Reviews

Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice by Elle Cosimano

saeflanagan's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

profpetitfours's review against another edition

4.0

A fun fourth installment of the Finlay Donovan series. This book picks up immediately after the end of Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun, where Finlay and Vero's time at the citizen's police academy comes to a chaotic end. The pair needs to head north to Atlantic City, where they suspect both Javi and the stolen Aston Martin have gone. Unfortunately, neither can escape without Finlay's erstwhile ex-husband nor her mom. Now she has to dodge questions from Steven, a lot of Catholic guilt from her mom, the crooked retired cop, Charlie, loan sharks, and the Russian mob.

I've really enjoyed the Finaly Donovan series. It has just enough action to keep you interested, but not so much that my anxiety spikes. The romance is certainly there, but not the focus, and it's far less interesting than Finlay and Vero's friendship/partnership anyway. It's built an expansive and interesting world of interlinked characters and criminal worlds that feels original enough to keep the series moving forward.

However, I've really felt like the last two in the series had very slow starts. The first 50% of this book was slow going and felt somewhat repetitive, or perhaps stagnant. Regardless, the second half of the book moves fast, with storylines tying together and Finlay demonstrating some impressive strategic moves. I'm guessing there's more to come from the series (there's at least another short story covering Vero's origin story) because we definitely end the book on a very intriguing note!

* Thank you to St. Martin's Press,/Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review! *

enparker's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

booksnapsandcatnaps's review against another edition

funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Alright, so I've been a fan of the Finlay Donovan series, but I have to say, "Rolls The Dice" didn't quite hit the mark for me as the earlier books did.

The first two books had this perfect balance of light-hearted humor and suspense, but with this one, it felt like the humor tipped over into silliness. I mean, I get it, none of the books are exactly believable, but this one felt a bit too far-fetched with all the coincidences piling up.

Don't get me wrong, I still love Finlay and Vero. Their dynamic is great, and they're such fun characters. But I'm starting to get a little tired of the whole run-around with Nick and some of the repetitive plot elements.

One thing to note is that you really need to have read the first three books to understand what's going on in this one. There's a lot of continuity and ongoing storylines that carry over, so jumping in here might leave you a bit lost.

Overall, "Finlay Donovan Rolls The Dice" is a decent addition to the series, but it didn't quite live up to my expectations. If you're a fan of the earlier books, it's worth a read, but don't expect it to be as strong as the first two.

lyndseej's review against another edition

funny lighthearted mysterious

4.0

gellinasreads's review against another edition

lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.75

bricorchado's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

thesubwayreader's review

adventurous 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? Yes

3.75

This book picks up immediately from the cliffhanger ending of the last book, and I only vaguely remembered how that book had ended. A "last time" recap would have been super useful, but I eventually caught up. Finlay and Vero are looking for the Aston and Javi, and they (unwillingly) bring the kids, Steven, and Finlay's mom on their trip to Atlantic City. Then Nick, Georgia, Sam, Garret, and Charlie all follow them there for their investigation into Feliks. This was a wild romp. Finlay and Vero got themselves into a truly ridiculous situation starting with a dead body in a bathtub, but everything washes out in the end. Finlay and Vero are clever and resourceful, but it's by the grace of God that they didn't get killed. I found the situation with Cam and Kevin Bacon to be my favorite bits of the book. This book also ends on a cliffhanger, but it's not overly cliffhangery. 

dustfrmpluto's review against another edition

adventurous funny 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

4.0

myrealana's review against another edition

adventurous funny 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

4.0