Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins

15 reviews

esmescuppabook's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.0

I liked the idea of the plot but it could've given something better. The ending was disappointing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence

caseythereader's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-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

3.5

 - I almost never read thrillers, especially the subgenre of Wife this and Wife that thrillers. But I made an exception for THE WIFE UPSTAIRS because it's a retelling of one of my favorite classic novels - JANE EYRE.
- And am I glad I did! I tore through it in less than a day. THE WIFE UPSTAIRS is pure book candy - rich people behaving badly, a young woman escaping a dark past, murder most foul, etc.
- You definitely don't need to have read JANE EYRE to enjoy this book, but if you have, you'll spot some delightful callbacks in the names and details. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Violence

wenwanzhao's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

There was a mystery but it was not compelling.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Murder, Violence, Blood, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Alcoholism, Infidelity, and Toxic relationship

ashylibrarian's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.25

I have been putting off this review for a long time and I think it is because I am not quite sure what to say about this book. It was good. Interesting. But it didn't blow me out of the water. I have not read Jane Eyre, so I cannot speak on the connections to that story, but I was drawn in by Rachel Hawkins's twist on the story. 

I found the characters to be intriguing but not likable. Quite honestly, I was annoyed by Jane's incessant want to be in the riches crowd. It was annoying and made her character come off as manipulative, fake, and vindictive. And Eddie's character, I just couldn't trust. I wanted to like him, but then something would happen and I would become super suspicious of him and his motives again. 

As for Bea, I thought her character brought shape to the story along with some shocking events, but the transitions between her narration in the present and the past felt really choppy and muddy to me. This could be because I listened to the audio version, but I definitely think better transitions could have been used. 

I did enjoy the story, and I am interested in reading this book in physical formate to see if that makes a difference in my opinions, but I think I would like to pick up Jane Eyre first.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement

Moderate: Blood, Infidelity, Kidnapping, and Murder

manipulation, blackmail

kachina's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Child abuse, and Death