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prettycloud's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
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? Yes
5.0
This book is so fun. It's noir, but make it gay. It's atmospheric—there's beautiful clothing, delicious food, and the pervasive edge of danger. Like many books of the genre, the protagonist spends a lot of it in a washing machine, getting tossed about by forces she can't understand and run around in circles looking for answers. And yet the protag gets so much agency within her constraints. She is competent, she is creative, and she's a delight to be around.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia and Murder
Minor: Alcoholism, Biphobia, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Police brutality, Medical content, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
This is a noir book, so it fulfills the genre conventions of people getting beat up and shot at regularly (including getting murdered that way). Many of the characters are LGBT+, and they experience period-appropriate homophobic violence and threats to their livelihood. The narrator ends up in a hospital at one point, but no harm to her body or agency takes place there. The narrator's mentor has multiple sclerosis but works in spite of it.novi's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
4.5
How should I describe this book. This is in cozy mystery about a private investigator, Lillian Pentecost, and her assistant, set in New York 1945. We are reading from the assistant's point of view, Willowjean. The vibe of the book is very much like the cover, I don't know why but I always imagine it's always at night there lol. As someone that is used to reading english countryside mystery, this vibe is not really my favorite because it's dark and very old yeehaw "american" lol sorryyy but that's really not my cup of tea (edit: apparently it's called noir, and a bit of pulp fiction vibe). BUT I fell in love with the story and the message. The beginning of the story didn't really interest me, probably because I felt a little meh about Willowjean. But the story progresses quite steadily, it wasn't suspenseful or fast, but it's going. That's one of the reasons it feels cozy.
My favorite part of the book is the ending. The very end. I really didn't see it coming and it was great. What I really love about this book is that beside a mystery book, it is also a book about women killing terrible men. I got the recommendation from A Sunny Book Nook's video, titled "favorite niche book tropes & subgenres" and this book is exactly as she described. I really love this quote that Ms. Pentecost said about severing the chain of painful events that a lot of women experiences so that no one need to suffer from them. I can't put the quote here because it'll spoil the story but I just love that message and I want to do that too for all the everyone in the world, especially women.
There's one thing that frustrates me about this book though. The writing style is often not straight-forward. There's always at least one idiom in every page. For example:
"I don't know what flickered in and out of her head while she was coming up with a response, but I would have given a sawbuck to catch the matinee." (I still don't know what it means. I won't google it.)
"Being a pale redhead, I'm a master blusher. But the doc gave me a run for my money." (I often heard about "run for my money" so fine, I'd googled it. I finally understood the whole this after searching through 4 (four) dictionary websites.)
"The police are going to start flinging open closets," I said. "If you have any skeletons, they're sure to come tumbling out." (This is not about real closets and skeletons. Did people really talk like this in those days?)
If it's not obvious already, english is not my first languange. I would say I've read quite a lot of english books but I have never found one that has as many idioms as this book. Is there a word for this style? Or was that just the old american style?
My favorite part of the book is the ending. The very end. I really didn't see it coming and it was great. What I really love about this book is that beside a mystery book, it is also a book about women killing terrible men. I got the recommendation from A Sunny Book Nook's video, titled "favorite niche book tropes & subgenres" and this book is exactly as she described. I really love this quote that Ms. Pentecost said about severing the chain of painful events that a lot of women experiences so that no one need to suffer from them. I can't put the quote here because it'll spoil the story but I just love that message and I want to do that too for all the everyone in the world, especially women.
There's one thing that frustrates me about this book though. The writing style is often not straight-forward. There's always at least one idiom in every page. For example:
"I don't know what flickered in and out of her head while she was coming up with a response, but I would have given a sawbuck to catch the matinee." (I still don't know what it means. I won't google it.)
"Being a pale redhead, I'm a master blusher. But the doc gave me a run for my money." (I often heard about "run for my money" so fine, I'd googled it. I finally understood the whole this after searching through 4 (four) dictionary websites.)
"The police are going to start flinging open closets," I said. "If you have any skeletons, they're sure to come tumbling out." (This is not about real closets and skeletons. Did people really talk like this in those days?)
If it's not obvious already, english is not my first languange. I would say I've read quite a lot of english books but I have never found one that has as many idioms as this book. Is there a word for this style? Or was that just the old american style?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse and Violence
Moderate: Death, Suicide, Medical content, Death of parent, and Murder
Minor: Child abuse and Lesbophobia
stubbornjerk's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
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? Yes
4.5
I don't even know how I found this one but when I recommended it, I didn't think I'd like it so much. I've never really been much for noir, a bit too gritty, a little too hopeless. The funny thing about putting a mindful queer eye on the proceedings is that it tends to bashing all the hopelessness out of things, which is pretty amazing.
This book did that, with Detective Willowjean Parker assisting Detective Lillian Pentecost on the case of Abigail Collins' murder. It covered topics like violence against women, homophobia during the 50s, poverty, and a lot more. It's not a hard book to read, but definitely not for the faint of heart.
It was definitely worth the read. Not as pulpy as I thought it'd be, but definitely a little cartoonish on some fronts. I mean, c'mon, a traveling ex-carnie bisexual detective? Think about it.
Though, I do think more thought put towards POC could have been considered, since this tackled a lot of things that touches on the lives of POC at the time. I pointed this out in my notes but I'm pretty sure that at the time the case is set in, Japanese people were in internment camps and the most we get of mentions of non-White American goings-on was mostly to point out that this was post-World War II.
I would have hated seeing anything mishandled, but to say that these things weren't relevant during the time this was set in, especially in a city like New York, it will have been impossible to miss it even in passing. I was reading along to the audiobook (Kirsten Potter's reading was fantastic despite minor hiccups), so I'm pretty sure I didn't miss any indicators that any of the cast of characters were POC. Almost all of them were some shade of white, though I'd love to imagine that Graham Hollis wasn't.
This book did that, with Detective Willowjean Parker assisting Detective Lillian Pentecost on the case of Abigail Collins' murder. It covered topics like violence against women, homophobia during the 50s, poverty, and a lot more. It's not a hard book to read, but definitely not for the faint of heart.
It was definitely worth the read. Not as pulpy as I thought it'd be, but definitely a little cartoonish on some fronts. I mean, c'mon, a traveling ex-carnie bisexual detective? Think about it.
Though, I do think more thought put towards POC could have been considered, since this tackled a lot of things that touches on the lives of POC at the time. I pointed this out in my notes but I'm pretty sure that at the time the case is set in, Japanese people were in internment camps and the most we get of mentions of non-White American goings-on was mostly to point out that this was post-World War II.
I would have hated seeing anything mishandled, but to say that these things weren't relevant during the time this was set in, especially in a city like New York, it will have been impossible to miss it even in passing. I was reading along to the audiobook (Kirsten Potter's reading was fantastic despite minor hiccups), so I'm pretty sure I didn't miss any indicators that any of the cast of characters were POC. Almost all of them were some shade of white, though I'd love to imagine that Graham Hollis wasn't.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Police brutality
Minor: Homophobia and Antisemitism
gracew's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I was so looking forward to this book and I'm delighted that it did not disappoint. I was a little disappointed that I guessed a good chunk of the plot but I'm actually kind of fine with that as it doesn't take away from the quality of the writing nor the intent of the story. Also, the very last twist in the book made me go WAIT WHAT and was delightful. It feels very Sherlock and Holmes but better because they are treated as equals to each other. I would love to consume more in a series of these two. This story is perfect for a fun, thoughtful mystery that doesn't take the fact of the time period to be racist or homophobic.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Violence
Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Antisemitism