Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins

14 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

readingwithbec's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Self harm, Physical abuse, Death, Violence, Mental illness, Car accident, and Animal death

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

risemini's review

dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Classism, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual content, Miscarriage, Self harm, Car accident, Death, Drug use, Incest, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Chronic illness, and Sexual assault

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

karinaalyse's review

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

I liked the book overall, HOWEVER I did feel like the twists could’ve been better. It felt obvious half way through, but it still makes you want to turn the pages to the end. The characters didn’t necessarily develop to me, but there is a variety of them, and they’re all different so it keeps it interesting. It has some dark themes, but some parts of it felt underdeveloped and unnecessary. Overall, a good book, I would recommend but it isn’t amazing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm and Murder

Moderate: Violence

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

tayastar28's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

A murder mystery, with a complicated family past and lots of interesting and flawed people caught up in the tangled web of intrigue and deceit.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Self harm

Minor: Incest

lunar_power's review

I couldn’t get passed the second chapter because it opens on a semi-graphic scene about cutting. As someone who used to self-harm it was too much for me — hopefully by putting this out there, someone else (who is smarter and looks at content warnings ahead of time) will be spared. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Self harm

No warning or lead up; it’s the first real character-introducing chapter

eeculp's review

dark emotional mysterious sad 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

4.0

Quick fun read! Like a lot of these, I figured out most of it but there is one final surprise at the very end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Kidnapping, Self harm, Pedophilia, Rape, Miscarriage, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Medical trauma, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcoholism