Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith

5 reviews

treereadingabook's review against another edition

tense slow-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: Alcoholism, Stalking, Sexism, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Misogyny, Miscarriage, and Sexism

Minor: Infidelity and Fatphobia

sibertooth's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective tense medium-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

5.0

This is an astonishingly good novel: suspenseful, psychologically acute, queasily engaging, and full of surprises even for those who have seen the film already. (Granted, I had last seen it more than ten years earlier, so YMMV.)

Since comparisons with the more famous movie are inevitable, I will say that book!Bruno is a broader, more grotesque character, but also somehow more relatable. The narrative, especially when it's in Guy's POV, tends toward the philosophical but seldom gets slow; the book is a unified whole.

This is the first Patricia Highsmith I've ever read, and I'm really looking forward to her other books.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Panic attacks/disorders, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Alcohol, Infidelity, Miscarriage, and Murder

Minor: Abortion, Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, Suicide, and Medical content

chrisljm's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

2.0

This should’ve just been a short story, but Sigmund Freud, you would’ve loved this shit. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Murder, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, and Fatphobia

namizaela's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I don't think mysteries are for me. First of all, it was hard to believe that Bruno actually convinced Guy to

murder his father, even though Bruno carried out his part of the deal.

Secondly, I had a hard time liking or even tolerating any of the characters in the novel. I think that was the point, but I personally like to read books that feature characters I can root for, and I was basically rooting against everyone. This is an interesting novel but definitely not my taste.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Gun violence, Infidelity, and Violence

Moderate: Sexism, Racial slurs, and Miscarriage

sarah984's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

There were some interesting ideas here, with the way that the two men kind of orbited around each other, and the inevitability of their downfall. The premise and idea of the murders interested me as well, but both characters were so annoying and made such stupid post-murder decisions that it was hard to sustain interest for the length of the book. This might have fared better as a short story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Infidelity, Medical content, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Miscarriage and Racism