Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Into the Water by Paula Hawkins

14 reviews

ladycranstonkc's review

dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Murder, Sexual assault, and Bullying

cassiereadsbooks_'s review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Fatphobia, Grief, Murder, Chronic illness, Suicide attempt, Cancer, Body shaming, Self harm, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Death of parent, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Kidnapping, and Mental illness

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I enjoyed this book, but I think I would have enjoyed it more if I had read the physical version. There were a lottttt of characters, and it took me a long time to parse everyone apart. I think if I had a better idea of who everyone was, I could have started storing away little details about them to feel more involved in their lives faster. I thought it was written really well though, and I felt like everyone's story had a satisfying conclusion. Love a little witchy gal, too.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Abandonment, Suicide, and Death

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Bullying, Child death, Murder, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Rape

Minor: Misogyny, Blood, Emotional abuse, and Kidnapping

mr_cain's review

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

4.75

I only docked .25 of a star because the pacing was so slow in the exposition. I understand she's establishing a whole host of characters and I do appreciate it, but it's a book you have to power through the first part of. 

This book genuinely kept me guessing. I did suspect the real culprit several times, but I waffled often. Hawkins does a great job supplying motive and details for each of the suspects without it feeling like a painfully deliberate red herring. 

Hawkins also makes the characters each their own and her style is distinct for each chapter in a different POV (i.e. Helen, Jules, + Sean's chapters all feel genuine vs. the same style with different names as many POV switching books seem to do). She provides a cast of characters who are complex and feel so real. Not every character is deeply complicated but they all have their own established psyches which I loved. 

I can easily call myself a Paula Hawkins fan after this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Death of parent, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Cursing, Bullying, Body shaming, Infidelity, Rape, Fatphobia, Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Child abuse, Physical abuse, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Blood

Minor: Vomit, Eating disorder, and Chronic illness

exrthalex's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This book closely followed several seemingly intertwined unfortunate “drownings.” Throughout the most recent tragedies, the characters are forced to confront past trauma and mistakes, so they can understand, learn, and heal. I expected the plot to have a closer connection to witchcraft/the previous “witches” drowned, but it instead felt like a side note. I enjoyed the plot overall, but would have loved if this element was explored more. While the use of multiple character perspectives can be confusing at times, it ultimately complements the story by providing an omniscient POV. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Grief, Murder, Child abuse, Fatphobia, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Rape, Pedophilia, and Suicide

millenialbookworm's review against another edition

emotional tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Rape, Sexism, Cursing, Sexual assault, Body shaming, and Bullying

mabelstulips's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Animal death, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Rape, and Death of parent

bluejeepbaby's review

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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Death of parent, Death, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Suicide, and Fatphobia

Minor: Animal death, Lesbophobia, Murder, and Animal cruelty

hkhowell's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I love the format of this book! There were so many characters and they all had their own POV chapters which added to the mystery in a compelling way. I would have liked to read more about the drownings before Lauren/seen their connection a little more obviously. I also would have loved to learn more about the main characters back story - we don't know anything about her before Nel's death. I get why she didn't want to go back to where she grew up but I would have liked to know what all she was leaving behind to do so.

I liked this one way more than the girl on the train. Ultimately the reading experience was more enjoyable than the actual story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Murder, Rape, Suicide attempt, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, and Emotional abuse

cheye13's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

2.0

I was intrigued by a premise that didn't pay off. I find a lotta mystery/thrillers lean on the drama of people hating each other or simply being terrible for no reason, and that's precisely all this is. Everyone hated each other throughout this book and I have no clue why. The drama of the drowning pool was barely skimmed and the ending was not only unsatisfying, but also pointless. I do like a small town interwoven with drama, and I don't mind unlikeable characters, but as everyone was horrible for seemingly no reason, this was ultimately just an annoyance to read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Death, Murder, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fatphobia, and Grief

Moderate: Gaslighting, Infidelity, Sexism, Cursing, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Drug use, Eating disorder, and Physical abuse

rape is not depicted on-page, but before and after is extensively detailed; many detailed scenes involve drowning