A review by pageturningaj
A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins

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

3.5

I finished A Slow Fire Burning a few days ago, but I needed it to sit before I could actually write this review. I do have to agree that I really loved The Girl on the Train a lot more than this book, but there are still good qualities in this one. 

Daniel Sutherland is found dead on his houseboat and the three women that surround his life all come into question. There is Laura, a troubled one-night-stand last seen in his home. Carla, his grief-stricken aunt, who is also mourning the death of Daniel’s mother. And Miriam the nosy next-door neighbor who seems to know just about everything that goes on in town. The secrets start to become too much and the true mystery unfolds. 

I did enjoy this book, I won’t say that I didn’t because I did. I will agree with other reviews that I have seen that there are a lot….and I do mean A LOT of characters introduced within the first few chapters. I was a tad bit confused for a small portion of the book, but the characters all tie in with the main plot, and once they are all introduced it isn’t hard to decipher who each of them is. Just like the title of the book states this really was a slow-burn novel. The intricacies of the story and how everyone connected to Daniel were written so well. Now, what I didn’t like so much and I went into a deeper conversation with @theopinionatedreader and @readswithyenny about this was the story within a story. I understood what the significance of it was, but I felt like it really did nothing for the main plot. The way that was tied up was just sloppy and I really did not like it at all. I understand the ending, but there was added confusion that just did not need to be added in my opinion. 

Overall, I liked reading this book. I was reading it as part of the #SteamandScreamBookClub and I cannot wait to discuss it with the group, but I was also reading it with my friends too! We all have similar opinions of it. It was a solid novel, but there were too many added things that just degraded some of the plot line. 

TW: Animal cruelty/death, Young child death. 

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟.5/5
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