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I really love that this was told from a first-person POV, because I don't think the charm (?) of Eustachia would have been there if it hadn't been. I can definitely see how some may find her to be utterly insufferable and horrible to read from (& I'm not denying that those 2 characteristics do fit her!), but I just found her so interesting. I can definitely see some autism-coding there (Sensory issues, rigidness, special interest/wealth of knowledge on that special interest, social isolation, poor social skills, etc etc), but none of it felt inauthentic or shoehorned in. Eustachia was a uniquely irritating character, but ultimately you could see she was trying to be a good person, even if she was a bit.. quirky.
It was also interesting to see the shift from obsession to acceptance, in quite a few different aspects of her life (Mostly her romantic interests in people), but I can agree with other reviewers that her whole stalking thing isn't really touched on and although she knows she shouldn't be doing it (Even if she tries to justify it to herself), it's never really acknowledged or redeemed. Although, I do wonder if that's also because other people genuinely don't realise that's what's happening (She assumes the forensic team would have looked through her telescope to see where it was aimed, but that's never confirmed, and it's possible that 1. They actually didn't, or 2. They did, had a laugh, and moved on with their day, or 3. They did, thought that maybe it had just been moved for whatever reason & didn't think it relevant to anything happening (Since they were currently investigating the death of someone else & may not have known about Eustachia's suspicions of Simone being kidnapped), which I think are all valid (& realistic-sounding) reasons for nobody else picking up on what she's doing.)
I can see there's another book in this world, and although I'm normally very against books being made into series when they could strongly stand on their own, I enjoyed Eustachia so much that I'm definitely going to pick up the second book to give it a whirl. I do think I'm going to enjoy it less than this one, but maybe the growth we see over the course of the book could make the sequel equally as enjoyable!
It was also interesting to see the shift from obsession to acceptance, in quite a few different aspects of her life (Mostly her romantic interests in people), but I can agree with other reviewers that her whole stalking thing isn't really touched on and although she knows she shouldn't be doing it (Even if she tries to justify it to herself), it's never really acknowledged or redeemed. Although, I do wonder if that's also because other people genuinely don't realise that's what's happening (She assumes the forensic team would have looked through her telescope to see where it was aimed, but that's never confirmed, and it's possible that 1. They actually didn't, or 2. They did, had a laugh, and moved on with their day, or 3. They did, thought that maybe it had just been moved for whatever reason & didn't think it relevant to anything happening (Since they were currently investigating the death of someone else & may not have known about Eustachia's suspicions of Simone being kidnapped), which I think are all valid (& realistic-sounding) reasons for nobody else picking up on what she's doing.)
I can see there's another book in this world, and although I'm normally very against books being made into series when they could strongly stand on their own, I enjoyed Eustachia so much that I'm definitely going to pick up the second book to give it a whirl. I do think I'm going to enjoy it less than this one, but maybe the growth we see over the course of the book could make the sequel equally as enjoyable!
adventurous
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
quite a novel way of setting up a mystery and a murder mystery which is certainly fun and entertaining.
Written in the first person, which isn't always my favourite it is still an interesting way of viewing the story and world through our protagonist's eyes and harks back to some classics of the mystery genre. Our protagonist appears to be quite heavily autistic coded in a way I found, mostly to be natural and authentic, though by the end it was starting to veer into autistic trop territory: genius character with poor social skills. But there was just enough self awareness, and personal growth to stop it becoming tiresome or offensive.
The plot itself was quite fast moving and in the style of classic murder mystery with a complex web of character relationships and various motives and opportunities. I don't know if it was believable, but does it really have to be? There were no obvious plot holes but one or two loose ends or explanations that felt they could be a bit tighter.
There were tentative explorations of grief and mourning which were at times quite tender, and I would have loved to explore that more in depth. Similarly a key feature of the book was the protagonists relationships with others and her tendency toward solitude, which was interesting, and particularly towards the end started to be unpacked a bit more but could have gone a lot further.
That was really my overall impression of the book: I think it could have gone further and deeper into some of the very interesting themes it brought up, whilst still being a fun murder mystery.
I was initially dubious about Eustacia's attraction to "Psycho" - it seemed very intense and was obviously built on slightly stalkerish behaviour and voyeurism, not actually knowing here. Plus there as a significant age gap which is just as much of a problem in a sapphic pairing as in a het pairing. I was really pleased then that this level of obsession, of not being able to understand the significance or intensity of a relationship was explored even when it was more obvious to the reader and not the the MC. The acknowledgement of the fact that it was obsession and unrealistic by the end was a genuine relief and a good piece of character growth. I also liked how she was able to identify feelings of friendship and how they differ to feelings of attraction by the end of it. It reminded me a lot of seemingly common queer and autistic experiences of "do I want to be you or to be with you?
The exploration of grief and the relationship with the father was lovely but I really do feel it could have gone so much deeper and had more to it. I still felt like there were some unanswered questions there. I was pleased with the gradual stepping back into life by the end of it as Eustacia began to accept her own identity as separate to how she related to her father.
2
Written in the first person, which isn't always my favourite it is still an interesting way of viewing the story and world through our protagonist's eyes and harks back to some classics of the mystery genre. Our protagonist appears to be quite heavily autistic coded in a way I found, mostly to be natural and authentic, though by the end it was starting to veer into autistic trop territory: genius character with poor social skills. But there was just enough self awareness, and personal growth to stop it becoming tiresome or offensive.
The plot itself was quite fast moving and in the style of classic murder mystery with a complex web of character relationships and various motives and opportunities. I don't know if it was believable, but does it really have to be? There were no obvious plot holes but one or two loose ends or explanations that felt they could be a bit tighter.
There were tentative explorations of grief and mourning which were at times quite tender, and I would have loved to explore that more in depth. Similarly a key feature of the book was the protagonists relationships with others and her tendency toward solitude, which was interesting, and particularly towards the end started to be unpacked a bit more but could have gone a lot further.
That was really my overall impression of the book: I think it could have gone further and deeper into some of the very interesting themes it brought up, whilst still being a fun murder mystery.
The exploration of grief and the relationship with the father was lovely but I really do feel it could have gone so much deeper and had more to it. I still felt like there were some unanswered questions there. I was pleased with the gradual stepping back into life by the end of it as Eustacia began to accept her own identity as separate to how she related to her father.
2
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Grief
mysterious
slow-paced
i loved parts of this, especially the characterization of the main character, but found other parts lacking.
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Ridiculous book
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated