Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Drowning Woman by Robyn Harding

34 reviews

jcinf's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

After my last few books had 70+ page chapters, it was nice reading something with short chapters again. I finished this book in 2-3 days. 

I enjoyed the plot, most of the characters, and (again) the short chapters. 

I will say, I had my suspicions from the start that

Jesse was a bad man. Never trust a love bomber, lol.

and I was right. Predicting that didn’t make it any less enjoyable for me, though. If the author didn’t want readers to make the hypothesis on their own, that could’ve been remedied by slower pacing. But I like fast-paced books and have been desperately in need of one. So I think it’s good as is. 

I liked that there were twists without it being confusing or hard to follow. That’s a trap a lot of thrillers fall into, and it ends up docking stars for me when they do that. 

The main critique I have is that I felt like one of the main characters pieced some things together too easily almost. You almost have to suspend disbelief about that in order to enjoy it. But I do feel like the ending kind of packages that up more nicely. 

I’d recommend this to anyone who enjoys thrillers!

Note: heavy trigger warnings for everything I tagged. Especially on abuse and DV. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Forced institutionalization

Minor: Misogyny, Death of parent, and Pandemic/Epidemic

madsheep25's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

3.5

I liked this book more than I thought I would. I don’t typically like when books mention COVID or the pandemic, but I pushed through and I’m glad I did. The twists shocked me. The ending felt busy and rushed to wrap it up. But overall, it was a good read. The short chapters made it a really quick read too. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Violence, and Murder

astoriareader's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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

3.5

SYNOPSIS

• Lee is currently unhoused & living out of her car. She’s waiting tables at a shady diner in Seattle, and she’s living in her car.
• Lee decides to start sleeping in car in a secluded park with a beach area in an upper class neighborhood. One morning, she wakes up when she hears a woman drowning, and she saves the woman. The drowning woman, Hazel, and Lee become friends.
• Hazel confides in Lee that she’s in an abusive marriage, and basically, she came out there to end her life that morning. As their new friendship begins, Hazel asks Lee if she will consider helping Hazel disappear & start her new life.

MY THOUGHTS

• Harding is a talented writer. 
• Short chapters.
• Structured in different parts. We begin with Lee’s POV, then shift to Hazel’s POV.
• I thought the first half was a much stronger than the second half, and I really loved Lee’s part. It started off very strong.
• Some plot holes and inconsistencies that don’t make sense. Also, the story generally requires suspension of disbelief.
• This one had a lot of potential, and I was let down in some ways. It was an awesome beginning, a blah middle, and an okay ending.

TL;DR: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫3.5 stars. Really awesome beginning. Execution wasn’t really up to par for middle & ending. Still enjoyed the read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Dementia, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Sexual content, Blood, and Vomit

Minor: Car accident

sstewart89's review against another edition

challenging dark tense 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

siriusly_lacey's review

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Infidelity, Death of parent, and Murder

librarian_sky's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Violence

bnicoleski's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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? No

4.0

I literally couldn’t put this book down. The twists and turns along the way are unbelievable. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse and Violence

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

kassidypf13's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail