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zosiablue's review against another edition
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Ahh what a satisfying cozy mystery. Just what I needed. Light murder/kidnapping, heavy archeological bent, a little romance but not enough to annoy, and a spooky-ass saltmarsh. I'm so glad there's like 15 more books in this series. Though not without fault - there was some unsavory animal violence & anti-fat bias (though only the main character referring to herself). But I'm ready to read 15 more stories about archaeologist Ruth Galloway and her cats.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Kidnapping, Animal death, Confinement, and Adult/minor relationship
Moderate: Violence, Murder, Infidelity, and Dysphoria
Minor: Sexual assault and Pregnancy
swaanderer's review against another edition
Fat-shaming, pov of kidnapped child
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping
Moderate: Fatphobia and Murder
kriisivanukas's review against another edition
1.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Kidnapping, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Confinement, and Death
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
janelleesch's review against another edition
adventurous
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? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Kidnapping, Child abuse, and Child death
Minor: Animal death
asourceoffiction's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I think I'll be very interested to read the whole Ruth Galloway series. This first book is a great, well written thriller. I love the archaeology side of the story and Galloway and Nelson are a great pair of characters to follow.
The setting is so desolate and beautiful, I loved every scene on the Saltmarsh. The way Ruth is drawn to it no matter how lonely or eerie it feels says a lot about how complex a character she is.
There are a lot of red herrings thrown around throughout the plot, designed to add suspicion to everyone. But unfortunately I guessed the ending pretty early on and didn't really waver in my verdict. But it doesn't happen often and it didn't take much away from the book! There were also a few touches I didn't predict to keep me guessing right to the end, and I love some of the little set ups that are in place for the next book.
The setting is so desolate and beautiful, I loved every scene on the Saltmarsh. The way Ruth is drawn to it no matter how lonely or eerie it feels says a lot about how complex a character she is.
There are a lot of red herrings thrown around throughout the plot, designed to add suspicion to everyone. But unfortunately I guessed the ending pretty early on and didn't really waver in my verdict. But it doesn't happen often and it didn't take much away from the book! There were also a few touches I didn't predict to keep me guessing right to the end, and I love some of the little set ups that are in place for the next book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Child death, Child abuse, Confinement, and Murder
Moderate: Police brutality
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
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
emilyexley's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Murder, Child death, and Animal death
foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Child death, Confinement, Infidelity, and Animal death
Minor: Religious bigotry