Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

55 reviews

betag1013's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Infertility, Infidelity, Murder, Sexual content, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Blood, Body shaming, Injury/Injury detail, Fatphobia, Addiction, Child death, Cursing, Misogyny, Stalking, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Grief, Vomit, Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence

corriejn's review against another edition

4.25

Not my most typical fare, but I found it very engaging. Decidedly not a light read, and note the major CW for active alcohol addiction, but I was pretty hooked throughout.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child death, Physical abuse, Death, Infertility, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Fatphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Blood, and Grief

Minor: Kidnapping, Pregnancy, and Drug use

lunalikesbooksss's review against another edition

medium-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? It's complicated

2.5

This book was boring af. I would have given up if I had physically read the book instead of the audibook. I even had to listen to it on a faster speed than I normally do. 

I get it, Rachel is an alcoholic, but omg she was insufferable. Constantly doing dumb shit and apologing over and over. The rest of the main cast sucked too. They were all their own brand of awful. 

I didn't even feel bad for the victim because she was also awful! I only kept going because I really wanted to know who was the murderer. 

The reason for the murder had me rolling my eyes. It was for such an obvious and basic reason. 

Why did Rachel keep remembering things when it was already established that she didn't form memories while blocked out?! Ridiculous

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Alcoholism, Murder, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Infertility, and Grief

corinnelora95's review against another edition

dark sad 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

2.0

TWs for this book: alcoholism, emotional abuse, physical abuse, infidelity, murder,

infant death

, manipulation

Much like a train, this book took a long time to get up to speed. The first 60% moved slowly, making me wonder if it really was a thriller. Once it did pick up, it gave me a very panicky feeling. I had to keep reading just to be done with the book, not because I felt the thrill enjoyable. The "saving grace" was that I didn't see the twist coming.

Here are the top three things I disliked while reading this book, though there were many others:

1) I disliked that the author resorted to the "alcoholic female" trope. It was frustrating to read over and over that Rachel would back slide and feel little remorse. 

2) I disliked the descriptions of abuse. They were written in a way that made me feel panicked and afraid for my life. The fight or flight response was real. 

3) I disliked the scene where Megan recalls the death of her infant. It again was written in a way that made me feel panicked.

If you enjoy thrillers that make you feel panicked and leave you on the brink of an anxiety attack, this book is for you. If you don't like that feeling, leave this one on the shelf. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Murder, Addiction, Alcohol, Death, Stalking, Violence, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Child death, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Vomit

Moderate: Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Sexual violence, Grief, and Blood

Minor: Abortion

themoodreader's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Violence, Body shaming, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death, Emotional abuse, Murder, Toxic relationship, Blood, Child death, Fatphobia, and Infidelity

Minor: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Death, Toxic relationship, Child death, Fatphobia, Sexual content, Blood, Confinement, Violence, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Physical abuse, Vomit, Alcoholism, Cursing, Gaslighting, Murder, Grief, Infidelity, and Pregnancy

bulbasaurcowboy's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

4.5

This was a very good thriller. It deals with a lot of themes; alcoholism, abuse, relationships, motherhood, and dealing with loss. It was a little slow at the beginning, but there was still something about how well it's written that makes you want to keep going. Even when I had figured out what probably happened (I was right!), the author still had a way of keeping you interested just to see how it would all play out. The .5 star missing is mostly for how rushed the ending seemed considering how slow paced it was at first. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Domestic abuse, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Addiction, Alcohol, Grief, Infidelity, Abandonment, and Child death

iamkiaraayleen's review against another edition

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Child death, Murder, Violence, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Alcohol, Death, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Stalking, Infertility, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Pregnancy, and Grief

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Body shaming, Drug abuse, Abortion, Fatphobia, and Vomit

bella613's review against another edition

challenging dark sad medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Murder, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Violence, Grief, Physical abuse, Child death, Alcohol, and Domestic abuse

lbeller7's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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: Pregnancy, Murder, Kidnapping, Grief, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Death, Child death, Alcoholism, Stalking, Miscarriage, Mental illness, and Addiction

lucyford's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

A really great mystery book! It met all my expectations and the story came together very satisfyingly at the end. The complex changes in timelines and characters really let you get the most of the story, and led to a very unexpected but believable ending. The writing style is nice as well, and my only criticism is that it wasn’t super captivating in the first hundred pages or so, but the rest of the book made it all worth it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Murder, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Child death, and Stalking

Moderate: Blood, Grief, Kidnapping, Body shaming, Confinement, Fatphobia, Emotional abuse, Gore, and Pregnancy

Minor: Vomit, Abortion, Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Cursing, and Mental illness