Reviews tagging 'Car accident'

A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins

27 reviews

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

mkzach's review

dark mysterious tense 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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Animal death, and Murder

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

ofpagesandparagraphs's review

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Medical content, Alcoholism, Fatphobia, and Car accident

dmariefern's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

TRIGGER WARNING readers. I struggled to get into it. However I’m happy I kept at it. There were a lot of chafed gees and storylines to keep up with that at times got confusing however I did  truly enjoy it and read it fast after I got past the first few chapters.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcoholism, Child death, Chronic illness, Fatphobia, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Car accident, Grief, Miscarriage, Bullying, Death, Murder, Physical abuse, Body shaming, and Medical trauma

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

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

jamballdonut'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

So far of the 3 books I've read by Paula Hawkins, I've only enjoyed 1 of them, and it was not this book.  I mean, it was an okay book, but jumping between the characters got confusing and I just didn't find myself liking any of them (Not that liking a character is a prerequisite to enjoy a book, but it obviously helps).

I don't have much to say other than when the killer was eventually revealed, although I didn't suspect it would be them, I just didn't care.

Both Carla and Miriam were just.. not enjoyable in the slightest.  Carla was boring and bland, and seemed massively underdeveloped, while Miriam just seemed like the nosy neighbour who can't keep her nose out of anyone's business

(Also, constantly mentioning how horrifically ugly she was, while only really focusing on her having an unattractive face, bad teeth, and being fat made me feel very.. not great about all of that.  Was there actually something wrong with her? Or was she just not conventionally attractive? She was short and fat, so that makes her some hideous beast? Mmm, no thank you.)

In comparison, although Laura grated on me, especially in the beginning, she became the main character that I truly enjoyed, mostly because she seemed authentic in a way that none of the other main characters did.  Carla's husband, ex-husband, current boy toy, whatever you want to describe him as was equally as bland, boring, and vapid.  Nobody cares about your "Main Character Syndrome", sir.

I think if she'd kept the same cast of characters, but had it from the focus of only one or two characters, it would have been much more enjoyable.  But, the switching between the main 4-5 characters, and focusing so much on previous deaths just got distracting and made the story feel bogged down to the point that the actual recent murder didn't even seem like the main plot point.

Altogether, after thoroughly enjoying Girl on the Train and thoroughly disliking this and Into the Water, I really can't see myself picking up another book by Paula Hawkins.  I want to love her, I really do, but she just makes it so hard to do so.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Blood

Moderate: Animal death, Grief, Mental illness, Medical content, Child death, Car accident, Alcoholism, and Medical trauma

Minor: Abandonment and Incest