Reviews with content warning for Animal death - A Fuego Lento

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.

Content Warnings

biblio_jordyn's review against another edition

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mysterious slow-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

3.0

What could have been better?
There were parts that were super slow and the book felt pretty predictable. Also I feel like sometimes there were triggers for triggers sake?

What I enjoyed?
I came in with pretty low expectations because I HATED Girl on The Train so this was better for me than that.

BUT after I got about halfway I thought it was faster paced and got more entertaining. I think, while a bit predictable at times and very triggering, the book developed well and had some suspense that I enjoyed. Also the multiple POVs helped keep my interest.

I’ve seen a lot of mixed reviews about this book but I fall somewhere in the middle! Overall, it was entertaining but not the best thriller I’ve ever read.

Content Warnings