Reviews with content warning for Eating disorder - Force of Nature

I really enjoyed The Dry, so I was really looking forward to this book. Unfortunately, I didn't like it as much. It's more a 2.75 stars than a 3 stars, but the last 100 pages were impossible to put down.

I still loved Aaron Falk, and I liked his relationship with his coworker, Carmen. I liked their banter, and who they were as partner.

But there was more not to like. So much fat shaming, for no real reason. The author really wanted to make it really, really clear that 2 characters were fat, and that it was a BAD THING to be. I didn't appreciate that, especially because there was zero reason she needed to mention it every single time they were on the page. The fat characters were also seen as lazy, bad, untruthful. There was nothing really that redeeming about either of them (except one near the end, but I had to read 300 pages where she is just a fat girl who shouldn't be trusted before we got to her redemption.)

I also hated the Sam Kovac angle, it felt so lame and forced.

Overall, if you liked The Dry and want to continue the series, it's not terrible. But it's not special or even really that good.

Content Warnings

lily_k8y's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

After having read The Dry I thought I knew I was going to enjoy the descriptive Australian landscapes. I'd been warned not to read this one before a hike, wouldn't want to be found lost on a hike after this read... Really enjoyed this page turner, and how quickly the book moved forward, especially towards the back-end of the book.

Content Warnings

silver_valkyrie_reads's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This one wasn't *quite* as much of a page turner for me as The Dry, but it also had a less disturbing premise, which made it a bit of an easier read, emotionally. I did get a little tired of watching the characters make bad decisions-- I told my husband at one point, "If I wanted to read about people being inept, I could have just read literary fiction."--but not quite to the level where it ruined my enjoyment of the book. By the time I got the last third or so, I stayed up late to finish it all in one go.

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