Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - A Dead and Stormy Night

A cozy mystery with a character who has to confront their eye diagnosis.

It has some pretty funny moments, and the characters are interesting to read. I like the mix of the fashion world and the book world, by way of Mina's old job following her home. The mystery surrounding the bookshop is cool, and I want to know more about it. The murder mystery threw me off from how much they were interfering with the investigation. It really makes the police look incompetent. Not sure if that was what the author intended, but Mina succeeded in undermining them at every turn.

The audiobook Is good. The narrator's accent really puts you into the story's setting, which is a village in the UK.

Content Warnings

niamhstorme's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

2.75

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abicaro17's review

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

This book was slow to get into but once you pass the 20% mark it starts to ramp up. I will say the mystery part was pretty fun but definitely predictable. I did really enjoy the relationship between Mina and all the boys as well. I think it'll be interesting to see how everything progresses.

Content Warnings

bzliz's review against another edition

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mysterious fast-paced

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

2.0

This was a TikTok recommendation and I’ve gotta stop listening to some people on that app because this was not great. I thought the premise was interesting- a woman starts working in a bookshop where book characters keep coming to life- but of course all three of them are obsessed with her immediately and the mystery aspect was just so poorly done. Children’s media have better mysteries that are less heavy handed in doling out clues.

Mina’s main personality traits are 1) that she’s going blind and 2) ignoring the constant compliments from the 3 bookshop occupants, which is just weird.

I don’t know if I’ll continue this series. It was tolerable once I started thinking of it like fanfiction but then I remembered I can read so much fanfiction that’s leagues better than this…

Content warnings:
Sexual content (on page):

Mina gets fingered by Morrie against a wall semi-publicly. They then have sex in the bookshop which is partially witnessed by Quoth.

Ableism (off page):

Mina is fired from her fashion job because she’s going blind.

Alcohol (on page):

These people are constantly drinking and at all hours of the day.

Blood, murder (on page):

Ashley is murdered in the bookshop. Descriptions of the scene itself are very brief and not explicit. Less traumatic than any episode of CSI ever.

Toxic friendship (on & off page):

Ashley and Mina’s relationship was definitely toxic. Ashley latched on to Mina’s dreams and followed her to a new continent, then used Mina’s medical condition to undermine her and steal her job, then acted like she didn’t do anything wrong.

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innae's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted 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? It's complicated

4.0

A cozy mystery with a bit of heat? Yes please! Saw this rec’d on Instagram and thought I needed to read a tale where fictional men are pulled into reality. I read another of the author’s books (You’re So Dead to Me, involving ghosts) where they stop by the Nevermore bookstore. I was pleased to read about the store and Mina and her boys in this one. And it’s a series!! So I shall be reading more ;)

Content Warnings

nkmustdie's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

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applejacksbooks's review

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funny medium-paced

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

4.0

A super fun and fast paced cozy murder mystery, with some of the classics best (or worst) leading men. I will say I was off put by the repetitive use of the g-slur, but the author does address that it is in fact a slur several times.

Content Warnings

hellxriver's review

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

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