Reviews tagging 'Child death'

The Dry by Jane Harper

79 reviews

sophieamreacher's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Slow, atmospheric, mysterious. I enjoyed the setting and the characters. I enjoyed the flashbacks and the hints. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

westernsunshine's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Incest, Rape, Death of parent, and Murder

annie_brewer's review against another edition

mysterious tense slow-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? It's complicated

3.25

 Read via audiobook (Wavesound from W. F. Howes Ltd)

A solid mystery! Really enjoyed the small town atmosphere, very accurate of rural Australia. 

I appreciate that the police work was mostly just collecting the information through questioning. The barrier to get people talking was excellently conveyed, but the solving of the case felt achievable once all the information was acquired. This seemed like a very accurate representation of how cases with limited resources could be resolved albeit doesn't provide the reader with an overly satisfying revelation. 

I did find that Falk was a very average protagonist. He seemed to not have any motivations, nor large personality flaws, and was overall a bit underwhelming. The secondary characters were also a bit basic, but maybe were written to be reserved to add to the tension within the novel in regards to the drought, financial struggles and the distrust of the protagonist.

This was quite a slow paced read, but the duel timeline mystery of Falk's past was very interesting and kept me hooked.

Excited to read the next installments! Hopefully we learn a bit more about Falk and he becomes more developed.
 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Gun violence, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Violence, and Alcohol

Minor: Addiction

Gambling addiction

jess2obsess's review

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• 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: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Infidelity

summerlouisereads's review against another edition

dark 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

3.5

I agree with most reviews because everyone’s reviews are near enough the same. It is slow paced somewhere, it can feel to go on and on: but the short chapters make it readable and it is a great read. It took me a long time to read as it wasn’t captivating enough for me, but still mysterious enough for me to not put the book down and give up. 
It is a great book though. 
I only wish that Gretchen and him got together and that the ending was more dramatic: the reveal of the murderer was slipped into the story so easily I was kinda shocked it wasn’t built up more. And when we found out how Ellie died, I wanted her father to go down for that murder and it was like he got away with it and everything he did to Falk after. 
Nice read though, good story line, just too long and too stretched out.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, and Death

wandering_canuck's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad fast-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

5 intense stars!!

I read this in one sitting. I was captivated from the opening sentence to the last word. I picked up this book only because it was a prompt for a reading challenge and I expect it to make my top 10 of 2024. 

Exceptional writing. Harper builds a vivid landscape, where the 

This is how a mystery-thriller should be written. The story was well fleshed out. Harper avoids the pitfalls of convenience and coincidence to make the story fit the outcome. Two whodunits within one novel, and both told in a way that left you guessing until the end. Though there are no loose ends left to be tied up, I never once felt I was being led by the hand. Her writing kept me engaged and I happily buckled in to ride out the story until the very end. 

This book was simply brilliant and would make a great book club read. I'll definitely pick up another of her novels. She has me hooked!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Sexual assault, Suicide, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

emfield'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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Suicide, Blood, Excrement, and Dementia

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Misogyny, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

the_tea_collector22's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

Quick pulsed mystery with lots of twists and details along the storylines. I loved how Harper consistently mislead readers throughout the story with careful misdirection, it was so satisfying seeing how things came together. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, and Gun violence

bertrandlm's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Sexual assault

Minor: Suicide

paigegraf's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Death of parent

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Sexual violence