Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins

15 reviews

dkamada's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

So many twists and red herrings!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, Dementia, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, and Gaslighting

greatexpectations77's review

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

I liked this one, and I thought the many varied stories were interesting. I liked the injustice that was felt for

the stealing of someone's story. That would be so devastating.

The main character stressed me the heck out, but I think she was written pretty well. Love family drama.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Blood, Kidnapping, and Grief

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Stalking, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

bookedbymadeline's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

Switching POVs between Irene, Miriam, Carla, Theo, and Laura! Also sometimes short chapters of an excerpt from Theo’s crime book, so I kind of liked the “book within a book” aspect. His book sort of reflects the main plot, in that we get switches between past and present and can’t rely on any one narrative over another.

A quick, easy read although predictable (I guessed two major plot twists within 50-60 pages). Some minor twists I didn’t see coming so that was nice at least to have some surprises!

I liked the slowly revealing of everyone’s secrets but didn’t particularly like any characters other than Irene. I did like the relationship between Irene and Laura also!

Good ending, it was wrapped up fairly neatly but with some open ended possibilities. I thought the pacing was also well done. I definitely enjoyed Girl on the Train more than this and I’m curious to read more from Hawkins! Apparently based on many other reviews, you either love GotT and hate this one or you love this one and hate GotT 😅

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Ableism, Fatphobia, Infertility, and Abandonment

Minor: Incest, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, and Car accident

bookishchaos's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Entertaining enough for me to finish but nothing special. The plot twist would've been clever if it wasn't so obvious right from the start. Though, I liked this a little more than Girl On The Train.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Incest, and Sexual assault

Minor: Emotional abuse and Mental illness

lizziemarie01's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Grief, and Classism

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, and Alcohol

elizabethscott0's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Murder

Moderate: Child death, Death, and Emotional abuse

meliemelo's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

2.75

 Crime novels aren't known for their boundless optimism, but this one seemed especially bleak. While crafting very nuanced characters, Paula Hawkins did not care for making them likeable with the exception of Irene and, to a point, Laura. The "One who got away" chapters were an interesting enough idea but ended up being a bit repetitive and didn't bring much to the book in the end (and the end of that particular thread had me roll my eyes). Finally, I felt the book lacked tension and purpose beyond the "whodunnit", and even that didn't keep my interest up much.

It's not a bad crime novel, and there were definitely some very good ideas in there, but it definitely doesn't compare to the author's previous works. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Incest, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Death of parent

risemini's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Car accident, Murder, Alcohol, and Classism

thefictionalhevschwar's review against another edition

funny mysterious sad tense 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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Rape, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Dementia

sleeson's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.25

My first Paula Hawkins book. I liked it. The narrator was great! Swearing. Not for teens. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail