Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - Woman on Fire

Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Woman on Fire by Lisa Barr

7 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 against another edition

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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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arangele's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative tense 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

2.5

The premise was so interesting, and the beginning really grabbed me. Slowly, I got really tired of the writing style. It is not congruent with the seriousness of the themes, and that completely took me out of the experience. The dialogue is flat, and the characters have no personality when they speak. They all have the same exact voice. Even more, I found their actions hard to believe. I couldn't take them seriously. It's a shame because it seems like the research was there, and the ideas were good, but I was bored for the whole second half of the book. I couldn't wait for it to be over. I really wanted to enjoy it, but it read a bit like an annoying soap opera. Maybe it was rushed? It's an okay book, but don't expect it to be incredible (like I did).

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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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kates_books's review against another edition

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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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karlanoelle's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

So, let's start off with what I enjoyed about this book. I was in the mood to read a fun thriller, and this was exactly that. I really liked the combination of history, an art heist, investigative journalism, and globe trotting. As someone who loves learning about history, the historical component of Nazi looted art and the Holocaust were woven through the book well. The audiobook narrator was particularly great voicing such a large cast of characters, and I liked hearing the distinct accents (although I can't speak to whether they're accurate).

For what I thought could've been done better, as delicious as a villain Margaux is, she was too one-dimensional to be a truly compelling villain. I think the best villains/antagonists are the ones that have enough redeeming qualities to make you question empathizing with them, and Margaux was just a straight psychopath. While we do get some insight into her childhood, and Barr attempted to humanize her by highlighting her love for her grandfather, the emotional impact just didn't quite land for me. This is actually a common thread with some of the other characters as well. We hear their backstories that I'm sure are meant to make them more interesting and dynamic, but I feel like maybe the pacing of when we meet these characters and the timing of when we learn about their trauma is off. I think this could be a result of my second point, which is that there are A LOT of characters in this book. They all play a role in moving the story forward, so they certainly serve a purpose. But, I think Barr sacrificed fleshing out the characters and character development to accommodate such a large cast.

Overall, this was a fun read for me! Some suspension of disbelief's required, but I had a good time with it, and sometimes that's all I'm really looking for.

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cherie17's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

While this looks like a typical recover-the-expensive-stolen-art thriller, and it is that, it's so much more. The main villain Margaux is larger than life, and the extent of her psychopathy and desire for control made me so excited when a chapter started from her point of view. It's also quite a sexy read. There was one plot point midway through that completely shocked me. The ending was a little predictable, but I was still on the edge of my seat for it.

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