I'm bound to be back by morning time: A SLOW FIRE BURNING.

A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

When Daniel dies on his houseboat -- not long after his mother, an alcoholic, has died as well -- suspicions are high. They fall on three women: Laura, a troubled young woman who just had a one night stand with Daniel. Carla, his grief-stricken aunt. And then Miriam, his nosy neighbor who finds the body. All three women have their own reasons to keep secrets. How far would they go to protect them?

"Accidents do happen, and they especially happen to drunks, but mother and son, eight weeks apart? In fiction, that would never stand."

This was an interesting and well-woven read, but I found it rather predictable. I thought for sure it would turn out differently, but the twists were not all that surprising. Still, I enjoyed it and found it intricate enough to hold my interest. Most of the characters are fairly unlikable (that's often an understatement), but Laura has a fairly sad past and there's a pretty awesome spunky older woman, Irene, who is Angela's neighbor and she basically redeemed the story for me.

This book, while a mystery, has a decent amount of character-driven moments and it can truly be pretty sad and depressing. We start with Daniel's death and then sort of go in reverse, so you learn a lot about everyone's backstories, and none of them are particularly uplifting. The story touches on family, motherhood, and the idea of forgiveness. Overall, a solid 3-star read for me.

Blog ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Smashbomb ~ Instagram


View all my reviews