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mease_moose's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-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? It's complicated
4.5
arisbookcorner's review
adventurous
informative
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
THE VERIFIERS was a lot of fun to read from beginning to end. I thought the mystery was clever and Claudia was an engaging and quirky narrator. Pek almost perfectly strikes the balance of making Claudia just quirky enough that she avoids being insufferable. And contrary to some other reviewers I loved Claudia's constant tongue-in-cheek references to the fictional Inspector Yuan and her love of both literary and genre fiction. It explained why she was so eager to investigate the mystery that essentially landed on her lap. I did find the setting of the novel confusing, I thought it was set in the present but read an author interview where she said it's in the distant future so making that more clear in the next book would be helpful. Additionally I've now read quite a few mysteries so I wasn't surprised that the burgeoning sapphic romance was the slowest of slow burns but I do hope we get more action in the next book since it's a core part of Claudia's identity and we don't see enough lesbian Chinese American women amateur detectives on the page. Furthermore while Claudia's mom is a refreshing character who goes beyond the typical immigrant mom cliché with her personal story, Claudia's siblings were underdeveloped, particularly her sister. Their relationship confused me and needs to be further explored to be more believable because as it's portrayed in the first book it felt mean and gave me whiplash. There's a lot of potential here though as Claudia wants to resolve the tension in her family regarding her mother's choice to send her two older siblings to live with their grandparents for a bit. It's not a family dynamic we often see especially in mysteries. What also made this book gratifying to read was the uniqueness of the mystery and workplace setting itself, questioning the ethics of technology and how our personal data is shared constantly everywhere all of the time. I would highly recommend this especially for those who like their mysteries solved by idiosyncratic and eager amaetuer detectives with a creative setup and payoff.
amberinpieces's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, and Infidelity
Minor: Murder and Alcohol
kdahlo's review
4.0
Really enjoyable mystery. I feel like the ending was muddled a bit, and I would speculate that it was deliberately muddled to set up a sequel or leave things open for a sequel. However, the main character is really great, the story is great, and there are several very nicely executed twists. I liked it a lot.
mcf's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
medium-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? No
4.5
jdhobbes's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-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
dumlaut's review
funny
mysterious
medium-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? No
4.25
sarakas's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
blazieken's review
funny
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Fun, albeit slow paced read. Very refreshing to read about Claudia's experiences as an Asian American woman. As another Asian American woman, it's so nice to have the perspective of someone like me in books I read. Claudia is a naïve, but somewhat likeable character. The mystery itself was okay, and while the book was centered around love and matchmaking, I really enjoyed the fact that romance was not the central part of the book. I would read a sequel.