Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

The Drowning Woman by Robyn Harding

11 reviews

cachemeifyoucan's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

I did really like the book but it felt like the whole last 1/3 or 1/4 was completely unnecessary. I feel like I must have missed something but the book could have finished ten or so chapters before it actually did if

if the wife just left like she was meant to when her and Lee executed the escape plan. It would have been story over, every one lives happily ever after. WHY DIDN'T SHE LEAVE??? WHY did she go back to the house???

Can't stand it when things don't make sense. Please, someone spell it out for me if I missed something. I don't know why this has annoyed me so much haha.

Oh and

why did Lee keep investigating and meet with Jessies brother after she found his body and found out who he was. How was his brother going to know anything about her, the wife, the plan, and what had happened??? MAKE IT MAKE SENSE!!! And then she takes the husbands money!!! He is not the kind of guy that gives gifts. That was absolutely a favour for him to call in at some point down the line. Like come the F on. Any normal person would have noped the hell out of there once they found a dead body... in a house they weren't really meant to even be in... and where the killer and/or sick AF husband could turn up at any moment.

. Ok maybe I didn't like this book at all, crikey.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Blood

Moderate: Bullying, Physical abuse, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Pandemic/Epidemic

acbauter's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Suicide attempt

doodlebeanz's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

1.5

This book was so outrageously frustrating. It was beyond irritating and frustrating. It kept me on the edge of my seat, but at what cost? It wasn't even entertaining, if I am being honest. It was boring and unrealistic and the writing felt so juvenile and not to mention it was SO ridiculously unrealistic.

This book was about two women at the lowest points of their life and you can't even feel badly for them. They made every wrong choice. I facepalmed at least once a chapter at the stupidity of these two women. Normally in domestic thrillers like this, you're rooting for the women to get away from the man, but in this instance, I was just hoping one of them would grow a brain and make a right choice for once.

The writing was also just... not good. I don't want to say horrendous, but close to. It was so juvenile, it had no flow and it didn't feel natural. It was so cold and lackluster, like I was reading a text book or something, I can't even explain it. I didn't feel any connection to any character; no one was flushed out, no one had any depth to them, everything was rushed, everything was hinted at before it happened, there were some twists but honestly, it was just exhausting. The author threw in SO many twists that it just became repetitive and unrealistic and exhausting for the reader. So many times I had to say 'wait, what?' and go back and re-read a sentence but it still didn't make a whole lot of sense, it almost felt like Harding forgot what she was writing too. Everyone had the same tone, if that makes sense. The main characters (Lee, Jesse, Hazel, Benjamin) all had the same tone as all the lawyers, Jesse's brother, the receptionist at a salon (characters who were just there for a scene or two). It was just so... flat. No affect. Just completely void of creativity. 

The only reason this book gets a star and a half is because I did consume it very quickly. I was obsessed with finishing it and wondering what the hell was going on. It was a disappointing read and definitely a hate read. I hated how much I wanted to know, how I kept turning the pages and staying up far past my bed time to get to the end/the point. Sadly, I never got to the point but I did luckily get to the end. 

This book got so much praise on GoodReads and maybe I am just being harsh, but this was a bad book. I would not recommend this to anyone. I will not be grabbing anther one of Harding's book off the shelf anytime soon. Disappointing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Dementia, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Car accident

priscillarobock's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Pandemic/Epidemic

hellokatya's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

* 3.8☆
i read this book as a palette cleanser, and it did me so right.
i ate this book right up. it’s fast paced, sucks you right in, and doesn’t let you go until it’s done with you. 
you think you know what’s happening or where it’s going, but you dont. very intricate and thought out, but still plausible. 
highly recommend. 

i do wish that she’d done something more with the damon plotline, but i suppose it was more of a misdirect / red herring.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Toxic relationship, and Abandonment

Moderate: Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Body horror, Death of parent, and Classism

daniofthewood's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Forced institutionalization

Minor: Slavery

killmoore_'s review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.75

I couldn't have loved this more. Heart dropping suspense, holler-out-loud plot twists and a touch of pure insanity. This is one of my favorite books of the year so far. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

drnaynay's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Dementia, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Classism

redefiningrachel's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Dementia, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Classism

Moderate: Slavery, Torture, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Vomit

thatswhatshanread's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

4.25

Another solid domestic thriller!! This has definitely become my favorite sub-genre of mystery thrillers. And this one is heavy on domestic twists and suspenseful thrills!!

While it was a little slow to start, the intrigue never stops. It increases with each chapter (short chapters are the best) and throws in punch after punch of “WTF?!“ drama. This one is best if you go in blind, so I won’t say much else except that you will definitely have trust issues after finishing it. 

Robyn Harding is SO GOOD at what she does!! Fans of “Sleeping with the Enemy”, “Gone Girl”, “Killing Eve” and the like should flock to this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Dementia, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism