Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Drowning Woman by Robyn Harding

24 reviews

sareeta's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Infidelity, Dementia, and Stalking

Minor: Body shaming, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Pandemic/Epidemic

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

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

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

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

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

katiedoesntftba's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious fast-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

I haven't read a book like this in a LONG time where I thought I knew where it was going and I was completely wrong. I got whiplash multiple times and loved it! I wish I could wipe my memory and read it again. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug use, Gun violence, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Blood, and Alcohol

Minor: Car accident

bee_isreading's review

dark mysterious tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Dementia, and Death of parent

Minor: Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Pandemic/Epidemic