Moderate: Alcohol, Terminal illness, Abandonment, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Car accident, Cursing, Death of parent, Dementia, Classism, Drug use, Pandemic/Epidemic, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Vomit, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Addiction

redefiningrachel's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Confinement, Lesbophobia, Death, Mental illness, Grief, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Dementia, Bullying, Violence, Toxic friendship, Infidelity, Gaslighting, Classism, and Body shaming

Moderate: Torture, Injury/Injury detail, and Slavery

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Vomit

cheaploaf's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Book started off a little slow but was worth the wait to get to the many twists to come! Couldn’t put the book down. Would definitely recommend to anyone looking for a good thriller book. Some parts felt unrealistic but was still an enjoyable read 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Domestic abuse, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Death, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Confinement, Death of parent, Car accident, Pandemic/Epidemic, Rape, and Gaslighting

cassiealexandra's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.75

Lee was a New York restauranteur before the pandemic. Fleeing her career failure, some major debt to a dangerous man, and familial strife with her sister, she's now in Seattle, Washington. One night as she sleeps in her car (home) along the beach of an upscale neighborhood where she hopes to go unnoticed, she hears a woman's screams. Lee ends up saving Hazel's life, but Hazel isn't grateful for the rescue. The women start an unlikely friendship where Hazel shares about her abusive marriage and desire for escape.

I really liked this one and felt like every time I had the plot figured out, there was more to the story. I was a definitely uncomfortable with the nature of the abusive marriage, and normally would never pick up a story with BDSM and a total power exchange in it, but none of it was explicit or descriptive. I liked seeing the way each of the main characters developed, and liked the dual point of view. There were a couple of times when Lee came off as naive. It was also interesting to explore the topic of homelessness and privilege through this lens. 

Overall, I'd recommend this one to readers who are okay with some gruesome scenes, enjoy some twists and turns, and like to puzzle out plots. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Sexual violence

molliezeee's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense

• Loveable characters? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Blood, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Murder, Toxic relationship, and Death

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Suicide, Car accident, Dementia, Sexual content, and Death of parent

smittanybrith's review

dark tense

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Domestic abuse, Death, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Murder, and Suicidal thoughts

savvyrosereads's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Rating: 4/5 stars

A woman living in her car gets tangled up in more than she bargained for when she saves the life of a wealthy woman.

Another month, another great book club pick! I really enjoyed this one, which kept me entertained and on the edge of my seat the whole time. The chapters were super short (ALWAYS a plus), and the twists and turns made me excited to keep reading and find out what would happen next. I also really enjoyed the changing POVs, which I thought added a lot of layers and nuance to the story.

I did expect another somewhat more “groundbreaking” reveal at some point, but I think that is just a function of consuming a lot of thrillers and always expecting some massive shock at the eleventh hour. Overall, I thought this was really well paced and the plot unspooled pretty nicely—and while there probably could have been another left turn at the end, I’m not overly mad that there wasn’t. As an added bonus, I actually really liked the main characters (even if I questioned some of their decisions), which can be rare for a thriller and which I always appreciate!

Recommended to anyone, but especially if you like: shifting POVs; psychological thrillers; short chapters

CW: Domestic violence/abuse; dementia; death of parent; discussions of suicide/suicide attempt; discussions of homelessness/poverty

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Slavery, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Car accident, Suicide, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders