Reviews with content warning for Death - The Soulmate

Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth

54 reviews

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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

3.75

I was a little afraid that the narrative style choice was going to be kind of gimmicky, but I thought it worked pretty well. But also goddamn, can women stop dating super annoying and damaging men? At least this is super realistic. The husband is just such a nightmare. The female characters in this book seem to fall into the trope of women being too emotional to remember to be logical. And I do not like that.

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janin's review against another edition

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dark mysterious 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

3.5

it was alright, the short chapters made it a pretty quick and entertaining enough read. nothing too exciting happens, and there was barely any tension built because the cliffhangers (pun unintended) were usually resolved quickly. also i disagree with the 50% of you that said there was "strong character development"; did we read the same book? but! i am satisfied with the ending, so overall, it was fine.

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bek_p87's review

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emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

This was several thrilling mysteries and domestic dramas rolled into one. The ambiguity inherent in the central mystery - did the woman jump, or was she pushed? - kept everything moving forward, but ultimately wasn't the most interesting part of the story. I enjoyed the multiple points of view and timelines, and how they all came together at the end.

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mriou310's review

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dark emotional mysterious tense 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? Yes

3.0

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jessicar86's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-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? No

5.0

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madanxiety's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Has Big Little Lies energy (referring to the show - I've never read the book), except the "mystery" is a lot more obvious - the protagonist just takes forever to wake up from the denial. Still, it hooked me quite quickly, which is why I was so upset when I realized that I'd started it super late into my loan on Libby and it was returned before I could finish it. Now, two months later, I finally got it loaned again and finished it!

I appreciate how messy it is. I also like how and when certain details/twists are revealed. You're certainly weaving around major things before finally reaching them.

Idk I'm just left feeling like "THAT was a book." It's not like revolutionary, but it does what an entertaining book ought to do.

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meredith_williams_'s review

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

The Soulmate was the first mystery I’ve read in awhile. The book centers on a married couple who lives on a cliff side and frequently has to deescalate strangers’s suicide attempts. On the night of an unsuccessful rescue attempt, the wife grows suspicious of her husband’s potential involvement. I really liked Hepworth’s writing style. Her pacing keeps the story moving and she does a great job of flipping between timelines to slowly release key information about the relationships between the main characters. Having one of the characters narrate from beyond the grave was also a really interesting style choice that added to the overall intrigue. I didn’t love how a lot of mental health issues were sensationalized for the purpose of the plot. I understand the appeal and I think it happens frequently in the genre, but in my opinion it’s reinforcing some negative stereotypes. A few of the reveals were also a little over the top. But overall I will read more of Hepworth’s work. If you’re looking for a quick, entertaining, and dramatic read, I recommend The Soulmate.

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berriesreads's review against another edition

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mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

This plot was promising, and it started off really well. But then it dragged on and the plot twists just fell flat.

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spicy_tofu's review

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

1.5

The characters were extremely unlikeable and I found it hard to connect with any of them. The main character was unbelievably stupid, weak, naive, bland and tiresome. I was disappointed and frustrated that she lacked any common sense and continued to gaslight herself throughout the ENTIRE book and it made it hard to be invested in her story. The way she is SO obsessed with and forgiving of her TERRIBLE husband (with countless glaring red flags) just because he's gorgeous. 🤢🙄🤡 Mental illness was used as a plot device and I felt like it was done so in an extremely disrespectful, lazy and damaging way. It either reflected poor understanding of mental illness or poor writing?? The few lines at the end of the book about the main character's realisation regarding her husband's mental illness felt lazy and nowhere near sufficient to save the book from its damaging portrayal of mental illness. I did enjoy the format with the short chapters and mini cliffhangers and different perspectives and times. But the second person's POV was kind of a crazy concept... Anyway the main character and her husband gave me bad vibes from the start and they were all confirmed by the end, which was kind of predictable. There was also zero character development, and this was reinforced by the final chapter where we get to glimpse one year into the future. I also found the portrayal and writing of some of the characters very inconsistent and confusing. Many aspects about the ending were also very frustrating.

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wonderfulxwonderful's review

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dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.75

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