Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

The Drowning Woman by Robyn Harding

68 reviews

jcinf's review against another edition

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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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kaywho's review

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.5

Couple of the twists caught me off guard. Really liked the ending, although was definitely different than how I thought it was going to play out. Kept me on my toes for sure. I enjoyed it! 

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astoriareader's review against another edition

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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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sstewart89's review against another edition

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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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siriusly_lacey's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0


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marypetrushko's review

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challenging mysterious tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.0


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daniofthewood's review against another edition

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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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madistonewest's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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? No

3.25

Slow start, then picked up 

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mikaylanh's review against another edition

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

2.0

I don’t think I’ve ever read something with dumber characters than these two. Lee falls for a rando who is clearly sketchy from the start and Hazel instantly befriends a random homeless woman on the beach. I was fed up as soon and Lee agreed to that stupidly dangerous plan. Could not even believe she risked her life for someone who was practically a stranger just because she made her muffins and paid for her to get a makeover. Everyone in this book treats everyone horribly and we’re supposed to feel sorry for them. This was so predictable and it has made me question whether or not I should keep giving this genre a chance. The only thing I give it props for is keeping me interested enough in the ending (which also sucked) to not DNF it. The writing is so plain and repetitive and the POV switching is the worst I’ve seen by far. Don’t even get me started on the loose ends - what was the point of mentioning that diner employee watching Lee/Jesse getting it on, or Damon who is supposedly so dangerous he caused Lee to become homeless? 

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schadenfreudes's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The storytelling is refreshing for a crime and suspense novel. I enjoyed reading it cover through cover. It's such a page turner even though the book is about 350-ish pages. I would love to read the rest of her novels.

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