Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins

22 reviews

abbysbooked's review against another edition

2.0

This book is the story of traumatic events. 

Every bad thing that could happen to someone managed to be incorporated into this book - in some instances it was sadly comical because you had to just say “oh, of course, why not”. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Mental illness, and Self harm

Moderate: Abandonment, Ableism, and Alcoholism

Minor: Miscarriage, Animal death, Sexual assault, and Incest

bookedbymadeline's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

Switching POVs between Irene, Miriam, Carla, Theo, and Laura! Also sometimes short chapters of an excerpt from Theo’s crime book, so I kind of liked the “book within a book” aspect. His book sort of reflects the main plot, in that we get switches between past and present and can’t rely on any one narrative over another.

A quick, easy read although predictable (I guessed two major plot twists within 50-60 pages). Some minor twists I didn’t see coming so that was nice at least to have some surprises!

I liked the slowly revealing of everyone’s secrets but didn’t particularly like any characters other than Irene. I did like the relationship between Irene and Laura also!

Good ending, it was wrapped up fairly neatly but with some open ended possibilities. I thought the pacing was also well done. I definitely enjoyed Girl on the Train more than this and I’m curious to read more from Hawkins! Apparently based on many other reviews, you either love GotT and hate this one or you love this one and hate GotT 😅

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Child death, Grief, Violence, Death, Alcoholism, Murder, and Blood

Moderate: Abandonment, Fatphobia, Ableism, and Infertility

Minor: Incest, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, and Car accident

sonda_says's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Ableism, and Mental illness

Moderate: Sexual assault

pandaplantain's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Animal death, Blood, Ableism, and Animal cruelty

meliemelo's review

dark tense slow-paced

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

2.75

 Crime novels aren't known for their boundless optimism, but this one seemed especially bleak. While crafting very nuanced characters, Paula Hawkins did not care for making them likeable with the exception of Irene and, to a point, Laura. The "One who got away" chapters were an interesting enough idea but ended up being a bit repetitive and didn't bring much to the book in the end (and the end of that particular thread had me roll my eyes). Finally, I felt the book lacked tension and purpose beyond the "whodunnit", and even that didn't keep my interest up much.

It's not a bad crime novel, and there were definitely some very good ideas in there, but it definitely doesn't compare to the author's previous works. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Medical trauma, Toxic relationship, Ableism, Addiction, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Child death, Car accident, Death, Dementia, Violence, Alcoholism, Incest, Kidnapping, Grief, Alcohol, Fatphobia, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Body shaming, Physical abuse, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Sexual assault, Cursing, Infidelity, Rape, Miscarriage, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Death of parent

larade's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Alcohol, Fatphobia, Blood, Bullying, Car accident, Child death, Death, Murder, Kidnapping, Rape, Ableism, and Grief

kriz01ws6's review

dark mysterious slow-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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Violence, Murder, Child death, Alcoholism, Kidnapping, Grief, Abandonment, and Sexual violence

Minor: Animal death, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, Gaslighting, Incest, and Injury/Injury detail

legsonline's review

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Incest

Minor: Ableism

mburdi's review

dark sad tense slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Moderate: Ableism

robbiclaire's review

adventurous challenging 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Ableism, Child death, and Murder

Moderate: Medical trauma and Emotional abuse

Minor: Child abuse