Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

The Dry by Jane Harper

16 reviews

bones_jackson's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Uma história muito bem escrita e que prende muito a atenção, até a última página. Não tive a mínima ideia de quem era culpado e a revelação foi bombástica, me surpreendi

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Torture

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

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

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

racheldallaire's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I loved it. Sometimes time-hopping is irritating to me, but Harper did a great job of making it work very well and in a way that moved the plot along perfectly. It kept me guessing and the ending was satisfying. The characters were well developed and I'll keep reading the series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Alcohol

madamegeneva's review against another edition

emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.25

I really, really liked this book. I watched the movie adaptation on a whim a few weeks ago and after realising it was based on a book, I requested it soon after. And boy, I’m so glad I did. 
I assumed that reading the book wouldn’t be super interesting since I’d already seen the movie, but I was surprised at how engrossed I was in text. The book obviously has more space to flesh out characters’ thoughts and motivations (for example, Whitlam’s), and the way the author describes the town/scenery truly makes me feel as if I’m sitting in an small outback town pub. Brilliant. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Violence, Blood, and Alcohol

bootsmom3's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Misogyny, Dementia, Death of parent, and Outing

melissa_b_67's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Incest, and Sexual violence

Minor: Pregnancy

mels_reading_log's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

This is a story set in a drought in a rural Australian town where a double-murder/suicide has just happened. The cops, not being satisfied with that story start up an off-books investigation that unravels all of this small town’s secrets. I really liked the premise and all of the twists and turns, but the pacing was a little slow for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Blood, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, and Toxic friendship

alicia_g's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Good consistent plot- just would have liked more of actually the explanation of the murders. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Dementia, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail