2025 & 2026 Reading Challenge discussion

This thread is to discuss The Dry by Jane Harper, the first book of the Aaron Falk series.


Pages: 352 pages


Length: 1 Month (July)


Participants: D.L., Allie, Shreya .


Everyone reads at their own pace during a Buddy Read. Because participants can be at different parts of the book at different times, it is extremely important to mark spoilers so that the book is not ruined for someone who is not as far along as others!!!

Mark spoilers by placing {spoiler} before the text and {/spoiler} after the text but use the < and > instead of the { and }.

I read this 2 1/2 years ago and thought it was very well done. I own Force of Nature and would be happy to join a buddy read of it in August, if anyone else would be interested in joining me. 🙂

Got my copy of the book today-looking forward to it!

I’m about 30% of the way into the audiobook. The narrator actually has an Australian accent 🙌🏻 and is very good.

I don’t have much sense of Aaron as a character yet but I am looking forward to getting more into the story every time I hit that play button.

Hi, there everyone. I will try to start reading this tonight :)

I just started reading it. I'm only 9% in but it moves quickly. I am very intrigued by the story and Aaron's history. There seem to be multiple mysteries happening.

Hi Allie - wow , audiobook sounds like a good way to go with this book! Happy listening

Hi DL - I'm about 10% in and the story is quite intriguing thus far. Excited to get deeper into it- love a good Mystery novel. Happy reading!

I’m 30% of the way in but haven’t had a chance all weekend to listen. I’ll put a spoiler in here but it’s not really, more of an observation.

(view spoiler)[I like Gretchen…..but that makes me think there’s a twist coming lol. Ellie did not seem like a nice girl. (hide spoiler)]

I'm about 34% in and quite hooked.

The descriptions in the book definitely do the title justice as the dry Australian heat almost feels like a central character as well.

Yet to get a complete sense of all the characters but more and more being revealed already (view spoiler)[ about the not so straightforward group dynamics (hide spoiler)]

@Allie- Yea (view spoiler)[ Gretchen does seem intriguing, I was surprised to find out the mean-spirited group dynamics between the four . Really hope Aaron is the good guy , better be as he's leading the rest of the series :D (hide spoiler)]

@Joy- Welcome :)

I’ve finished.

(view spoiler)[So glad to find out both Luke and Ellie’s characters were on the up and up. I feel like Luke was painted the entire story for you to feel like he wasn’t a good guy but that was just a smokescreen. Ellie too, I thought was terrible, but ended up so sorry for her. Being raped by your own father! Not to mention living every day in fear and abuse.

Normally I see the ending coming/figure out who did it. I felt like the murderer came out of nowhere. Although I did like how the author explained why the name Grant was written down by Karen, along with Aaron’s phone number. Ellie having written down “Faulk” seemed too “out there” for me to believe plausible though, that part didn’t make sense to me. Not only the act itself but why wouldn’t she just call him Aaron? They were friends….I don’t go around calling my friend Bob Smith, Smith. I’d call him Bob lol. (hide spoiler)]

Over all I was entertained while listening to the story. Might I have been if the narrator wasn’t as good or didn’t have the Australian accent? Possibly not. I liked the book while I was listening to it but didn’t feel the “can’t wait until I can get back to it” you get with a good book. Also, I don’t feel like I have a sense of who Aaron really is….nice enough guy but no real personality shining through. I won’t continue the series because I don’t feel like I need to. His story was wrapped up nicely here.

I've finished the book as well
(view spoiler)[ What I loved
-The red herrings aplenty sprinkled through the read which kept me from guessing the whole story. I usually can spot a bad red herring, so this was a satisfying read in that sense.
-liked the whole small town where everyone knows everyone dynamic, which means that the guilty/ affected party is someone you've read about through the book, and not some random character introduced hastily in the end as (bad) mysteries often do
- she did such a good job painting Luke, Ellie , even Gretchen as the bad/ murky characters that I'm almost mad I couldn't see what was coming
- was interesting to read something set in Australia, I haven't explored much literature from there yet. The 'dry' was almost a central character in the book- and clearly part of the climax as well
- Speaking of the climax, I quite enjoyed how it was written- the sense of imminent danger, the excitement, and the unpredictability was satisfying

What I didn't quite love
- Aaron's character wasn't completely fleshed out. There are glimpses to who he is as a person, especially in snippets from their childhood but you're not entirely sure who he is now. Could almost relate to Raco as the central character
- The whole angle with Gretchen felt forced and unnecessary
- Agree on the whole "Falk" note, but IIRC she wrote the last name since she was asked for her own last name while making the booking as Aaron was the only other 'safe' person she could think of. But even so, this whole angle felt a bit contrived to fit into the explanation

(hide spoiler)] But overall I think I'm ready to overlook the shortcomings and most likely would be picking up the next in the series soon

Lynn wrote: "I read this 2 1/2 years ago and thought it was very well done. I own Force of Nature and would be happy to join a buddy read of it in August, if anyone else would be interested in j..."

Happy to join this with you :)

Shreya wrote: "I've finished the book as well
What I loved
-The red herrings aplenty sprinkled through the read which kept me from guessing the whole story. I usually can spot a bad red herring, so this was a ..."

Great insights, Shreya.

I also liked (view spoiler)[how the dry land was like a central character (because essentially, it was) and how it tied into the ending. That last sentence was neat. (hide spoiler)]

Allie wrote: "Shreya wrote: "I've finished the book as well
What I loved
-The red herrings aplenty sprinkled through the read which kept me from guessing the whole story. I usually can spot a bad red herring,..."

Thanks, Allie. Enjoyed the buddy read- my first one :)

Also, turns out they've made a movie adaptation on this starring Eric Bana - will check it out when it is made available in my country.

Congrats on your first buddy read! Lol.

Yes! That’s/he’s the whole reason I wanted to read this book hahaha!

Shreya wrote: "Lynn wrote: "I read this 2 1/2 years ago and thought it was very well done. I own Force of Nature and would be happy to join a buddy read of it in August, if anyone else would be in...

Happy to join this with you :)"

Cool! I plan to start it this weekend.