Reviews tagging 'Rape'

A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins

26 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

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

I liked this one, and I thought the many varied stories were interesting. I liked the injustice that was felt for

the stealing of someone's story. That would be so devastating.

The main character stressed me the heck out, but I think she was written pretty well. Love family drama.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, and Child death

Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Grief, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Blood, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Pregnancy, Rape, Classism, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, and Stalking

readbycarina's review

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Car accident, Sexual assault, Rape, and Death

Moderate: Child death and Blood

Minor: Grief

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

mroth's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

An engaging but probably forgettable thriller. Some interesting twists. More sad than suspenseful 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Child death, Incest, Animal death, Alcoholism, and Murder

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

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

thefictionalhevschwar's review against another edition

funny mysterious sad tense 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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Alcohol, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Incest, Adult/minor relationship, Dementia, and Rape

sleeson's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.25

My first Paula Hawkins book. I liked it. The narrator was great! Swearing. Not for teens. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Rape, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Cursing, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Car accident, Alcohol, Violence, Physical abuse, and Emotional abuse

lookaclara's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Child death, Self harm, Blood, and Rape