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fossilreads's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Almost gave up in the beginning with all of Ruth's (and everyone else's) internalized fatphobia, not sure if it was 100% worth it. I'm glad I finished the book, loved the mystery of it! Some of the twists were really surprising and some of them I was happy to have guessed in advance.
I will be continuing the series, hoping to see Ruth grow out of judging everyone's weight.
The theme of children being kidnapped and killed can be very difficult to handle, I'm very glad of the families whose children dissapeared had a connection and supported each other in something very traumatizing. Kind of hated all the infedility, I wish so many of them weren't out there cheating on their partners and knowingly having relationships with married people.
I will be continuing the series, hoping to see Ruth grow out of judging everyone's weight.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Infidelity, and Fatphobia
Minor: Child abuse
claireteichman's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
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? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abortion and Fatphobia
samsearle's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Violence, Kidnapping, Animal death, Fatphobia, and Murder
mars_ira'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? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Fatphobia
professorbadger's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
Often the books that I enjoy most are those with a strong sense of place, the kind that transport you while you’re reading and leave you with a slightly unsettled feeling of “traveling back home” once you’re done. This book was set in the salt marshes near Norfolk (the English one, not the VA one) and gave me that feeling of being there in person in the marsh.
Many of the bad reviews here seem to be based on certain elements of the story rather than the writing itself — eg, there was a weird through line of talking about the main character’s weight (I assume the author wanted more weight diversity in novels but didn’t do a great job of carrying that out) and also several instances of infidelity. Writing-wise, the pacing and plot and character seemed well done. The main character had a strong presence, enough that I would like to read more in her series and see what she gets up to next. My library has 20 other e-books by the same author and most have wait times, so I’m hoping that’s a sign that it’s all uphill from here. So, in short, it wasn’t a perfect book but enjoyable enough, and I’m looking forward to checking out more in the series.
Many of the bad reviews here seem to be based on certain elements of the story rather than the writing itself — eg, there was a weird through line of talking about the main character’s weight (I assume the author wanted more weight diversity in novels but didn’t do a great job of carrying that out) and also several instances of infidelity. Writing-wise, the pacing and plot and character seemed well done. The main character had a strong presence, enough that I would like to read more in her series and see what she gets up to next. My library has 20 other e-books by the same author and most have wait times, so I’m hoping that’s a sign that it’s all uphill from here. So, in short, it wasn’t a perfect book but enjoyable enough, and I’m looking forward to checking out more in the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Kidnapping, and Animal death
Moderate: Fatphobia and Child death
pdestrienne's review against another edition
medium-paced
2.5
this was a great book to have ready when I had a migraine because it was interesting enough to keep reading but not so good that I had to be at full mental capacity to enjoy it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia
emlo's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I found this book drew me in, especially the descriptions of the saltmarsh. The weather was a character in it's own right. I liked the fact that the characters are all complicated people and not just one note. I look forward to getting to know the main characters better in the rest of the series. There was quite a lot of time spent going on about how fat Ruth was - at a whooping 12.5 st (rolls eyes), please, enough with the body shaming.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Kidnapping, and Animal death
Moderate: Child abuse
Minor: Abortion and Fatphobia
dckathleen's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
It's a good mystery. Dr Ruth Galloway is called upon to help identify some bones found after a second child has gone missing. We learn about Ruth and her background and we meet her friends and colleagues while the tension builds around the missing children. All of this is good, but I'm deducting a full star for her constant remarks about her weight. She calls herself fat in a number of ways, including being concerned that a seatbelt might not fit around her or that some sort of sensor might go off and so on. I found it to be distracting and unnecessary.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Fatphobia
kakeyame's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
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? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Child abuse, Animal death, Gaslighting, Murder, Fatphobia, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Violence, Child death, Blood, Death, Medical trauma, Religious bigotry, Toxic friendship, Mental illness, Torture, Emotional abuse, and Kidnapping
gemin1reader's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.5
I really enjoyed the mystery, found myself racing to the end to discover who had done it and would read more of the series, but I was frustrated by a few things - namely the fatphobia and focus on the main characters weight which felt a bit Bridget Jones and completely unnecessary?
Nearly all the male characters in this book were completely unbearable too, although that did eventually make sense in the context of the story.
Nearly all the male characters in this book were completely unbearable too, although that did eventually make sense in the context of the story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Kidnapping, Child death, and Murder
Moderate: Fatphobia and Abortion