Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Woman on Fire by Lisa Barr

7 reviews

rubl_b's review against another edition

adventurous 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? No

2.5

I liked the story and plot, and I was hopeful to love the book. But something about it left me dissatisfied. I fee like the writing was trying to hard to be good and some points left me thinking “did that really just happen?”  Slightly disappointed but good enough to finish. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, War, Violence, and Sexual content

Moderate: Antisemitism, Drug use, and Death

camsand's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Violence, Addiction, Antisemitism, Murder, Toxic relationship, War, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, and Sexual content

paytonreads's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction

Moderate: Murder, Trafficking, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Drug use, Violence, Drug abuse, Terminal illness, and Sexual content

kimveach's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense 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

4.5

I love it when historical fiction is the basis for a contemporary thriller.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Drug use, Genocide, Confinement, Infidelity, Murder, Sexual content, Stalking, War, Addiction, Alcohol, Antisemitism, Cancer, Death, Drug abuse, Grief, Gun violence, and Toxic relationship

thereadingnook's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

So this book took me weeks to read.  Not because I didn't enjoy this book, because I DID (I gave it 4.5⭐).  I just have so many NetGalley books to get through that I was "multi-tasking" with books LOL.  Anyone else relate?  ⁠
⁠
Anyway, this was my first Lisa Barr book and WOW. Just wow. There was a beautiful mix of romance, deceit, mystery and suspense.  I haven't picked up a historical fiction in awhile and this piqued my interest in HF again.  (Pretty sure the last historical fiction I read was The Nightingale).  I went in blind, and was quickly reeled in.  I'm not too big into the art scene but this story was so compelling and truly had me in its grips.  I adored, yet loathed the characters.  The plot development was on point.  There is mention of drug/alcohol addiction and murder/violence, which could be triggering to some.   If I had to nit-pick, I would say that there are A LOT of characters, which could be a bit confusing at times; and I feel as though the book could have been a wee bit shorter (about 50 pages too long).  But overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this one.  ⁠

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Violence, Gun violence, and Murder

cherie17's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Violence, Sexual content, Addiction, and Death

Moderate: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, and Cancer

Minor: Sexual assault

kathyf1687's review against another edition

adventurous informative mysterious fast-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infidelity, Kidnapping, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mental illness, Blood, Cancer, Gun violence, Stalking, Death, Drug abuse, Genocide, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Grief, Murder, Terminal illness, Violence, Addiction, Antisemitism, and Self harm