Reviews tagging 'Antisemitism'

Fortune Favours the Dead by Stephen Spotswood

7 reviews

kappafrog's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny hopeful informative mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

What a FANTASTIC novel! So many mysteries fumble the ending, but the last thirty pages of this novel just got better and better! My jaw dropped, I was vindicated and excited, new moral dilemmas were introduced, and it was SO MUCH FUN!

I loved the 1940s Brooklyn setting. That's where half my family lived in the 1940s so it was really fun to see it in fiction. I LOVED the two detectives, Parker and Pentecost. Parker was a very funny protagonist who was easy to root for in spite of her flaws. I was impressed at how well a male author wrote all the women in this book, including the queer women. There were some really tender moments with queer characters that felt very real.

Pentecost and Parker played off each other really well. I loved their found family relationship. And can I just say, it was really moving and exciting for me to read a character as badass as Ms. Pentecost who walks with a cane and has a dynamic disability that makes her require lots of rest and slur her words. I have chronic daily migraine and not MS, but I related with her so much and felt seen and represented in a way that felt really good - and really unusual. Hats off to the author for impressing me so much with the representation in this novel!

The mystery itself was really fun. I loved how we followed along as Parker and Ms. P figured things out. There were a lot of things that I was slowly piecing together. I liked how the book didn't have the protagonists overlooking obvious clues but had the detective pair constantly pointing out suspicious details and speculating, putting just what I was thinking into words. And yet, many aspects of the ending took me completely by surprise!! Even when this book employed classic tropes of the hard-boiled noir, I ate it all up.

I loved the librarian coming back from his holiday in the 11th hour to provide crucial information, all of Parker's talk of detective novels, the 40s slang, all of it!

I loved the complexities opened up by the final few chapters.

Two queer men, unfairly targeted for their sexuality, make your heart break a little for them - and yet our finally-revealed archnemesis of Ms. P saw them as worthy targets because they were war profiteers and badly exploited labourers. Ms. P condemns the professor for her vigilante justice - just to have their handling of Becca thrown slyly back at them.

What a great book! So much to chew over, and so much I'm excited to see explored in future novels in this series!! I can't wait to read more!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Cancer, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Excrement, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Cultural appropriation, and War

virgilsinferno'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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia

Minor: Antisemitism

Homophobia is revealed to be a strong motivation for the story that takes place. It's also a present worry with the main characters infatuation with a woman.

karcitis's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Homophobia, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Blood, Outing, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Cancer, Terminal illness, Antisemitism, Fire/Fire injury, and War

lilly_anne's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny informative mysterious reflective slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Suicide, Medical content, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Homophobia, Grief, Lesbophobia, and Alcohol

Minor: Domestic abuse, Antisemitism, and Outing

mar's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

a fun murder mystery with some effortlessly witty writing, really easy to read. also, as sb with chronic pain, it was really cool seeing a disabled woman as the sherlock holmes of the story :')

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Suicide, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child abuse, Gun violence, Terminal illness, Police brutality, Antisemitism, and Sexual harassment

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. 

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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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Violence

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Antisemitism