Reviews with content warning for Murder - Woman on Fire

Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Woman on Fire by Lisa Barr

14 reviews

mikaylanh's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative medium-paced

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

3.0

Sooo much happening here… and not in a great way. The concept of this was intriguing because I took several art history courses in college (though I don’t typically read this genre, like, ever) but the writing style was really not for me.

1. This being written in present tense IMMEDIATELY turned me off from it. I really struggled through the first few chapters because of this.

2. The number of adjectives and metaphors throughout the book was just over the top and got in the way of the storytelling - very distracting. I personally suck at being concise but this book could have benefited significantly by cutting a lot of this fluff out.

3. I typically love multi-perspectives but there were too many this time. It also didn’t help that characters and names started to sound way too similar to me and got confusing - Jules Roth and Wyatt Ross, Lilian Dassel and Art Basel, Ellis Baum and Bram Bakker… I just had a hard time with this too

I don’t regret reading this and I did still enjoy the heist part so I’m going with a 3/5, but I don’t know that I would recommend it to others unless they’re really passionate about art history or WWII.

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oxfordcommas91's review

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adventurous challenging emotional mysterious reflective medium-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

3.0

I’m genuinely sad about giving this book 3 stars, because I felt fairly certain it was going to be a 4 star read for me when I was about halfway through. This book had a lot of promise for me - lots of female main characters, interwoven stories, multiple art heists, WWII - all the right themes and ingredients were theoretically there. I was sucked in rather early on and was enjoying watching the story unfold.
Unfortunately the last 25 percent really crashed and burned in terms of my enjoyment. The characters became true caricatures in this last quarter. We had the naive but plucky protagonist and the cartoon psychopathic villain on a collision course. The antagonist was evil for no real reason and the depths of her depravity were confusing at times. And our heroine was one of the dumbest smart characters I’ve ever read. She was the cute blonde in the horror movie who decides to go down into the basement alone when she hears something go bump in the night.
The end only partially worked for me, though there are major plot points that are just left swirling around.
The goods - I was fairly hooked until I wasn’t, Ellis’ character arc (especially as relates to his grandson Adam), female representation in journalism.

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kpitsker's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

A WWII/Holocaust thriller with dual timelines, and a journalist character - all wins in my book. An enjoyable read overall that kept me engaged. Ending felt a little rushed.

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ultimatefans's review

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adventurous inspiring mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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jenna_gilb's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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silverhill's review against another edition

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dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

2.5

For a mystery, this was really good to start. I liked the concept of the reporters chasing the story of a painting that had been stolen by Nazis. But the main villain was so cartoonishly evil, with a hacker henchman who could hack (and sort through) every possible piece of information about a person in a day. Even from a burner phone with an encryption app? Even a person’s food and drink preferences? Give me a break. It was ridiculous. At points this book was worthy of 4 stars, and at points less than 2.

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camsand's review

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adventurous dark medium-paced

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

2.0

Seems like this book is made for me:

- Historical fiction

-WWII

-Priceless art intrigue

-Dual timelines

It started really hopeful with an opening scene that had me hooked. But then too much and not enough happened. There are too many characters and they each fit a cliche: hard- nosed newspaper editor, “ruggedly handsome” tortured artist, crazy rich old guy, sexy psychopath villian woman, etc.. The main character is an investigative reporter who dresses in frumpy clothes and glasses so no one knows she’s hot until she gets dressed up. You can tell that a lot of effort went into the writing, but it just didn’t gel for me. I get the feeling this was written to become a Netflix/HBO Max series.

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kates_books's review

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adventurous emotional informative mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

I don’t tend to read WW2 or historical fiction books, but I’m glad this was our book club pick. There was a lot going on in this book — perhaps too much. Here are my chaotic thoughts on it:

I loved learning about the art world and the history of art theft during the war.
I tend to love love stories in books, but I’m not sure if this story needed the plot line.
I really thought Dan, the renowned journalist that takes Jules under his wings, was going to make a reappearance — that he escape death yet again
There were so many characters and each had such a deep and complex background. They could have easily been written as unattainable, perfect people but the author added such deep, personal, complex flaws for each. Plus there was a great group of side characters that played such important roles: Owen, Jules mom, Louise, the hacker
Margaux being a psychopath was obvious and I can’t decide if I liked that revelation. In a way it’s a unique choice because most authors I read tend to create a background for the villains that lends at least some empathy and understanding to the characters horrendous actions. So Margaux being a psychopath just doesn’t add to the story.
I thought we would come back somehow to Jules former editor and he would finally be held accountable for taking advantage of Jules as a minor. But I do think this element of her as a character made her more fully formed and believable.
Especially in the beginning of the book, the author took her time really getting into the details of everything. Perhaps taking too long at times. But then at the end it felt like it wrapped up so quickly.
Thoughts on the ending: Ellis losing his sight before seeing the recovered painting broke my heart. Are we not going to know what happens with Carrie and Adam being involved in Margauxs fathers death? Margaux blood seeping into the art was a terrible shock but i think it made the story more interesting — it wasn’t a perfect, obvious ending. Again, I don’t think Adam and Jules need to be together — also what is their age difference??
The book opens with Jules perspective on a flash forward to a scene that we later revisit from Margauxs perspective. I feel like these perspectives don’t match. And that how Jules is portrayed in that scene in the opening is not how she was portrayed later on.

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paytonreads's review

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adventurous tense fast-paced

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

4.5

I liked all the twists in the book and how it came together in the end. The end was slightly rushed for me but that is also the nature of the genre. Overall, a good read!

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jessicalittle's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

Lots of twists and turns in this journey on finding a much-coveted painting from WWII era. Many people have a claim to the painting, and it’s fun to see how it all shakes out. Lots of drugs, sex, and some psychotic episodes referenced, but this art mystery was a new WWII plot line for me.

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