Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

The Blue Hour by Paula Hawkins

11 reviews

tamara_joy's review against another edition

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dark sad medium-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

2.0

A depressing book.

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breeoxd's review against another edition

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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

"You cannot infer a man’s propensity for violence from how he looks. She has set bones broken by soft hands, stitched cuts inflicted by men with easy smiles and white collars; she’s met brutes with angel faces." (Paula Hawkins, The Blue Hour)

"“Art is legacy, it is solace. It soothes, consoles, arouses. It’s work. It’s what you do all day. It’s how you work things out, how you understand the world. It’s the opportunity to start over, to shed your skin, to take revenge, to fall in love. To be good. To live long.”" (Paula Hawkins, The Blue Hour)

"“Men like him . . . they have a special kind of contempt for women like me—ugly women. I’ve felt it all my life. An ugly woman is barely human to a man like your husband. It’s sickening but not all that shocking. What’s worse, what is utterly abject, is the way that women like you—the pretty, the chosen—the way you collude in that contempt. Simpering like a schoolgirl, because a man has paid you some attention. Laughing cravenly at his cruelties. It’s pathetic.”" (Paula Hawkins, The Blue Hour)

I was so invested in this book 95% through. Was thinking it was going to be my first 5 star of the year. Then that ending. Woof. I understand that it was intentional, to give the reader a sense of just how truth can change with perspective, but at the end of the day, I want to know what happened to some of these characters. I don’t feel I have a good sense of what happened to any of them, aside from Vanessa, who we know is dead from the get-go. 

That said? The rest of the book is excellent. Highly atmospheric, gothic, with plenty of art and literature Easter eggs that made it that much more enjoyable for me. There wasn’t a single likeable character in the bunch, which I found to be a bold choice; even the main male character leaves a bad taste in my mouth towards the end, and he is representing the “noble” viewpoint. I loved the island as a character- it is so fully fleshed out you can feel it breathing on the page. Scottish Right to Roam laws add an interesting layer, too. I’ve always been a big proponent when it comes to big estates, but in The Blue Hour, it was very uncomfortable to imagine how that works on someone’s pebble of an island, with their house being removed from basic society. The risks and inherent threat that can pose to a landowner are really felt here. I also really enjoyed the many different ways the blue hour can be interpreted throughout the book.

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mgowin821's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75


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drpthy's review against another edition

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dark sad 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

3.0


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srullo's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective medium-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

3.0


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bookedandbusy's review against another edition

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

4.5

I enjoyed this one! It was slower paced for a thriller but I liked that surprisingly!
The ending felt too open and like or didn’t provide enough closer, but I did still like the ending!

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harleyglynn's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

3.0

"Makes me angry still. To have a place tainted like that... It's another violation on top of the original one. It happens all the time - you go walking somewhere, or swimming or running - whatever it is, your thing, the thing you enjoy - you go to a place, and it's beautiful and unspoiled, and you are doing that thing you love, and then someone - not always a man, I suppose, but usually a man - comes along and transforms it into an ugly place. And you never feel safe there again. And you are never the same again. The place is changed and you are changed, and neither for the better."

I struggled with this one. The mystery kept me interested, but I was disappointed in a lot of it, especially the ending. I also had a hard time with the relationships between the characters. I personally didn't find any of them believable.

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skbgfd's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-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

3.5


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avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

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

2.25

    While there were certainly mysteries! One was pretty easy to figure out, but the rest I didn't see coming.
  Wow, did I HATE that ending, however! I mean what happened?! It's like a cliffhanger, but there's no sequel. I dislike it when books have an ambiguous ending. 
   The characters were also highly unlikable, I couldn't even find one of them likable. I understand characters having flaws, but none of them seemed to be decent people.
   Overall, the book was meh and would have been so much better if at least some of the characters were likable.


Narrator Rating: 4.25 stars
   The narrator did an excellent job, just not as talented as others I've heard. 

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mysterymom40's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75


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