Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins

43 reviews

lpdx's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Violence, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Child death, Toxic relationship, Blood, Child abuse, Classism, Death, Infidelity, and Kidnapping

alexklinect's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

Definitely a page turner! Unfortunately, the abundance of language combined with the irritating, unlovable, and unbelievable characters (all of them) as well as the convoluted ending made this only a 3-star rating for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Sexual content and Violence

bessadams's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, and Confinement

Moderate: Alcoholism, Infidelity, and Fire/Fire injury

savreads28's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Medical content, Cursing, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Death, Murder, Toxic friendship, Gore, Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Domestic abuse, Grief, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, and Violence

cassroberts89's review against another edition

dark funny tense fast-paced

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

3.5

It’s been a while since I read Reckless Girls, but I remember enjoying that book much more than I did this one. It’s a page-turner, but not really a twisty thriller. And the romance/not-romance didn’t really do much for me. Still, it was a fun quick read. I couldn’t put it down mainly because I wanted to watch this dumpster fire play out till the end. 

And I still haven’t read anything by the Brontës. Guess I need to get on that.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Alcoholism, and Confinement

Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Toxic friendship

enchantedmammal's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and Murder

Minor: Toxic relationship

erin_l's review against another edition

funny mysterious medium-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

2.5

Pretty typical of the genre, with the twist of being a modern-day telling of one of my favorite books, Jane Eyre, but without the hopefulness, wisdom, and decency of it’s source material.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement

Moderate: Murder, Death, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

rachel_stout'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: Alcoholism

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, Murder, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Domestic abuse and Violence

grace33's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Murder

Moderate: Death of parent and Confinement

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

minimicropup's review against another edition

dark lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

🇺🇸 Set in an affluent neighbourhood of small-town Alabama, USA 

POV: The perspectives are intertwined between the lives of a dog walker striving for stability and the complex history of a client’s previous spouse. The multi-layered narrative weaves first-person perspectives from our dog-walker and diary entries from the spouse, along with third-person accounts of the spouse’s past from former friends. 

 

Mood Reading Match Up: 

-A twist on the ‘I’m gonna steal your life’ trope with multi-perspective intrigue. 

-Psychological thriller full of lies, morally grey characters, and deceptive appearances. 

-Playing-hard-to-get, whirlwind, manipulative romantic suspense 

 

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🐺 Growls, Howls, and Tail Wags 🐕 

✏️ Writing: The writing style was fluid and easy to follow, balancing simple storytelling with strategic repetition to build suspense, which drew me back in before setting up the unexpected twists. 

 

🫥 Characters: Jane, the protagonist, is a blend of street smarts and naivete. Her chapters were engaging enough to keep me from skimming, revealing a character shaped by her past yet hopeful for a better future. 

 

🗺️ Worldbuilding: The setting isn’t overly descriptive but is brought to life with small, significant details. The luxurious yet generic rich environment is peppered with enough specifics to make scenes vivid for imaginative readers without overwhelming those who prefer more straightforward descriptions. 

 

🔥 Fuel: The narrative is driven by Jane’s manipulative undertones, so I was often questioning her motives and past. A twist early in the book added depth to the story, revealing complexities in the characters’ lives and relationships. 

 

🐢🐇 Pacing: Steady and well-timed, the story’s pace kept me engaged, with perspective shifts and reveals occurring just as my interest was starting to wane. 

 

🎬 Scenes: The use of italics for Bea’s past perspective added a dreamlike quality to those sections, enhancing the overall atmosphere and plot development. There is an open-ended conclusion so prepare to interpret the outcome in your own way. 

 

🤔  Random Thoughts: I like how the author effectively used diary entries and different perspectives to delve deeper into each character. I think it was a skillfully crafted thriller that offered a neat twist on what has become a classic (possibly even overdone) domestic suspense trope. 

 

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Content Heads-Up: Loss of a spouse. Confinement. Possible false accusations. Financial insecurity. Building fire/fire injury. Manipulation and back-stabbing. Infidelity. Alcohol use/alcoholism (self-medicating). 

Rep: Features White American and ambiguously described characters. 

 

Format: Paperback 

 

“Reviews are my musings 💖 powered by puppy snuggles 🐶 refined by my AI bookworm bestie ✨”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement

Moderate: Infidelity and Classism

Minor: Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, and Death