Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens

11 reviews

erinwea's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Blood, Physical abuse, Rape, War, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Cancer, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, and Violence

crimsonsparrow's review against another edition

dark hopeful tense medium-paced

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

4.0

A little on the nose, but a surprisingly good read in the style of Dean Koontz - but better. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual violence, Rape, Terminal illness, Violence, Kidnapping, and Gaslighting

Minor: Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Gun violence, War, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, and Sexual content

gigi43's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, War, Terminal illness, Grief, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Rape, Murder, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, and Death

singerj49's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Loveable characters and a quick page turner. The main plot points were predictable, but the stakes were high enough to maintain interest.

Also, a bit ridiculous the police didn’t think to stake outside Joe and Lila’s apartment building after the initial murder attempt.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Rape, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Murder, Sexual assault, and Pedophilia

rubyvictoria's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated

4.5

I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. The book was a smooth read, while still keeping me entertained the entire time. I want to read it again, knowing how it ends. 

My only critique is that it could have been drawn out longer, the plot developing more slowly.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Rape

fluture's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense 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

3.75

An enjoyable book to be read if you are looking for a light mystery and thriller without plot twists. I love how intense every chapter is, the author knows how to make us feel intrigued to continue reading it in one sit. Each character was described in a way where we were expected to understand why they acted that way now. Although it has predictable plot, it is still worth the read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, War, Rape, Death, Violence, Murder, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, and Mental illness

Minor: Chronic illness, Sexism, Stalking, Xenophobia, Cursing, Grief, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Alcoholism

The ending is very much predictable and satisfying. Looks a lot like average thriller movies.

blackferrum's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional lighthearted mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

A. Must. Read. Thriller.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Fire/Fire injury, Cancer, Chronic illness, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, and Death

Moderate: War and Suicidal thoughts

friends2lovers's review against another edition

mysterious sad tense fast-paced

1.5

I'm trying to read more of my owned books in 2023 and this is one of many audiobooks I've had in my Audible library for years and never listened to.  When I was scrolling through my audible app, the wintery cover caught my eye, and that's pretty much how I came to finally listen to this.  Mysteries and thrillers are not usually my genre, so I'm not sure why I bought this in the first place.  Maybe it was a daily deal?  Anyway, I did like the narrator, Zach Villa.  He kind of sounded like a young Armie Hammer.  The story was decent, but a little predictable.  I didn't connect with any of the characters enough to want to read more of Esken's novels, which are apparently all set in the same Minnesota town.  Overall, it was okay/fine.  Mostly I'm just glad to finally mark this as read and move on to another book.

Series: On his website, Esken says, "My books are not a series, but rather character arcs that revolve around a small community."   

Genres: Mystery, Thriller

Tags: winter, amateur detective, college-age MC

Setting: Minnesota, in late fall and early winter

Protagonist: Joe Talbert 

Point-of-View: 1st person, past tense

Length: 8h 24m, 333 pages, 90k words (novel)

Format: audiobook from Audible

Narrator: Zach Villa

Read Date: 08 Jan 2023

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Rape, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide attempt, Gun violence, Ableism, War, Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, and Sexual assault

Minor: Abandonment, Sexual content, Cancer, Mental illness, Self harm, Alcoholism, and Addiction

ana_reads's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Child death, and Death

reading_binosaur's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense 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

If I could give this book more stars I absolutely would because it was PHENOMENAL!!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Blood, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Incest, Chronic illness, Death, Murder, Pedophilia, and Rape

Moderate: War, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, and Gun violence