Reviews tagging 'Dementia'

A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins

9 reviews

meliemelo's review

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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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thefictionalhevschwar's review against another edition

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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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inespires's review

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dark emotional tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75


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mydearwatsonbooks's review

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kerrygetsliterary's review

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

3.0


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katbrookhart's review against another edition

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dark mysterious 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


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vzrivera's review

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dark mysterious tense medium-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

3.25

Dark. Thrilling. Suspenseful. Creepy. A few twist and turns thrown in. There's so many moving parts to this story. It was difficult to keep track of the various perspectives. The story focused on 10 women, 4 of which narrate. Plus there's a novel and a memoir that runs parallel to the story. How the author kept track of it all is beyond me. I had to get the eBook just to back track. Which was actually very helpful because the book includes a map which of course you don't get with the audiobook. The map was very helpful. I'm very impress by the authors writing abilities. I can see this book being turned into a movie someday. 

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thebakerbookworm's review against another edition

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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? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

You probably know Paula Hawkins from The Girl on the Train fame, which I have to admit I wasn't a huge fan of. I don't really remember why as I read it a few years ago and didn't write myself a review, but I remember being disappointed and not getting all the hype. So I went into this one with a little trepidation. And thankfully I was pleasantly surprised!

First off, Rosamund Pike doing the narration was fantastic! I was captivated the whole time and I loved her different voices for the characters. I highly recommend going the audio route for this one!

Secondly, the characters, though not really likable, were interesting and succeeded in making me feel empathy for them, even if I was annoyed with their choices. Though I must say, they've all been through A LOT of trauma, so beware the content warnings. And I think most of them even got some nice development over the course of the story. Not a ton, but enough to where they look different by the end.

The mystery and plot were compelling enough to keep me reading. I managed to figure out some things, so I was a little disappointed that I wasn't very surprised by the ending, but I still liked how it wrapped things up for the most part. Overall, a really good quick thriller if you're looking for something to get lost in for a while.

Thanks so much to Libro.fm, Penguin Audio, and the author for my ALC!

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azazellos_fang's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

4.0


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