Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Into the Water by Paula Hawkins

25 reviews

rsbrown19's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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: Suicide and Violence

Moderate: Rape, Sexual content, and Grief

eshiltonn's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Murder

unboxedjack's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

cheye13's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

2.0

I was intrigued by a premise that didn't pay off. I find a lotta mystery/thrillers lean on the drama of people hating each other or simply being terrible for no reason, and that's precisely all this is. Everyone hated each other throughout this book and I have no clue why. The drama of the drowning pool was barely skimmed and the ending was not only unsatisfying, but also pointless. I do like a small town interwoven with drama, and I don't mind unlikeable characters, but as everyone was horrible for seemingly no reason, this was ultimately just an annoyance to read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Death, Fatphobia, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Sexism, and Gaslighting

Minor: Drug use, Eating disorder, and Physical abuse

rape is not depicted on-page, but before and after is extensively detailed; many detailed scenes involve drowning

tlikestoread's review against another edition

mysterious sad

• 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Gaslighting

cindas_books's review against another edition

emotional informative mysterious reflective relaxing tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, and Fatphobia

booksjessreads's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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 was quite confusing in places, and honestly, the multi-perspective style and the constant switch between first- and third-person narratives just didn't compel me to keep reading in places. There is a character list at the front of this book, thankfully. Sometimes, all the different perspectives were too much, although it was a good way to gain insights into all the different suspects and people involved with Nel's murder. 

It was quite satisfying to get to the end and find out who was responsible, and it certainly wasn't someone I was expecting, but the style of the book definitely confused matters, and unless you like this kind of style, I wouldn't recommend. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Suicide, and Grief

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Kidnapping, and Murder

Minor: Body shaming

avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense 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? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Child death, Cursing, Death, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Cancer, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, and Abandonment

Minor: Alcoholism and Drug use

a_knife5577's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense slow-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

3.25

Don't get me wrong: the book is written with an interesting use of prose that seems almost alluring to the reader. The writing is good, the story is interesting and the "twist" is well set up (even if it's not the most shocking one).

Characters, however, were the problem. It is very hard to make the main character seem like an actual human being that could exist outside of the novel. It is almost impossible to do so when the cast of main characters consists of more than a dozen people. Lena, Jules, Mark, Patrick, Helen, Sean, Nickie, Erin, Josh, Louise. Chapters of the fictional book from perspectives of Libby, Nel, Anne, Lauren and Katie. There should be fewer narrations is all I'm saying. I found myself forced to look back and constantly check which character was which and it felt exhausting.

The pacing is confusing. On one hand, it's nicely set up and it all comes together at the right points. On the other hand, midway through the book, I found myself to be extremely bored as I felt like everything was repeating. "Haven't I read that already?" or "wait, wasn't that revelation already revealed?" were the thoughts that constantly flew through my mind.

Is the book worth reading? Sure. Will I pick up another publication by Paula Hawkins? I wouldn't be against it. Will I recommend this book to any of my friends with passion? Probably not.

Also, if I took a shot every time there is a water metaphor I would be dead. That's all 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Death of parent

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, and Pedophilia

bookfann's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Death of parent

Moderate: Child death, Misogyny, and Rape