Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith

20 reviews

livcashmere's review

lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

3.25

Is the story cute and lighthearted?  Yes. Could I seperate that from the fact that the entire thing is told from a straight white male pretending to be an African woman perspective? No.

He also talks about how fat the main character is approximately 10000 times. Unnecessary and typical for a male writer. I literally know everything about the physical appearance of the female characters but all the male characters descriptions are like “African male”. Every character is incredibly simple and two-dimensional with clear reflections of colonialism throughout the text. 

The individual investigations were sweet but I won’t be reading any further books in this series. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Fatphobia, and Domestic abuse

koplomps's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious sad 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? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, and Child death

Moderate: Death of parent

rebekah_l's review against another edition

lighthearted slow-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Misogyny and Infidelity

Minor: Domestic abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault

mgcalder's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective 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? No

5.0

Simply a joy to read. Whilst it may seem that this lady solves all of the mysteries far too easily, I believe it of her. The story is mostly lighthearted but does have sections of darkness but these only help you to love the main character even more.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Child death, Infidelity, and Death of parent

seanml's review against another edition

funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

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

4.75

This book makes me happy. : ) 9.75/10. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism

Moderate: Child death, Colonisation, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault

Minor: Addiction, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, and Violence

ailsaod's review

lighthearted reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

I'm not sure what I think about this book. I was expecting more of a detective story and that isn't really what this is. I don't usually read books with such a slice of life/literary fiction style so I don't have much to say. It wasn't a good or bad experience, although I am unsure what to make of a white man writing a black woman in a story that is all about authentically capturing a certain place in a certain time, although he at least has been to Botswana so I feel unqualified to judge.  

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Infidelity, and Rape

Minor: Child death, Death of parent, Infertility, and Misogyny

alyssa_moni's review

challenging hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, and Sexual assault

morganperks's review against another edition

funny lighthearted mysterious relaxing slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Minor: Body shaming, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Murder, Sexism, and Misogyny

fyre_flies's review against another edition

funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, and Murder

acesnsk8s's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Domestic abuse