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anissawren's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Death of parent and Suicide
Moderate: Murder, Child death, and Terminal illness
Minor: Animal death and Homophobia
renyoi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Body shaming, Chronic illness, Toxic relationship, Fatphobia, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Terminal illness, Suicide, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Animal death
Minor: Ableism, Homophobia, and Misogyny
erebus53's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
This story is meta as füc# .. the main character is an Editor who is reading the last work of a murder mystery writer. The author of the work she wishes to publish, dies with unfinished business but appears to have ended his own life.. or has he? Or is a murder mystery fan just taking off on flights of fancy and imagining herself a sleuth.
As a book reviewer.. this book is really strange to read. Every point that I recognise in story construction is explained by the main character as she tries to assess the work she is reading; it feels really weird to look at a story and think "ah it could be this person, but that wouldn't be a satisfying conclusion, and this person is an OBvious choice and so therefore will HAVE to be a red herring.. " only to then have those ideas explicitly expounded upon by the narrator of the story. How can your review a book that it reviewing itself?!
Events in the unpublished fiction, tend to echo events that are unfolding in the story of the Editor, and it starts to get blurry in places and you wonder how much of what is going on is conspiracy, how much is causal, and how much is coincidental.
Amongst this stuff, conversations in the "real world" (of the book) feel like self-criticisms of the genre as a whole, and of the book itself. I can't help but feel THIS book is just trying to be clever, but it leaves me holding a handful of messy hints that the author of THIS book, feels like writing murder mysteries is a practice of making a product that sells well, rather than being good literature.
I did like the Disability narratives in the book. There is a person who is considered despicable for thinking of Down Syndrome as a disease, a person who has to deal with vision loss (and Audiobooks), and several characters with terminal illnesses.
It was kind of fun, but I was listening at 125% speed, which probably says a lot about the drawn out pace of the book and my desire to get it finished rather than actually enjoying the content. For that, I did have a couple of YUSS! moments where I had predicted things accurately or big reveals that felt fairly rewarding. Maybe if you like these sorts of books more you would get more out of it. It does feel quite like a Midsomer Murders story, with word puzzles in it.
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Blood, Cancer, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, Ableism, Child death, Chronic illness, Suicide, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Violence, Animal death, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Medical content, Religious bigotry, and Stalking
Minor: Pedophilia and Cursing
sea_tea_books's review against another edition
4.0
[Book club pick for November 2023]
4 ⭐
Graphic: Murder
Minor: Pedophilia and Homophobia
thedistortionist's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Terminal illness, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Child death, Suicide, and Animal death
Minor: Homophobia, Mental illness, and Fire/Fire injury
danmhar27's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Moderate: Homophobia
purplepenning's review against another edition
3.75
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Infidelity, Violence, Alcohol, Animal death, Body horror, Cancer, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Terminal illness, Suicide, Blood, Bullying, and Death
amandas_bookshelf's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Abandonment, Animal death, Cancer, Child death, Death, Murder, Classism, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Sexism, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Bullying and Homophobia
rieviolet's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Death and Murder
Moderate: Blood, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Violence
Minor: Ableism, Animal death, Cancer, Child death, Dementia, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Mental illness, and Pedophilia
hagiasophia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Murder
Minor: Homophobia