Reviews with content warning for Animal death - A Fuego Lento

I really struggled to make sense of what was going in and didn't relate to any of the characters. the story became so confused as at some point I wasn't sure if the initial death was the main point of the story anymore. Just kept reading to make sure my suspicions of the murder were correct.

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pageturningaj's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

I finished A Slow Fire Burning a few days ago, but I needed it to sit before I could actually write this review. I do have to agree that I really loved The Girl on the Train a lot more than this book, but there are still good qualities in this one.

Daniel Sutherland is found dead on his houseboat and the three women that surround his life all come into question. There is Laura, a troubled one-night-stand last seen in his home. Carla, his grief-stricken aunt, who is also mourning the death of Daniel’s mother. And Miriam the nosy next-door neighbor who seems to know just about everything that goes on in town. The secrets start to become too much and the true mystery unfolds.

I did enjoy this book, I won’t say that I didn’t because I did. I will agree with other reviews that I have seen that there are a lot….and I do mean A LOT of characters introduced within the first few chapters. I was a tad bit confused for a small portion of the book, but the characters all tie in with the main plot, and once they are all introduced it isn’t hard to decipher who each of them is. Just like the title of the book states this really was a slow-burn novel. The intricacies of the story and how everyone connected to Daniel were written so well. Now, what I didn’t like so much and I went into a deeper conversation with @theopinionatedreader and @readswithyenny about this was the story within a story. I understood what the significance of it was, but I felt like it really did nothing for the main plot. The way that was tied up was just sloppy and I really did not like it at all. I understand the ending, but there was added confusion that just did not need to be added in my opinion.

Overall, I liked reading this book. I was reading it as part of the #SteamandScreamBookClub and I cannot wait to discuss it with the group, but I was also reading it with my friends too! We all have similar opinions of it. It was a solid novel, but there were too many added things that just degraded some of the plot line.

TW: Animal cruelty/death, Young child death.

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟.5/5

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kerrygetsliterary's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

3.0

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nikkiknovy's review against another edition

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dark emotional slow-paced

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

2.0

The premise was good. I can see myself liking the story had it been told/written differently.

I have heard a lot of people talk about unlikeable characters/ bad people and how this knocks their rating of books down. That is not the case for me. These types of persons in novels overall do not bother me. I believe that the majority of unlikeable characters illuminate a kernel of truth about the human experience. They share dark thoughts and behave in ways that we deem unacceptable at a societal level. The truth is that most humans have these horrible thoughts. Most people have thought or done things they are not proud of, that they hope no one finds out, that would send them running for the hills if mind readers were real. Additionally, what stories would we read if people were perfect?!

That being said...the actions of the unlikable characters in this novel did not seem believable, not the large actions like the murder that the story is centered around, but small actions, the actions the are supposed to help tell the story and develop the characters. I did not connect or care about the characters (except for Irene - loved her kindness and candid communication throughout). I think this was largely to do with the unbelievability of their actions. Ultimately, I think this and a lack of suspense throughout is why this story failed to grab me. I was bored. I forced myself to not DNF because it was a book club pick.

I'm hugely disappointed as this is my first Paula Hawkins novel. I still have plans to read her other novels.

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yo_tdo's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious sad 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

3.5

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torireadswhat's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

This was a really fun suspense/thriller read! While there are a lot of characters, I found all of them pretty easy to distinguish. I liked the multiple POVs between the chapters, and excerpts of a book within this book. I've read Hawkins' other works, but this one is by far my favorite!

A well-written story, developed and complex characters, with an ending I didn't see coming, but kept me guessing.

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emily842752's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

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