Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

Þernan by Nita Prose

34 reviews

funny mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Molly the Maid loves order, perfection, and cleanliness. Although it's not explicitly addressed in the book, she is certainly neurotypical and often has a difficult time understanding body language, social cues, and sarcasm. 

One day while cleaning a hotel room she discovers Mr. Black, a rich real estate tycoon, dead in his bed. 

Needless to say, a wrench is thrown into Molly's mundane life. She must learn to use her best judgments and cope with a new situation. 

Just like Molly, I love order and nothing makes me happier than a clean space. I'm not as regimented or thorough as she is, but I can relate. My OCPD appreciates Molly the Maid. This is a funny yet solid mystery story. "Dust we must."

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mysterious tense 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

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celery's profile picture

celery's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 17%

Didn't vibe with the writing style. I don't believe it was very good autistic representation either, the narrator/main character did not come across as autistic, she came across stupid, and they are not the same thing.

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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: Yes

I flew through this book! I couldn’t stop listening. It kept me guessing until almost the very end. I love Molly and cannot wait to tackle Nita’s second book. 

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emotional funny reflective sad tense 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

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emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

   Molly, a neurodivergent maid, finds the rich and mean Mr. Black dead in his bed. It turns out he was murdered. And Molly ends up under suspicion for his murder. But some of the people at the hotel are not who they seem. And they may have used Molly's neurodivergence to their advantage. 
   I enjoyed this book quite a bit. I know some said it was inconsistent, but I find that, as a neurodivergent person, I can see how her seemingly very shifting rules don't shift as much as they seem to do to some people. I know that certain rules in my mind are different than how a "normal" person may have their rules. And once you get to the end it all makes sense, at least to me. 
   I didn't guess the killer, though I guess another one of the "plot twists" (the one with her grandmother.)

Narrator Rating: 3.5 stars
  She did a decent job but for most of the book she had kind of pout to her voice which was childlike and annoying for a 20-something woman.

Elemental Levels:  Fluff-3.5/5  Heartfelt-3/5   Helpful-NA     Horror-NA  Inspiration-NA  
Love aka Romance-2/5   Mystery-5/5     Predictability-2.5/5   Spice-NA    Suspense-2/5    Tear- 3/5  Thrill-1.5/5  Humor-1/5 

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mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Very cute whodunnit with a very interesting premise-- a neurodivergent maid gets caught in the middle of a murder investigation and becomes a suspect when people take advantage of her. 

But the rest the read was a bit off-putting because the author is neurotypical, and I wasn't sure if she was doing a service or disservice to the autistic community. The author took inspiration from when she taught special needs children, but honestly I just read 'Yellowface'and I hope a sensitivity expert was involved... 

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mysterious tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I struggled with how to rate this. I loved the premise and initially loved Molly but I felt like she very quickly became a caricature (think Amelia Bedelia). The story relied mostly on Molly not picking up social cues/situations but then other times she understood things that seemed to be more metaphorical than what she normally understood. Regarding the ending
I think this could have been a 3.25 if the book stopped at the end of chapter 24 when Rodney is being arrested while Molly is in the cafe, I really thought that was the end and was shocked when it kept going. I also feel like the scene of Molly killing her grandmother was so out of place and very sinister given that Nan tried to stop her and she kept going. Very weird tone wise for a book with such a candy sweet ending. Don't get me started on the nonsense romance.

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I thought this was a great read. The main character obviously is on the spectrum and since you are reading from her point of view, it sheds light on how certain situations can become dangerous. people on the spectrum can have difficulties in social situations which is exactly how Molly became framed for murder. I really liked this story because it shows the flaws in the justice system relating to people with disabilities. It also has a twist at the end, but I thought it could have been executed better. 

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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