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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-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
Really well done children's book. Kept me intrigued until the end. Good characters and excellent mystery.
Three stars may be too generous, might be closer to two. Daisy was not only irritating but also a bully. Yet the author wants us to think she’s a clever girl Sherlock.
Fand es sehr lustig und interessant. Wollte die anderen Bände auch lesen weiß aber net ob ich nicht aus dem alter raus bin.
When Hazel Wong stumbles across the corpse of a murdered teacher, no one believes her except her faithful friend, Daisy Wells, and it's up to the two girls to investigate the murder in between classes and still get their homework done. This 1930s British boarding school is the perfect setting for a murder mystery!
I love stories about boarding schools, and the little everyday goings-on of this school make for a hilarious story!
The plot has a lot of red herrings, so I never saw the solution until the very end. I puzzling and puzzling through the whole thing, and completely surprised at the end.
Hazel Wong is a complex character. As a "foreigner" trying to fit into British society, she learns to imitate the other girls at the school so that she doesn't stand out, but still remains true to herself in her own way. She wants to be brave, but has very natural fears and sensitivities, which she has difficulty hiding.
That's why it's so easy to relate to Hazel. She is a misfit. She mostly hides who she is inside and what she's feeling inside. She longs to belong, and she clings to "normality" like a security blanket. We all feel that way all the time every moment of our lives, I think.
But she shows amazing fortitude and cleverness, and runs around solving mysteries. She's a trooper, and that's why I love her!
Daisy is a little more of an enigma. She's also hiding her true self, and laughing at everyone behind her mask. She's a kind-hearted person, but feels that she has to play the social games of the school. She craves excitement and adventure, and doesn't have the same imaginative fears that Hazel suffers from.
For a simple murder mystery, this book really gets deep into the meaning of friendship and social acceptance!
I love the writing style and the funny little descriptions of boarding school life, the rules, the teachers, and the hierarchy of students.
I want to read everything from the Wells and Wong series!
I love stories about boarding schools, and the little everyday goings-on of this school make for a hilarious story!
The plot has a lot of red herrings, so I never saw the solution until the very end. I puzzling and puzzling through the whole thing, and completely surprised at the end.
Hazel Wong is a complex character. As a "foreigner" trying to fit into British society, she learns to imitate the other girls at the school so that she doesn't stand out, but still remains true to herself in her own way. She wants to be brave, but has very natural fears and sensitivities, which she has difficulty hiding.
That's why it's so easy to relate to Hazel. She is a misfit. She mostly hides who she is inside and what she's feeling inside. She longs to belong, and she clings to "normality" like a security blanket. We all feel that way all the time every moment of our lives, I think.
But she shows amazing fortitude and cleverness, and runs around solving mysteries. She's a trooper, and that's why I love her!
Daisy is a little more of an enigma. She's also hiding her true self, and laughing at everyone behind her mask. She's a kind-hearted person, but feels that she has to play the social games of the school. She craves excitement and adventure, and doesn't have the same imaginative fears that Hazel suffers from.
For a simple murder mystery, this book really gets deep into the meaning of friendship and social acceptance!
I love the writing style and the funny little descriptions of boarding school life, the rules, the teachers, and the hierarchy of students.
I want to read everything from the Wells and Wong series!
This is a great English boarding school mystery with, surprisingly, a Chinese MC. Hazel and Daisy are unlikely friends who decide to form a detective agency. But when they start investigating the mysterious death of one of their teachers, they have to struggle to find clues and stay out of trouble at the same time.
Hazel faces some racism (the story is set in 1930s England, after all), but this is treated in a gentle way. It’s an interesting mystery with some fun characters–this is a series I’ll definitely follow.
Read the full review here: http://newberyandbeyond.com/middle-grades-book-roundup/
Hazel faces some racism (the story is set in 1930s England, after all), but this is treated in a gentle way. It’s an interesting mystery with some fun characters–this is a series I’ll definitely follow.
Read the full review here: http://newberyandbeyond.com/middle-grades-book-roundup/
Honestly, this was fabulous. Had I been 12, I'd have been riveted. At 19, I was still stuck to it! Loved the characters, the humanness (?) of them was just so precise and believable. The storyline was also credible, and it was nice to see the police actually being useful. Definitely a series to keep reading :)
Originally reviewed at Words in a Teacup.
Joint review with my co-blogger Ren.
Ren: Set in an English boarding school in 1934, Murder Most Unladylike is a bloody good read. From the first page, it's packed full of words and customs from that era, and I was completely immersed in Hazel and Daisy's world. I loved that the author sounded very authentic, and the characters were always rooted in their time, without inexplicably displaying modern sensibilities. Plus, they have bunbreaks. I love that. Bunbreaks. In which they eat squashed flies.
