Scan barcode
cristine's review
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Alcohol, Torture, Death, Ableism, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Racial slurs, Medical trauma, Emotional abuse, and Chronic illness
agatha_hopkins's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.25
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Death
nota_candycaine's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Ableism, Sexism, and Racism
Moderate: Classism, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Blood
Minor: Self harm and Suicide
chrisljm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Moderate: Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Sexism, and Murder
Minor: Violence, Ableism, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Medical content, and Self harm
aura_truth's review
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Death
kstericker's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Moderate: Alcohol, Death, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Racism, and Ableism
readerette's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
It's clever and the characters end up with a decent amount of depth for such a short story. I did figure out the mystery before the reveal, but that didn't detract from the fun of the book for me.
I was watching closely the actions toward the characters of color and characters with disabilities, but as far as I could tell, any racist/ableist remarks were discernible as such (as in, they showed that some of the white characters were racist, and others were ableist, which was the author's point with those characters). The r-word is used a few times.
I did find the whole setup just a little ridiculous, which is where my reduced rating comes from. There really did seem to be some intent to punish with the "game" that Westing created, and when I found out the initial intended victim of the punishment, I got confused because other context suggested they didn't deserve to be punished at all (including my understanding that Westing wouldn't have thought so either). Maybe I just missed something...
Definitely worth a read for anyone who enjoys relatively lighthearted mysteries where you slowly put together the clues with the characters.
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Ableism, Alcohol, Death, and Racism
odrib's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Racism, Ableism, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Body shaming, and Antisemitism
Minor: Alcoholism, Racial slurs, Suicide, Death, and Child death
elle_dee's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Moderate: Classism, Car accident, Murder, Racism, Chronic illness, Death, Medical content, Ableism, Alcohol, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, and Self harm
meganpbennett's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
There are some instances of Xenophobia and Ableism, as well as misogyny, and half of the humor is based on pulling people apart. There's a disabled character who gets better by the end (mostly by choice), and the main character's mother has never loved her.
When I got a specific section on chess, I realized where I'd learned about the Queen's Sacrifice. It was this book.
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Racism, Xenophobia, and Ableism