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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
FINALLY, after what seems like 264929292839 years, a fiction book that doesn't bore me and kept me wanting to flip through the pages. It kept me guessing, "this is WHY i love mystery books", it made me doubt all the characters, including the unreliable MC (you never know right). It made me want to continue reading and i was never bored while reading this book, and i got bored a lot in reading fiction lately. Bikin deg2an jg!! I wish the ending the author would explore more about how MC anxiety goes, but overall a very good one!
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
emotional
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I was bummed I couldn't make it to the bookclub to discuss this book, and I had hoped to enhance my reading experience in discussing it with others. I was also bummed that this narrative didn't grab me as much as I hoped it would. I'd definitely recommend it to teens looking for a well-staged mystery, but there were a few elements I couldn't get behind.
A year after the sudden death of her best friend, Najjwa returns to the world of competitive scrabble, but this year’s tournament is a lot more than wordplay.
I would put this book in the category of fine Sunday afternoon reads. It was nothing to write home about, but it was relatively fast paced given the subject matter and the main character showed a decent amount of growth and learning.
As a fan of scrabble, I could tell that the author actually did her research and knew what she was talking about which is more than I can say for a lot of books set around niche topics such as this one, so that was cool.
I did find the mystery part of it rather predictable and some of the characters and relationships seemed….unrealistic is the word I would go with. As well, the fact that they were teenagers didn’t line up very well with some of the stories. Like she is 16 or 17 in 2022, but is talking about a tournament she played in 2014…making her like 8 years old? Not impossible of course…but still. This is just one example of a time where I was like wait how old is this person again?
My biggest problem with the book was the improbability of it. Nobody did an autopsy on this affluent teenager who died in a public place during a weekend away from their parents? No adults after the day it actually happened stopped and said “Hey that was unusual…”?
All in all though, it was a relatively enjoyable read on a topic I quite like, so I give it 3 stars. Najjwa was a relatable main character and the look into the mental health struggles she had was well-written.
I would put this book in the category of fine Sunday afternoon reads. It was nothing to write home about, but it was relatively fast paced given the subject matter and the main character showed a decent amount of growth and learning.
As a fan of scrabble, I could tell that the author actually did her research and knew what she was talking about which is more than I can say for a lot of books set around niche topics such as this one, so that was cool.
I did find the mystery part of it rather predictable and some of the characters and relationships seemed….unrealistic is the word I would go with. As well, the fact that they were teenagers didn’t line up very well with some of the stories. Like she is 16 or 17 in 2022, but is talking about a tournament she played in 2014…making her like 8 years old? Not impossible of course…but still. This is just one example of a time where I was like wait how old is this person again?
My biggest problem with the book was the improbability of it. Nobody did an autopsy on this affluent teenager who died in a public place during a weekend away from their parents? No adults after the day it actually happened stopped and said “Hey that was unusual…”?
All in all though, it was a relatively enjoyable read on a topic I quite like, so I give it 3 stars. Najjwa was a relatable main character and the look into the mental health struggles she had was well-written.
adventurous
reflective
tense
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:
Complicated
I enjoyed the mystery and plot path of the book up to the end. I think that I was a little bit disappointed but it wrapped up nicely and turned out to be pretty satisfying. While it may not have been my favorite route it still made for a good read.
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*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review*
2.5/5 Stars
After the death of her bestfriend Trina, Najwa is returning to the Scrabble competition circuit. Najwa has the intetion of using this time to heal, but then Trina's inactive instagram becomes active once more, claiming that her death may not have been an accident. Najwa decides to uncover the meaning behind these cryptic messages, and discover who killed Trina Lowe.
I was initially very intrigued by this Scrabble themed mystery, it sounded right up my alley! Unfortunately, I became bored rather quickly with the story. I did think that the setting of a Scrabble competition in Malaysia was a nice change of scenery, and I do think that the diversity was awesome. I liked how every chapter started with a word and its definition that summed up the vibes of that chapter. I also think that the depiction and exploration of grief, and how different people deal with it in different ways was very well done. But, as I said, I was bored with the overall storyline, and I also found the characters to be a bit underdeveloped and I couldn't remember who was who half the time. The conclusion was also a bit anticlimactic in my opinion, and it made for a bit of a let down.
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review*
2.5/5 Stars
After the death of her bestfriend Trina, Najwa is returning to the Scrabble competition circuit. Najwa has the intetion of using this time to heal, but then Trina's inactive instagram becomes active once more, claiming that her death may not have been an accident. Najwa decides to uncover the meaning behind these cryptic messages, and discover who killed Trina Lowe.
I was initially very intrigued by this Scrabble themed mystery, it sounded right up my alley! Unfortunately, I became bored rather quickly with the story. I did think that the setting of a Scrabble competition in Malaysia was a nice change of scenery, and I do think that the diversity was awesome. I liked how every chapter started with a word and its definition that summed up the vibes of that chapter. I also think that the depiction and exploration of grief, and how different people deal with it in different ways was very well done. But, as I said, I was bored with the overall storyline, and I also found the characters to be a bit underdeveloped and I couldn't remember who was who half the time. The conclusion was also a bit anticlimactic in my opinion, and it made for a bit of a let down.
An exciting scrabble tournament murder mystery with an intriguing cast of characters! I was really invested in learning more about what happened surrounding Trina’s death and the setting of a scrabble tournament was a really interesting premise. There were some twists I didn’t see coming!
*ARC received from the publisher for an honest review*
*ARC received from the publisher for an honest review*
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Twisty and excellent mystery! Kept me guessing.