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

This is hands down one of the best books I've read!

I loved everything about this book! From the plot itself, to the characters, to the plot twist *chef's kiss*

While on the one hand you could say it was pretty predictable, it's not because you know what the characters are going to do, it's because you know what the stupidest thing to do would be and you know that's what is going to happen! and I know this sounds bad, but it's what made me love this book so much.
It made me laugh so hard, I have never had these many funny tabs in a book before! And also in general I think this is probably my most tabbed book ever.
I can't explain it, it's just the vibe that I got, I connected with it so much, it made me laugh, it made me angry, it made me face palm, it made me cry.

The characters I also loved. Finlay was such a relatable character, and I loved seeing her grow, I loved seeing all the things she would do for her family, her relationship with her kids, with Vero, and with all the other characters as well!
I loved seeing her relationship with her ex-husband, not because they had a good relationship, but because they had a bad one. Because it's likely to happen and I haven't seen this in any book before. I have never been married, so I have never gone through a divorce, but it felt relatable I can't even explain why. It was so maddening to see him fight for his kids even though you know he doesn't really want them with him 100% of the time, and Finlay doing her best with the little she has to fight him, and take care of them. I loved seeing that dynamic, I feel like it's more real than anything else you could write.

This book was filled with ups and downs, I laughed my ass off, and I ordered the next book and probably going to pre-order the third one soon! I felt like it was exactly the book I needed to end July and start August with! It really kicked off my August reading in an amazing way!

Content Warnings

bandysbooks's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

Finlay Donovan is Killing It? Right? Not so much in my opinion. This book is just not for me. I went in hoping for something funny and light, but this was well past over the top, unbelievable almost to the point of existing in a different world, and ultimately required more suspension of disbelief than most science fiction or fantasy. It was just kind of messy, but not in the way I'd hoped.

Finlay is a relatable character initially. She's recently divorced from an unfaithful husband who left her for a younger woman. She's desperately trying to cope with now being a single mother to two very young children and building a career as a writer. When we're introduced to her she's stressed out, exhausted, and just barely scraping through life. She's still reliant on her ex-husband for financial assistance and he lords it over her in the douchiest of ways. I could 100% see Finlay in all of the stressed out, overworked moms that I know and was really rooting for her at the start.

But then we get into the plot and suddenly Finlay becomes wildly unrelatable to me. Without spoiling the plot, let's just say that Finlay makes a series of horrendous choices. She goes from smart, but exhausted to a complete idiot who stumbles her way through bad choice after bad choice and is only saved by those around her. What's worse is there's never really a time when she learns from all of these bad decisions.

I did really enjoy Vero, Finlay's nanny turned sidekick. She was much more rational and kind of seemed like the adult in most situations, but even still makes some very questionable decisions too.

Then there's the plot. It's a murder mystery with humor mixed in...but it's hard to take the bad guys seriously at all because they're just as bumbling as Finlay is. You can't tell me that on one hand the baddie is one of the most infamous crime bosses in a region, but on the other hand he leaves himself open to some of the dumbest resolutions possible. I had such a hard time taking any of it seriously.

The one saving grace of this book is the humor. I did find moments funny. Sometimes I even laughed just because most of the plot was just so silly. That said, I think this would've actually been better had she reigned the slapstick qualities of this back just a bit.

All in all, this book just wasn't my cup of tea. I prefer a bit of subtlety to my humor instead of being beat over the head with it. I also find that if a book is supposed to be set in reality, I need it to have an actual grounding in reality instead of insane decisions for the sake of plot progression. (Clearly, I am in the minority with my feelings toward this book, so make sure you read all of the positive reviews for a balanced take.)

Content Warnings