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3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
Didn’t connect with it. I will restart this at some point, and hopefully, I will enjoy it more then.
Wealthy heiress/celebrity/genius engineer Tesla Crane is on a cruise ship to Mars for her honeymoon with her spouse and her service dog when a fellow passenger is murdered and her husband becomes the prime suspect. Armed with an endless supply of fancy cocktails, a high powered attorney, and her engineering prowess, Tesla and her husband work to solve the mystery and identify the real killer in time to enjoy what's left of their cruise. I thought this sounded like a fun premise -- it is very obviously going for "The Thin Man in space" -- but it fell flat for me. Too many mixed messages about whether this was supposed to be fun -- sure, you might be arrested for murder, but let's have another cocktail and get frisky in the brig, and then threaten everyone with my expensive lawyer to escape any consequences -- or supposed to be serious -- don't forget the tragic accident in my past, and my PTSD, and my chronic pain, and the risk that the person I love will be convicted of murder. And, while I appreciated the author's good intentions in layering in bits of exposition about how to be sensitive and respectful around various issues (PTSD, service animals, wearing masks, chronic pain, etc.) it did start to feel like the author's desire to educate people about these issues was interfering with her desire to tell a story. In the acknowledgments section, the author thanks several different categories of sensitivity readers who had assisted with these issues, and then goes on to note that although the book had featured many different cocktail recipes, she took care to include some fun recipes that did not feature alcohol as an ingredient, explaining that calling such drinks "virgin" drinks has negative connotations and she prefers not to use that term. It just felt *so* self-conscious about demonstrating the author's desire to be sensitive to, well, everything. The fun stuff wasn't fun enough, the serious stuff was a little exhausting, and most importantly, the murder and its solution just wasn't that interesting and was a bit too deus ex machina. I wanted to like this but I just didn't connect with it.
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
A fun new book from the writer of the Lady Astronaut series - and hopefully a new series? I liked the exploration of different ability, chronic pain and the impact of this, and managing PTSD. This was also a great look at service dogs and the amazing things they can do for humans, as well as how to relate to service dogs. The author chose to be very sensitive to gender issues and to envision a future where that sensitivity is common sense courtesy and automatically extended to all (in most cases). I appreciate this perspective! I was interested in this book because I like the author and because I immediately caught the reference to the Thin Man series - so I knew the dog would be important and fun!
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A fast paced, slightly silly, but well crafted space murder mystery with likable and clever leads.
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
This is one of the best things I’ve read this year. A fun twist on the closed room murder mystery trope, set on a cruise liner to Mars in a lovely future where gender neutral language and courtesy masks are the standard.
The best part, though, was the cocktail recipes at the beginning of every chapter, including some really delicious sounding mocktails!
The best part, though, was the cocktail recipes at the beginning of every chapter, including some really delicious sounding mocktails!
adventurous
challenging
funny
mysterious
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:
Yes
Was not connecting with the characters, and the mains name being Tesla's wasn't for me. A little too much about her service dog. Don't need a murder mystery in space when it bearly talks about space.