Reviews with content warning for Suicide attempt - The Soulmate

Reviews tagging 'Suicide attempt'

The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth

59 reviews

minimicropup's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Narration👍: Excellent. Didn't distract from the story and voices weren't OTT or cartoony.

Main POVs 👍:

Spouse and parent trying to come to terms with their partner's quirks (good and bad), while competing and justifying their own actions
A spouse no longer among the living. They give us a fly-on-the-wall perspective in the past and present.

Atmosphere 👍: Uncertain, sympathetic, ignorant, anxious

Set in Melbourne, Australia in an upper-class suburb

Cred Rating 😶: Plausible with a touch of OTT white-collar crime
The realism (or lack thereof) of the plot doesn't detract from the story, but has OTT elements relying on convenience/coincidence.

Growls and Howls 🐺:

Can't speak to mental health rep, but there seems to be a lot of "diagnoses" for one of the characters that involve commonly misdiagnosed conditions (ADD, ADHD, Bipolar etc.)
Regardless of diagnosis, I think the rep (doubts/worry/anger/guilt) around loving someone with mental health issues seems realistic and appropriate
A lot happens and not a lot happens type of plot that veers more into contemporary fiction than thriller
Suffers from "lazy thriller writing" (to me). Suspense is built through delay/interruption. For example, children asking questions during a police interview and adults (and police!) entertain them instead of asking they be removed from the room so the interview can proceed. High-stakes discussions delayed by child interruption, relatively minor distraction etc.

Reading Journey 🙂: Hiking. Woods, cliffs, beaches, crowded spots, sunny spots, shady spots, creepy spots.

Mood Reading Match-Up:

White collar crime drama
"Cozy suspense" (interruption, conversation/plot delays)
Family drama due to mental illness and infidelity
Contemporary fiction vibes with tragic plot points

Vibes: 🙂🤨😕

Content Heads-Up: Infidelity, Postpartum depression, Untreated and misdiagnosed mental illness (involving mania) or personality disorder, Suicide and suicidal ideation

Format: Scribd Audio

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booksofautumn's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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mwetzel's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.0

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midnightrose_reads's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.0

The Soulmate is a domestic suspense/thriller set in Australia by Sally Hepworth. It’s about Pippa and Gabe Gerard and their complicated life together. A solid standalone.

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kaylasbookgram's review against another edition

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challenging 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

4.0

Pippa finally feels like she’s found her happily ever after. The perfect husband (yeah they’ve had their ups and downs but what couple hasn’t) and the perfect home. The only downfall is their perfect home sits on a cliff where people have mad a spot for suicides. Every time Gabe is able to miraculously talk people off the cliff and back to safety until the night he doesn’t. Pippa is at a loss of what she may of saw. Did her husband push the woman or did she jump? Once she learns her husband knew the victim she begins to question his story even more.

This is a very addicting domestic suspense book! So many twists and turns that caught me off guard with each new secret coming to life. I loved having all the different POVs especially that of the victim gave the story an exciting perspective.

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smagzisreading's review against another edition

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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? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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lilycrosman's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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cj_mo_2222's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Pippa and Gabe Girard moved to a cliffside home outside Melbourne with their two daughters for a fresh start. However, the Girards soon learn that their home is close to “The Drop” where many people go to end their lives. Gabe is handsome and charismatic and has made a name for himself for being even more successful than the police at talking people out of this. However, one evening Gabe runs out to help a woman standing near the edge of the cliff, but is unable to stop her from saving a woman from falling off the ledge. Something seems strange about this to Pippa and she wonders if Gabe could be lying and what other secrets he might be keeping.

This story is told from different timelines and different points-of-view, both Pippa and the victim’s. It is a long time before the reader learns what happened to cause the Girards to feel like they needed to move to a new town. There is much back and forth and twists and turns in this story that sometimes it was dizzying. Just when you thought you knew what had gone one in Pippa and Gabe’s life, something new would be revealed. I enjoyed both the past and present narration by Pippa as well as the past narration by Amanda, the victim. However, I think there are other ways that what Amanda said could have been told without her narrating from beyond the grave.

There are so many surprises in the plot of this book, that it’s hard to comment on too much without giving something away. I will say that although I didn’t care for some of the choices made by the characters, I found the story to be compelling and I was eager to find out all of the secrets in the lives of these characters. I like that answers are given at the end and we get a glimpse into what the lives of main characters look like in the aftermath of everything that happens.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing an advance copy of this ebook. The ebook was provided to me at no cost, but my review is voluntary and unbiased.

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victoriarosalesvt's review against another edition

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mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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riannacat's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

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