Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

The Dry by Jane Harper

26 reviews

wandering_canuck's review

dark emotional mysterious sad fast-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

5.0

5 intense stars!!

I read this in one sitting. I was captivated from the opening sentence to the last word. I picked up this book only because it was a prompt for a reading challenge and I expect it to make my top 10 of 2024. 

Exceptional writing. Harper builds a vivid landscape, where the 

This is how a mystery-thriller should be written. The story was well fleshed out. Harper avoids the pitfalls of convenience and coincidence to make the story fit the outcome. Two whodunits within one novel, and both told in a way that left you guessing until the end. Though there are no loose ends left to be tied up, I never once felt I was being led by the hand. Her writing kept me engaged and I happily buckled in to ride out the story until the very end. 

This book was simply brilliant and would make a great book club read. I'll definitely pick up another of her novels. She has me hooked!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Murder, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Physical abuse, Violence, Child abuse, Bullying, Gun violence, and Alcohol

Moderate: Child death, Sexual assault, Suicide, Death of parent, Addiction, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Toxic friendship

emfield's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, Violence, Alcoholism, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Blood, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Dementia, Child abuse, and Excrement

Minor: Animal cruelty, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, and Animal death

madamegeneva's review

emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.25

I really, really liked this book. I watched the movie adaptation on a whim a few weeks ago and after realising it was based on a book, I requested it soon after. And boy, I’m so glad I did. 
I assumed that reading the book wouldn’t be super interesting since I’d already seen the movie, but I was surprised at how engrossed I was in text. The book obviously has more space to flesh out characters’ thoughts and motivations (for example, Whitlam’s), and the way the author describes the town/scenery truly makes me feel as if I’m sitting in an small outback town pub. Brilliant. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Violence, Blood, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Domestic abuse, and Alcohol

bootsmom3's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Violence, Medical trauma, Murder, Rape, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Animal death, Addiction, Alcohol, Child death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Outing, Death of parent, Dementia, and Misogyny

melissa_b_67's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Gun violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Emotional abuse, Murder, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Grief, and Child death

Moderate: Animal death, Sexual violence, and Incest

Minor: Pregnancy

msagerber's review

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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, and Death

Moderate: Dementia, Animal death, Sexual assault, and Incest

mels_reading_log's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-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

3.75

This is a story set in a drought in a rural Australian town where a double-murder/suicide has just happened. The cops, not being satisfied with that story start up an off-books investigation that unravels all of this small town’s secrets. I really liked the premise and all of the twists and turns, but the pacing was a little slow for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Blood, Child death, Child abuse, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, and Murder

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts

alicia_g's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Good consistent plot- just would have liked more of actually the explanation of the murders. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Dementia, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Animal death

alexreads22's review

dark fast-paced

1.0

Disgusting animal torture!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death

ginger95's review

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.75

This was a mystery that I could not put down, and I finished in one day. I was deeply invested in the main character, and the bits of the past that were intertwined with the present.

I wasn't expecting who the killer was at all, and it really took me off guard! I did feel like there was a disconnect about Luke, I mean it was implied he was a manipulator/sociopath? and I feel like they built it up a little too much to be a red herring. Other than that great read!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Child death

Moderate: Gun violence and Animal death

Minor: Incest, Animal cruelty, and Rape