Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins

9 reviews

paigestilwill's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-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

4.5

A Slow Fire Burning combines all the things one might love about a murder mystery—suspense, shifting perspectives, red herrings and their explanations. I thought the character development was well done, the plot hummed along but never divulged too much at once. 

The death of Ben and the depiction from Daniel’s perspective was a bit difficult to face, though I venture that was the point. Just a fair warning to any moms of toddlers—you may want to sit this one out. 

My only slight hang up with this one was the build up to Jeremy’s reveal—Miriam’s history was perhaps the most interesting to me—the resolution to which felt deflated and hurried compared to the other storylines that tied things up more assuredly. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Child death, and Blood

Moderate: Vomit, Infidelity, Incest, Rape, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Miscarriage

corvicore's review

dark mysterious sad slow-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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, Cursing, Death, Kidnapping, Alcoholism, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death of parent, Child death, Medical content, Car accident, Mental illness, Animal death, Fatphobia, Incest, Infidelity, and Sexual content

Minor: Stalking, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexism

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

em_gauts's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Murder, Violence, Death, Blood, Child death, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, and Cursing

Minor: Incest, Infertility, and Infidelity

odrib's review

dark 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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Rape, Alcoholism, Grief, Violence, Sexual violence, Child death, Addiction, Murder, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Medical content, Infidelity, and Car accident

ekmoore11's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, and Child death

Moderate: Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

shiran_fa's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Kidnapping, Blood, Animal death, Alcoholism, and Child death

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Car accident, Chronic illness, and Kidnapping

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Incest, Grief, Infidelity, and Medical content

laurena's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I’m not sure why everyone thought this was twisty turny. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Infertility, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts

kerrygetsliterary's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Cursing, Death, Dementia, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

Moderate: Miscarriage, Rape, and Sexual assault