Isa: I might have had a minor breakdown when they first mentioned bunbreaks. BUNBREAKS. How cool is that? Personally, I wouldn't eat the squashed flies (ew, raisins), but I would very much welcome any and all bunbreaks thrown at me. Aside from the bunbreaks, I really loved the characters. They were a healthy mix of imperfect people and I really loved that. Too often characters in books are too perfect or too stereotypical or even just mere caricatures of a few traits thrown in a pot, but not so with Murder Most Unladylike. Daisy (why do I always want to call her Diana?) is headstrong and opinionated to a fault, but she also has a heart of gold when it counts and truly cares about Hazel, who has a bit of a pash on Daisy.
Ren: A pash, for the uninitiated, is a kind of girl crush. All the weird old-timey words are explained in the book, and there's also a glossary at the end. I had the kindle edition so there was no way for me to scroll back and forth easily, but I assume if you had the dead tree edition you could refer to that if you got confused. Which you shouldn't, since our narrator Hazel does a great job of explaining it all. I have a bit of a pash on Hazel, who gives us a unique perspective on English boarding schools since she's from Hong Kong and has been sent overseas to get a perfect English education. Being an outsider, it makes sense that she would question the very English tradition of hitting each others with sticks -- sorry, I meant playing hockey -- under the rain... She's torn between being herself and wanting to fit in, which is very relatable.
Isa: Yeahhhhhh... I don't so much have a pash on Hazel but a full-blown crush. What a cutie! If only she weren't jailbait, I could smooch her cute face and initiate her into the Order of Canoodling Ladies. Of which there are a bunch, by the way. My cold little heart and I were most pleased by the subtle (or blatantly in-your-face) references to canoodling ladies, hehehehe. And that's another thumbs up to the author! I found it very refreshing that such things were included because, dude, those things do occur at all-girl schools and they did occur in the past and they way the author treated it was neither gimmicky nor swept under the rug. That, too, was very relatable, at least for me. And if I'm quite honest, it was the thing that excited me the most. (I'm pretty sure I yelled "LESBIANS!" at Ren when I first realised it.)
Ren: (You did. I'm pretty sure my reaction was "BUNBREAKS!" because they're higher in my priorities. But yeah, I liked the non-gimmicky inclusion of lesbians and I was sad for the Maths Mistress who was obviously in love with the victim.) As for the murder itself, I have to say that I'm like Daisy: I absolutely love mysteries! I grew up with my mum's Agatha Christie novels, so I really appreciated all the references to the popular mystery books that Daisy was reading and hiding from Matron. This particular mystery was rather easy to figure out for me, I guessed the killer very early on because of the way the author kept trying to divert the reader's attention to the other suspects, but even so I was charmed by the characters and the setting and I enjoyed reading about how Daisy and Hazel solved the murder. It's a proper English mystery crime, too, with enough clues that you may be able to figure it out if you like that sort of things.
Isa: I'm not that into mysteries, I'm afraid, mainly because I'm just not as invested. I like reading about the solving of a mystery, but unlike other people I take no joy from figuring out the culprit myself. Though I might make a somewhat satisfactory Watson to Ren's Holmes, I suppose. I'd be pretty good at the whole writing down important things that you tell me, I bet. Anyhow, despite my general indifference to mysteries I did enjoy this one! I may not be into the solving but it was a compelling mystery and for somebody who didn't guess the culprit it was quite fascinating to see Daisy and Hazel figure it all out. The author did a great job with that, it really felt as if I was by their side all the time and sharing the experience with them!
Ren: Isa would be an excellent Watson, though I'd be a rubbish Holmes because I'm a wimp and I wouldn't want to run around chasing murderers. I'm quite happy sitting back and reading about Daisy and Hazel's adventures instead of being by their side. The girls are really interesting characters and I'm looking forward to how they will evolve, since it seems this will turn into a series. Book two is set at a house party in the country, and while I'll miss the school setting it will be fun to see Daisy's family.
Isa: I'll miss that too, but then I am sure we'll see some familiar faces, like King Henry! And we might get to meet Daisy's mysterious uncle! (Fingers crossed that he turns out to be the dashing Uncle Felix who is mentioned in the summary for book two.) All in all I'm terribly chuffed about the first book and I think it totally deserves the four teacups we're giving it. The writing is compelling and never fails to deliver, and the setting and characters are particularly fabulous. If only there were happy homosexuals (alas, they never are in fiction) and more detailed descriptions about bunbreaks, I'd be willing to give it five. ;)
Joint review with my co-blogger Ren.
Like the tagline says: There's been a rather shocking murder at Deepdean School For Girls... Hazel Wong, a third form student, found the dead body of the science mistress in the gym. But by the time she comes back with her friend Daisy and a prefect, the body has disappeared. So the girls have to solve the murder, but they also need to prove that a murder happened in the first place. Daisy is excited at the idea of having their very own murder to investigate, but Hazel more realistically wonders what will happen if the murderer decides that they're getting too close to the truth.
Ren: Set in an English boarding school in 1934, Murder Most Unladylike is a bloody good read. From the first page, it's packed full of words and customs from that era, and I was completely immersed in Hazel and Daisy's world. I loved that the author sounded very authentic, and the characters were always rooted in their time, without inexplicably displaying modern sensibilities. Plus, they have bunbreaks. I love that. Bunbreaks. In which they eat squashed flies.
Isa: I might have had a minor breakdown when they first mentioned bunbreaks. BUNBREAKS. How cool is that? Personally, I wouldn't eat the squashed flies (ew, raisins), but I would very much welcome any and all bunbreaks thrown at me. Aside from the bunbreaks, I really loved the characters. They were a healthy mix of imperfect people and I really loved that. Too often characters in books are too perfect or too stereotypical or even just mere caricatures of a few traits thrown in a pot, but not so with Murder Most Unladylike. Daisy (why do I always want to call her Diana?) is headstrong and opinionated to a fault, but she also has a heart of gold when it counts and truly cares about Hazel, who has a bit of a pash on Daisy.
Ren: A pash, for the uninitiated, is a kind of girl crush. All the weird old-timey words are explained in the book, and there's also a glossary at the end. I had the kindle edition so there was no way for me to scroll back and forth easily, but I assume if you had the dead tree edition you could refer to that if you got confused. Which you shouldn't, since our narrator Hazel does a great job of explaining it all. I have a bit of a pash on Hazel, who gives us a unique perspective on English boarding schools since she's from Hong Kong and has been sent overseas to get a perfect English education. Being an outsider, it makes sense that she would question the very English tradition of hitting each others with sticks -- sorry, I meant playing hockey -- under the rain... She's torn between being herself and wanting to fit in, which is very relatable.
Isa: Yeahhhhhh... I don't so much have a pash on Hazel but a full-blown crush. What a cutie! If only she weren't jailbait, I could smooch her cute face and initiate her into the Order of Canoodling Ladies. Of which there are a bunch, by the way. My cold little heart and I were most pleased by the subtle (or blatantly in-your-face) references to canoodling ladies, hehehehe. And that's another thumbs up to the author! I found it very refreshing that such things were included because, dude, those things do occur at all-girl schools and they did occur in the past and they way the author treated it was neither gimmicky nor swept under the rug. That, too, was very relatable, at least for me. And if I'm quite honest, it was the thing that excited me the most. (I'm pretty sure I yelled "LESBIANS!" at Ren when I first realised it.)
Ren: (You did. I'm pretty sure my reaction was "BUNBREAKS!" because they're higher in my priorities. But yeah, I liked the non-gimmicky inclusion of lesbians and I was sad for the Maths Mistress who was obviously in love with the victim.) As for the murder itself, I have to say that I'm like Daisy: I absolutely love mysteries! I grew up with my mum's Agatha Christie novels, so I really appreciated all the references to the popular mystery books that Daisy was reading and hiding from Matron. This particular mystery was rather easy to figure out for me, I guessed the killer very early on because of the way the author kept trying to divert the reader's attention to the other suspects, but even so I was charmed by the characters and the setting and I enjoyed reading about how Daisy and Hazel solved the murder. It's a proper English mystery crime, too, with enough clues that you may be able to figure it out if you like that sort of things.
Isa: I'm not that into mysteries, I'm afraid, mainly because I'm just not as invested. I like reading about the solving of a mystery, but unlike other people I take no joy from figuring out the culprit myself. Though I might make a somewhat satisfactory Watson to Ren's Holmes, I suppose. I'd be pretty good at the whole writing down important things that you tell me, I bet. Anyhow, despite my general indifference to mysteries I did enjoy this one! I may not be into the solving but it was a compelling mystery and for somebody who didn't guess the culprit it was quite fascinating to see Daisy and Hazel figure it all out. The author did a great job with that, it really felt as if I was by their side all the time and sharing the experience with them!
Ren: Isa would be an excellent Watson, though I'd be a rubbish Holmes because I'm a wimp and I wouldn't want to run around chasing murderers. I'm quite happy sitting back and reading about Daisy and Hazel's adventures instead of being by their side. The girls are really interesting characters and I'm looking forward to how they will evolve, since it seems this will turn into a series. Book two is set at a house party in the country, and while I'll miss the school setting it will be fun to see Daisy's family.
Isa: I'll miss that too, but then I am sure we'll see some familiar faces, like King Henry! And we might get to meet Daisy's mysterious uncle! (Fingers crossed that he turns out to be the dashing Uncle Felix who is mentioned in the summary for book two.) All in all I'm terribly chuffed about the first book and I think it totally deserves the four teacups we're giving it. The writing is compelling and never fails to deliver, and the setting and characters are particularly fabulous. If only there were happy homosexuals (alas, they never are in fiction) and more detailed descriptions about bunbreaks, I'd be willing to give it five. ;)
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
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:
N/A