Reviews with content warning for Violence - Finlay Donovan: una escritora de muerte

I picked this up because the third book in this series is the first book this year for the Literally Dead Book Club.
"Finlay Donovan Is Killing It" is a cute, cozy mystery about a woman trying to gain back some control in her life. Finlay is a struggling mother with two very young kids. She is an author who is struggling to produce her next great story. And she is struggling to move forward after learning that her husband had an affair and left her for their real estate agent. When a meeting with her agent does not go well, she is flabbergasted to discover that the woman next to them thinks Finlay is a hitman. But the offer to kill this woman's horrible husband is too good to not investigate a little...
First and foremost: Finlay's EX husband is such a prick. He cannot possibly believe he is anything resembling a good father and the fact that he found someone to cheat on Finlay with is absolutely ludicrous. I wanted to reach through this book and strangle him.
I really enjoyed seeing Finlay struggle so much in the beginning, and really work on finding herself and her self-worth by the end. She may be in a difficult chapter of her life, but she is an incredible woman who will do anything for her kids. She is also a talented author who can and will support herself and her kids with her books.
This mystery and murder is messy and screams amateur. You know that what Finlay is doing is wrong, but you cannot help but fall in love with her and root for her to be successful. I do think she would be struggling with the guilt of being responsible for someone else's death a little more than she actually does.
I am obsessed with Finlay, and I cannot wait to continue this series and see what antics she gets into next.

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booksalacarte's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

Findley Donovan is Killing it- 2.5⭐️ 2🌶️

Finlay Donovan is killing it . . . except, she’s really not. She’s a stressed-out single-mom of two and struggling novelist, Finlay’s life is in chaos: the new book she promised her literary agent isn’t written, her ex-husband fired the nanny without telling her, and this morning she had to send her four-year-old to school with hair duct-taped to her head after an incident with scissors.

When Finlay is overheard discussing the plot of her new suspense novel with her agent over lunch, she’s mistaken for a contract killer, and inadvertently accepts an offer to dispose of a problem husband in order to make ends meet . . . Soon, Finlay discovers that crime in real life is a lot more difficult than its fictional counterpart, as she becomes tangled in a real-life murder investigation

——————

✨My Opinion✨

This was a me problem, not a book problem. This book triggered me a little in the first 30 pages. I almost DNF’d and only continued because it was my bookclub’s choice for the month. It definitely got better than motherhood triggering beginning… but I wasn’t amazed.

The romance was barely there, and probably would have been better without it. But this is a nice fluffy pseudo-mystery read. Not my usual genre, but I can see how others who like the genre would love it.

I loved the partnership between Findley and her nanny. It was a great friendship/partner in crime relationship.

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taelights's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No

2.5

Whenever I saw the cover of this book I always assumed these books would be horrible but like I didn't want to judge a book by it's cover especially seeing as I heard so much praise for this book but like anyone praising this book I'm convinced doesn't have taste. Like.... it was not good. Finlay was literally the least put together dumbest character I have ever had the displeasure of reading about. She literally only gets away with murder out of luck alone because there is no way she would actually be able to get away with it with all the dumb decisions she's made.

Also the lesbian cop sister was unnecessary, the cop romance was unnecessary, and Finley having not only 1 but 2 men somehow interested in her was unrealistic. This whole thing read like an unrealistic self insert fantasy.

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siobhanisreading's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious sad

4.0

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tanvi45's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

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sarcasmpotato's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book is what Netflix needs to be creating mini-series out of. The episode cuts of a 30-minute episode are here!

While the plot was engaging, I didn’t love the characters but did grow to like them as the story went on. I could see myself reading more of the series.

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trips's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

4.5 Stars.
Super fun mystery novel that kept me excited to find out what happens next the whole time. Finlay Donovan has the wit and charm to entertain even those who don't normally read mystery novels, I think. Finlay makes a great 'not your usual' detective being a mystery novelist and her nanny Vero and honestly the whole cast were great! (Is Georgia named after George Fayne...? My Nancy Drew sense were tingling...).

Personally, I thought the first chapter was really rough and almost made me not want to read the book at all. I'm glad I'm a "first 50 pages" kind of reader though, its great from chapter 2 onward.

If you want something lighter but with darker elements, I'd recommend it!

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