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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
lighthearted
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
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
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
The Ex-Girlfriend Murder Club was just as hilarious of a cozy mystery as the name implies. With its trio of eccentric in their own way characters, a balance of quirky idioms and puns, an unhinged podcast, and an ending with such a twist, I didn’t even see it coming.
The body in the closet was going to be a problem. Kathryn Hu knew it. Yes, Tucker Jones was a cheating scumbag, and yes, she’d agreed to meet Olivia and Elle—Tucker’s other girlfriends—to exact revenge for all he’d put them through… But then they found him. Dead.
Do they look guilty? Yes.
Do they feel guilty for having wished him dead just hours before? Maybe a little.
But—solid motive and a crime scene covered in their DNA aside—they’re innocent. They swear.
To clear their names, Kat, Olivia, and Elle team up to find the real killer. But as they go undercover and lie to everyone, including the hot detective working the case, they realize that every person in their ex's life had a reason to want him dead. Will they uncover the truth before they go down for a murder they didn't commit?
About the story:
Honestly, this one had me laughing at the ridiculousness of, well, everything, from page one all the way to the end. The characters were great and well developed. The story was perfect. There was a definite theme of finding friendship in the most unexpected places, when the characters needed it the most. There was an unexpected (and possibly unethical) meet-cute love story that developed too. There was even an underlying theme of the main character coming into her own (and to some extent, all the characters had a moment of growth and clarity). It was an enjoyable cozy mystery with a shocking ending that I just didn’t want to end.
About the Audio:
The audio was great, it brought the characters to life in a unique way. At first, I didn’t like the way Carolyn portrayed the main character, Kat. She seemed too young, too whiney, too sad, but then I realized, she is young, and she had reason to be whiney and sad, the situation she found herself in would have made everyone feel that way. The only thing I couldn’t get over, is even when the character was trying to be funny or confident, the narrator kept her same sad tone, and I think that took away from the audio version a bit. It was the only thing I would have changed. Carolyn seemed to be able to really encapsulate the characters as Gloria had written them, and bring them to life, which isn’t always easy to do when working with so many characters that all have such different and unique characteristics, and she did it without giving any hints to the twist at the end. The flow of the narration seemed to match the flow of the book, granted I tend to listen to audiobooks at a faster than normal rate because I read at a faster than normal speaking rate and tend to read along with the audio a lot to help me focus, and honestly this audio version was perfect as a read along or just a listen.
The body in the closet was going to be a problem. Kathryn Hu knew it. Yes, Tucker Jones was a cheating scumbag, and yes, she’d agreed to meet Olivia and Elle—Tucker’s other girlfriends—to exact revenge for all he’d put them through… But then they found him. Dead.
Do they look guilty? Yes.
Do they feel guilty for having wished him dead just hours before? Maybe a little.
But—solid motive and a crime scene covered in their DNA aside—they’re innocent. They swear.
To clear their names, Kat, Olivia, and Elle team up to find the real killer. But as they go undercover and lie to everyone, including the hot detective working the case, they realize that every person in their ex's life had a reason to want him dead. Will they uncover the truth before they go down for a murder they didn't commit?
About the story:
Honestly, this one had me laughing at the ridiculousness of, well, everything, from page one all the way to the end. The characters were great and well developed. The story was perfect. There was a definite theme of finding friendship in the most unexpected places, when the characters needed it the most. There was an unexpected (and possibly unethical) meet-cute love story that developed too. There was even an underlying theme of the main character coming into her own (and to some extent, all the characters had a moment of growth and clarity). It was an enjoyable cozy mystery with a shocking ending that I just didn’t want to end.
About the Audio:
The audio was great, it brought the characters to life in a unique way. At first, I didn’t like the way Carolyn portrayed the main character, Kat. She seemed too young, too whiney, too sad, but then I realized, she is young, and she had reason to be whiney and sad, the situation she found herself in would have made everyone feel that way. The only thing I couldn’t get over, is even when the character was trying to be funny or confident, the narrator kept her same sad tone, and I think that took away from the audio version a bit. It was the only thing I would have changed. Carolyn seemed to be able to really encapsulate the characters as Gloria had written them, and bring them to life, which isn’t always easy to do when working with so many characters that all have such different and unique characteristics, and she did it without giving any hints to the twist at the end. The flow of the narration seemed to match the flow of the book, granted I tend to listen to audiobooks at a faster than normal rate because I read at a faster than normal speaking rate and tend to read along with the audio a lot to help me focus, and honestly this audio version was perfect as a read along or just a listen.
funny
lighthearted
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
As a chemist I'm not a big fan of all the "brainy talk". Never heard someone talk like that. It really just sounds like the author is very happy to know the name of a chemical that smells like rotten eggs.
It shows that even more when Kat could give a reason not to put poop on the ex-boyfriends toothbrush. Come on, an chemist that works close with biologists would know that eating shit could cause an E. Coli infection and that could be quite dangerous.
Even if she didn't know that she would have known about the danger of adding the pee to the mouthwash. To much ureum could cause kidney damage.
Luckily the brainy talk slows down after a few chapters, and the plot starts up a bit more. But every once in a while it came back to make me cringe hardcore.
Furthermore, the whole quirky cute but confused nerd vibe of Kat doesn't put STEM girlies in a good light. Would have liked the book a lot more if we had a stronger main character. Based on the scenes we have of her at work she's a smart girl that, even though her parents didn't want her to, still got into chemistry and worked her way up to a PhD in biochemistry at Harvard. That's badass, but doesn't give that vibe at all throughout the book.
So yeah sad.
Also the ending was shitty
It shows that even more when Kat could give a reason not to put poop on the ex-boyfriends toothbrush. Come on, an chemist that works close with biologists would know that eating shit could cause an E. Coli infection and that could be quite dangerous.
Even if she didn't know that she would have known about the danger of adding the pee to the mouthwash. To much ureum could cause kidney damage.
Luckily the brainy talk slows down after a few chapters, and the plot starts up a bit more. But every once in a while it came back to make me cringe hardcore.
Furthermore, the whole quirky cute but confused nerd vibe of Kat doesn't put STEM girlies in a good light. Would have liked the book a lot more if we had a stronger main character. Based on the scenes we have of her at work she's a smart girl that, even though her parents didn't want her to, still got into chemistry and worked her way up to a PhD in biochemistry at Harvard. That's badass, but doesn't give that vibe at all throughout the book.
So yeah sad.
Also the ending was shitty
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
adventurous
emotional
funny
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:
Complicated
This story is absolutely ridiculous, and even though Kat is an idiot, I had a good time. I'm sure I could have figured out the murderer sooner, but for some reason I was convinced it couldn't be them. I love the dynamic between the exes, and how easily they got along. Kat clearly needed friends, and apparently dating the same jerk was all it took. That romance had me boiling. I was constantly yelling at him and Kat, and I honestly could have done without him. I assume his ardor was necessary to get her that long leash in investigating, but that was so dumb on both of their parts. All told, I enjoyed the journey of sisterhood. Great little vacation read.
funny
lighthearted
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
dark
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced