Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Dry by Jane Harper

24 reviews

sophieamreacher's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Slow, atmospheric, mysterious. I enjoyed the setting and the characters. I enjoyed the flashbacks and the hints. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Addiction, Alcohol, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Grief, Blood, Gun violence, Infidelity, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Incest, Homophobia, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, and Vomit

westernsunshine's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Rape, Death of parent, Incest, Child death, and Child abuse

jess2obsess's review against another edition

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

Graphic: Child death, Murder, Rape, Incest, Gun violence, Death, Suicide, Violence, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Blood, Sexual assault, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Suicidal thoughts, and Animal death

Minor: Infidelity

wandering_canuck's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad fast-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

5.0

5 intense stars!!

I read this in one sitting. I was captivated from the opening sentence to the last word. I picked up this book only because it was a prompt for a reading challenge and I expect it to make my top 10 of 2024. 

Exceptional writing. Harper builds a vivid landscape, where the 

This is how a mystery-thriller should be written. The story was well fleshed out. Harper avoids the pitfalls of convenience and coincidence to make the story fit the outcome. Two whodunits within one novel, and both told in a way that left you guessing until the end. Though there are no loose ends left to be tied up, I never once felt I was being led by the hand. Her writing kept me engaged and I happily buckled in to ride out the story until the very end. 

This book was simply brilliant and would make a great book club read. I'll definitely pick up another of her novels. She has me hooked!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Murder, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Physical abuse, Violence, Child abuse, Bullying, Gun violence, and Alcohol

Moderate: Child death, Sexual assault, Suicide, Death of parent, Addiction, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Toxic friendship

paigegraf's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-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? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Child death

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Sexual violence

smrankin5's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

4.5

Engaging mystery.  Dark subjects.  Thrilling ending 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Emotional abuse, Incest, Death, Gun violence, Child death, Death of parent, and Grief

bek_p87's review against another edition

dark tense 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? It's complicated

4.5

This was excellent. The landscape was tangible, the tension gripping, the people real. The horrors numerous and grounded in real life. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Gun violence, Violence, and Death of parent

Moderate: Child abuse

bootsmom3's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Violence, Medical trauma, Murder, Rape, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Animal death, Addiction, Alcohol, Child death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Outing, Death of parent, Dementia, and Misogyny

melissa_b_67's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Gun violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Emotional abuse, Murder, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Grief, and Child death

Moderate: Animal death, Sexual violence, and Incest

Minor: Pregnancy

mels_reading_log's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-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

This is a story set in a drought in a rural Australian town where a double-murder/suicide has just happened. The cops, not being satisfied with that story start up an off-books investigation that unravels all of this small town’s secrets. I really liked the premise and all of the twists and turns, but the pacing was a little slow for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Blood, Child death, Child abuse, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, and Murder

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts