Reviews tagging 'Car accident'

The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware

27 reviews

foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

One sentence review: Unlikeable characters, gothic vibes, and page turning reveals. 

Hal has money troubles after her mom passes is faced with a threatening loan shark shaking her down for funds she doesn’t have. When suddenly, she receives notice of a mysterious inheritance from a grandmother she doesn’t know. She scrounges herself together and flees to Brighton to learn more, but didn’t expect to have to deal with family tensions, secrets and threats when she arrived…

A popcorn thriller that will ultimately be forgettable to me. I liked the tarot elements, which added in some interesting omens and foreboding. I also enjoyed Maggie’s diary entries. This was probably the most gothic and atmospheric part of the whole book, I could feel the sun on my skin during the lake scenes. 

But what I couldn’t stand was the main character Hal. She just seemed so wimpy and clueless throughout the book. The way she was characterized made me feel like I was reading a book much older than it actually was. 

Overall, not my favourite of Ruth Ware’s works but still worth the read for those gothic vibes and twisty mystery that I didn’t expect! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Misogyny, Car accident, and Pregnancy

Minor: Sexual content

abernathy_33's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Violence, Car accident, and Pregnancy

Minor: Homophobia, Infidelity, and Alcohol

fromtheyellowchair's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Homophobia

your_neighbor57's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? No

4.5

I couldn't put his Gothic mystery down! The main character is interesting and evokes empathy. I'd love to see this story made into a movie or limited series. It unfolded like a movie in my mind as I read. As another reviewer pointed out, it has some of the "feel" of Daphne du Maurier' Rebecca. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief and Death of parent

Minor: Blood, Car accident, and Murder

anissawren's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Incest, Car accident, and Pregnancy

Minor: Infidelity

bessadams's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Violence, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

This book got so confusing. Almost like Ms. Ware wrote herself into a corner, and then had to get really creative to make everything kind of work out. Also, I feel like the whole plot point about

Hal owing a bunch of money to the creepy guy

was just not really resolved? Truly, it's my own fault for continuing to read books that I'm not really into haha

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Abandonment

Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Blood, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail

larareads's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense slow-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Car accident, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Moderate: Murder and Pregnancy

Minor: Physical abuse

gracescanlon's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.5

This was an intriguing novel, with lovable characters and multiple successful red herrings. I did see some of the twists coming, but I wasn’t always entirely correct about the particulars. That kind of twist - where I can guess that there is one, and can guess maybe something or things about it, but other things I didn’t expect are revealed later - is my favorite. It’s the best of both worlds: I get some of the satisfaction of guessing correctly, but also enjoy the surprises the author had in store for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Death of parent

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcoholism, Infidelity, and Alcohol

lostinworlds's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: Death, Blood, Car accident, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Homophobia and Incest