Reviews with content warning for Chronic illness - The Undetectables

Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

The Undetectables by Courtney Smyth

15 reviews

jacemchale's review

adventurous challenging emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Totally loved this book. It sets up a series and leaves you asking questions, but it makes me excited for the next installment.

This book scratches a weird crossover itch with paranormal books and mystery books with a murder being solved by a group of three witches. I loved each one of the main characters so much even if they all have their flaws. Mallory's chronic pain makes her understandably cranky in some representation I loved, because it's truly difficult to be peppy all the time, especially with chronic pain. Diana is truly loveable with plenty of ex-girlfriends but the kind of friend to give tough love when it's needed. Cornelia experiences privileges with wealth and power and understands that systems are often unfair while also trying to battle some injustices while they try to solve murders.
I loved this book, and while the mystery isn't technically overly complicated the added magic mixed with science adds another layer to the mystery and makes it fresh and compelling.

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fionamclary's review

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adventurous dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This book was funny and full of heart. I loved our main characters and especially related to Mallory given that a chronic illness has been increasingly disabling me for the past year and a half. I enjoyed the take on a magical culture/society that maps nicely onto the human diversity of the real world.

However, I found the lore to be frustratingly thin. It didn't make sense to me how many seemingly basic aspects of magic were unknown to Occulture before the events of the story

(such as spells and people being able to travel via witchlight)

, and the history of the Ternion remained vague and confusing throughout. It meant that by the end I still didn't understand what it would actually mean for someone to

summon or join the Ternion

, and what the motivation/thought process would be that would lead someone to this decision. I also felt that the details of how the

ritual murders

themselves worked were very poorly fleshed out. E.g. how does one make the

death blade

? How does it work? This was super frustrating and majorly detracted from the quality of the story. However, I think this author has a lot of potential, and I'd be intrigued if a second book happens, as the ending of this book seemed to be allowing for. There's still some mysteries unsolved!

Also, I really want a movie version now just so that Nathan Foad can play Theodore. I think that would go so hard.

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blewballoon's review

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dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

Really struggling to rate this one, there are a lot of things I liked about it conceptually, but something also felt off the whole time. I think the dialogue sometimes didn't flow right and bent unnaturally to accommodate humor or to obfuscate a plot point. I figured out most of the pieces of the mystery really early on, and it was frustrating how much the book put those reveals off, even though I usually don't mind when that happens for me in a mystery book. It made The Undetectables seem incompetent. I appreciated the fibromyalgia representation, and I sympathize with Mallory, but I did find her hard to like from the beginning when she

lashes out at Theodore

. I loved Theodore, and Diana was pretty great as well. If there are more books in this universe I'll probably check them out. It's kind of like Halloween town for adults, which is fun, and maybe the off vibes I felt won't be as much of an issue.

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madamenovelist's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-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

3.0

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gabbs415's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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analenegrace's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful tense medium-paced

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

3.75

As a reader with Fibromyalgia, I thought reading a book where the MC had the same disability would be enjoyable, but unfortunately (in the best way possible), Mallory was so relatable that certain sections of the book made me put it down because I was so emotional seeing myself and my disability reflected on the page. Smythe, as a fibro-having author, is an amazing author, and I cannot thank them enough for putting themself and myself on the page.

Plotwise, the first half of this book is quite slow, and it took me a while to get into the mystery part, but at about the 50% mark, it picked up, and I flew through the second half. Mysteries are not my favorite genre, but this, a fantasy setting with queer and disabled characters, was very enjoyable. The twists and turns were engaging, and although I figured out who did it before the reveal, it was less than ten pages before the reveal when I said, "Oh shit wait what if it's this character!?!?" so Smythe did a great job of keeping the reader on their toes with who the murderer was.

I felt like some of the dialogue between these characters felt too young for how old they are, but I appreciated Mallory's internal dialogue beyond her disability; her relationship with her best friends was very relatable and understandable as a disabled queer reader. I was a little unhappy with the last little bit as I was hoping that the character would stay gone, but I understand that for the sequel to work, this character needed to return. Lastly, I was not particularly a fan of how they decided to continue working with the cops, even if they weren't signing a contract, simply Fuck the Police...

I am really looking forward to the sequel, even with my criticisms!

Best Line: "Mallory was sick of grinning and bearing every little thing that came her way. Sick of accepting help and pretending it didn't make her feel like shit, sick of also being afraid to ask, never quite able to smush the feelings down, never quite able to contain her grief, her rage, her loneliness. Sick of having a career on a plate and not being able to grasp it with both hands. Sick of being sick."

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plume_de_renarde's review

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adventurous dark funny mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

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aseel_reads's review

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adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

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

2.75

so much potential but the actual story did not deliever. the mystery element was so boring and didn't pack a punch. the magic system was also super surface level and boring? which is so heartbreaking.

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sashahc's review

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious 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

5.0

The tagline of “The Undetectables” by Courtney Smyth is “Be gay. Solve crimes. Take naps.” I mean, how can you resist that? Instead of a private investigator who is solitary, belligerent, and underslept, we have a witch with fibromyalgia, two best friends, and a very dramatic ghost who must spend eternity in cat ears and whiskers. Not to mention a magical serial murderer on the loose. Hooray for interdependent queers having adventures. A delightful read. Can’t wait to see what comes next.

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lbelow's review

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

5.0

I am a person with fibromyalgia in a flare reading about a fantasy character with fibromyalgia fighting off a flare and it is everything. This book made me feel so seen! I love the complex relationships between Mallory and her friends, and how they all vow to do better in the future. I love the little nuances sprinkled through that seem inconsequential but become turning points in the book. I love the humour and the love and the depiction of grief. Everything, EVERYTHING in this book was just magical!

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