Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins

18 reviews

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

betherinahq's review

challenging dark mysterious 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

Enjoy isn’t really the right word but this book scratched the itch of a compelling, quick read that kept me guessing. 

I like Paula Hawkin’s style of writing and while there were a few things that perhaps don’t have quite the same impact as they did a few years ago (unreliable narrator, using another text/medium as a metaphor for what’s going on) it’s still expertly crafted. 

I like how with her books the characters and therefore suspects are introduced early and there’s potentially only, say 4 suspects. So when the killer is revealed it’s never a complete curveball and you’re not surprised but you’re also rewarded with it not being that obvious - hiding in plain sight usually! 

A good crime thriller that ticks the boxes and passes by a weekend! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Child death, Mental illness, Alcohol, Child abuse, and Murder

lizziemarie01's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Death, Blood, Child death, Animal cruelty, and Murder

Moderate: Bullying, Sexual assault, Classism, Emotional abuse, Grief, Torture, and Sexual violence

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, and Alcohol

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

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

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

cpachet's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

The many points of view made this book interesting, although I found the plot itself to be very simple/straightforward at the end of the day. I also weirdly didn’t really care about solving the murder or who did it, possibly because the victim wasn’t compelling or painted in a very kind light. I feel like a horrible person! Going to self-evaluate now. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Blood, Child death, Confinement, and Animal death

Moderate: Murder, Child abuse, and Alcohol

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