Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins

5 reviews

ofpagesandparagraphs's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Fatphobia, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Car accident, and Death of parent

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

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

stephbakerbooks's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

You probably know Paula Hawkins from The Girl on the Train fame, which I have to admit I wasn't a huge fan of. I don't really remember why as I read it a few years ago and didn't write myself a review, but I remember being disappointed and not getting all the hype. So I went into this one with a little trepidation. And thankfully I was pleasantly surprised!

First off, Rosamund Pike doing the narration was fantastic! I was captivated the whole time and I loved her different voices for the characters. I highly recommend going the audio route for this one!

Secondly, the characters, though not really likable, were interesting and succeeded in making me feel empathy for them, even if I was annoyed with their choices. Though I must say, they've all been through A LOT of trauma, so beware the content warnings. And I think most of them even got some nice development over the course of the story. Not a ton, but enough to where they look different by the end.

The mystery and plot were compelling enough to keep me reading. I managed to figure out some things, so I was a little disappointed that I wasn't very surprised by the ending, but I still liked how it wrapped things up for the most part. Overall, a really good quick thriller if you're looking for something to get lost in for a while.

Thanks so much to Libro.fm, Penguin Audio, and the author for my ALC!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, and Physical abuse

Minor: Animal death, Rape, and Dementia