Reviews with content warning for Animal death - A Fuego Lento

This one didn't do anything for me. The one good thing I'll say about it is that Hawkins does a good job connecting all the characters to one other, but I thought the writing was incredibly dull and even pretentious at times. But most importantly I just didn't like any of the characters and couldn't have cared less about them. I've read plenty of books before with complicated, messed up characters, but I'm usually able to empathize with them despite their issues. But in this book I felt no empathy, just irritation.

Also- regarding Daniel, I really think Hawkins should have fleshed out his character more. I don't really have an opinion on whether or not he murdered Ben because we only get a few glimpses of him.

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avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

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3.0

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geneebee's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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ellebelle90's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

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laurena's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I’m not sure why everyone thought this was twisty turny.

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dfeeeen's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

4.0

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asreadbyakhila's review against another edition

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tense medium-paced

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

2.75

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juci's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Normally I’m a slow reader, but I finished this book in a day and a half. Although, I’d say it’s medium-paced - at times slower while sometimes (especially towards the end) much more fast-paced.

The story is complex enough that it kept me engaged and interested in trying to figure out the mysteries and find the missing pieces by myself. Without giving any spoilers, I just want to say I appreciated that while some parts of the puzzle were easy to put together, there were a few twists throughout the book, even towards the very end, which caught me by surprise. In the end, I felt satisfied when everything finally clicked.

Most of the characters are quite unlikable in my opinion, but that feels intentional - they’re raw, imperfect, and complex. There aren’t clear “good” or “bad” characters, which I appreciate. It gives more depth and realness to the story.

I also like Hawkins’ writing style and found the nonlinear timeline (constantly jumping back and forth in time to tell the story) fitting for this novel. It’s funny that at one point one of the characters is reading another character’s book and criticizes this exact style of writing, saying
“Like the last one, that awful crime thing. Just start at the beginning, for God’s sake. Why couldn’t people just tell a story any longer, from start to finish?”
Then Hawkins proceeds to do that exact thing again, jumping back in time to give us another piece of the puzzle. This is just a small thing that stuck with me, but there are lots of small lines like that in the book, which I found pretty clever, and I thought they gave another layer to the novel.

All in all, an enjoyable read, and I’d definitely recommend it.

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