Reviews with content warning for Child death - A Slow Fire Burning

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.

Content Warnings

missgrangerr's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional mysterious tense 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

4.0

I loved how these stories intersected! I figured out early on what happened with the baby yet it did not pull away from the book.

Content Warnings

lilbookowl's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious 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? N/A

3.0

Content Warnings

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

Go to review page

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.

Content Warnings

hcumbie's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.0

Not Paula Hawkins best work-the time-line was a little confusing and the ending was just ok.

Content Warnings

rmr172's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.25

I should have looked at the content warnings first. Audio narration was good and I liked the multiple perspectives, but it was pretty traumatic.

Content Warnings

betherinahq's review against another edition

Go to review page

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!

Content Warnings

More...