The Drowning Woman

This was average for me. I didn't love it but I didn't hate it. I thought the writing was a bit simple in places and quite repetitive. Even though it was first person narrative it seemed what we got from them was just superficial and shallow and at some times just not believable in their actions, you know the typical "fall in love" in 2 days. The plot itself had a few predicable things but also had some great parts I didn't see coming. So for me 3 stars, average because it did hold my attention but I wish the characters had been better.

4.5 ⭐️ Stars

The Drowning Women

It was an addictive thrilling read. You want to know what in the world was happening. So many good twists. You knew something was up, but you were sure what. A must read!!!!!

(-.5 the ending needed a cleaner end. I loved the Epilogue though, was what I needed.)

I can't believe I put this one off for so long. This is 100% worth the hype.

3.5 ⭐️
This was fun and thrilling. Although I wouldn't say there were any twists, it was all pretty predictable. But it was a well written and engaging thriller.

3.5 stars.

One of the better domestic thrillers I've read (considering that I don't typically enjoy domestic thrillers). However, one gripe that I had with this book was that I could barely distinguish between Lee and Hazel, they read very similar and I was confused.

Tons of twists I didn't see coming, that always makes for a good read! However, I didn't care for the abrupt ending.

Definitely thought-provoking. Didn't know who to trust in this book. Told from two different POV if that sort of thing bugs you. I will be checking out this author's other works.

overall: 4.15/5 ✮⋆˙

plot: 4/5 ‧₊˚❀༉‧₊˚.
MAJOR trigger warnings. the story was well thought out, well developed, twisty and dark. it has a dual POV, and all the plot points link well together and everything felt like it had meaning and was intentional. the ending was a bit lacklustre, but personally i love the way this ended.

characters: 3.5/5 ✧˖°
some of the characters felt a bit bare bones. particularly hazel and lee, which was disappointing. when i was reading each of their POV's, they didn't seem too distinguishable. the antagonists are a lot more well developed, and did send a shiver down my spine.

writing: 5/5
it was well structured, well paced - when the first twist comes in it does really well at creating a sense of urgency that keeps you hooked. i read this in less than 24 hours.

would i recommend? yes!

The beginning was great but I feel like the last 1/4 of the book I was just being strung around. I loved the dual perspective, but it really went downhill when we just got one. I was super interested in what happened to Lee, and it feels like it was just tied up too perfectly. I am grateful to get some insight with the epilogueI thought this was on track to a 5 star, but the drawn out last chuck of the book docked it. The twists to me were predictable, but I still had fun

Review: The Drowning Woman

Whoa, what a ride this one is. Quite possibly a Perfect Thriller. This novel starts out with our protagonist down on her luck, and I mean DOWN on her luck. It's bad. It's also a scenario that is altogether plausible in the world we live in today. Robin Harding draws a pitch perfect examination of homelessness, but before long, we are swept up into new and fresh chaos.

We know this is going to be messy for our protagonist. It just takes a while to see how. One of the bits I really appreciated is that this protagonist is not an idiot and she doesn't make stupid mistakes.

We get two POVs which I love. What was brilliant here is that neither POV... wait, I can't finish that sentence. No spoilers.

Harding peels back the layers not slowly, but masterfully. It's not until the very end that we the reader realize how this will play out. And it is brilliant.

I couldn't put this book down.
Plus I have it in hardback and it is a GORGEOUS cover.

I absolutely LOVED this book it was so twisty and had me flipping page after page. When I wasn't reading this book it was all I could think about. I am DEFINITELY reading more of Robyn Harding's backlist now because this was PHENOMENAL

Such a fresh take on classic domestic thriller plots. Loved the sisterhood between Hazel and Lee throughout the book, very refreshing to see strong, level headed female protagonists and a healthy friendship between them. 
Loved this.

  I received an ARC of this book as part of the Novel Suspects Insiders Club.
To quote that great philosopher Shrek, this book was like an onion. When you thought that you understood what was going on or that you knew where the plot was going, you found yet another layer of deception and treachery. It was like riding a rollercoaster... And I loved every minute of it.

Innovative Use Of Multi-Perspective. This is one of those tales that repeats itself a decent amount - something like 50-60% or so of the text is the same events through two different perspectives, each providing their own wrinkles. It is within the back third that the overall tale really begins to take off, and is quite explosive in its own right. Quite a few twists and turns - some even bigger than the ones we've already experienced to this point - occur through this section, and indeed at times it feels like we may be going a much darker direction (of a couple of different variants) than we ultimately do. Indeed, the ending itself is quite reminiscent of a particular 90s era movie, but revealing which movie would likely be a significant spoiler, so I'll just point the reader of the review in that direction and allow them to figure it out for themselves. Ultimately a fun book that raises some challenging points without ever being preachy about them. Very much recommended.

4.5