Reviews tagging 'Stalking'

Woman on Fire by Lisa Barr

4 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Addiction, Rape, Sexual assault, Murder, and Alcoholism

Moderate: War, Grief, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Genocide, Stalking, and Trafficking

silverhill's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Murder, and Stalking

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

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